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I fed my snake "Fuzzy" today. He gets 3 live mice a week. Usually, he'll stalk them and play-hunt for a while before striking. Today, though, he must have been really hungry.

I opened the carrier and went to pour the mice in, and here comes Fuzzy, out from under his log and catches 2 in mid-air. Somehow, he got one in his mouth, and one in his coils and constricted on both of them at once. I've never seen him do anything like that before, it was really cool!



(Apologies to all the snake-phobics)

BabyRider wrote: I fed my snake "Fuzzy" today. He gets 3 live mice a week. Usually, he'll stalk them and play-hunt for a while before striking. Today, though, he must have been really hungry.

I opened the carrier and went to pour the mice in, and here comes Fuzzy, out from under his log and catches 2 in mid-air. Somehow, he got one in his mouth, and one in his coils and constricted on both of them at once. I've never seen him do anything like that before, it was really cool!



(Apologies to all the snake-phobics)


I knew snakes were fast but that is pretty amazing to catch 2.

minks wrote: I knew snakes were fast but that is pretty amazing to catch 2.
He was faster than I'd ever seen him, Minks. It took me a second to realize that he actually had 2 in his grip.

BabyRider wrote: He was faster than I'd ever seen him, Minks. It took me a second to realize that he actually had 2 in his grip.


What kind of snake is it again???? Geeze my daughter would love your house she is Mizz reptile lover.

minks wrote: What kind of snake is it again???? Geeze my daughter would love your house she is Mizz reptile lover.
Fuzzy is a 4 foot long, 3 year old ball python. I think I might have a picture of him somewhere here...lemme go see.

BabyRider wrote: Fuzzy is a 4 foot long, 3 year old ball python. I think I might have a picture of him somewhere here...lemme go see.


Ok I will have to check back on ya, am heading for home, but if ya manage one, I will be sure to show Jr minks. She will love it.

Cheers.

M

One of our's did the same thing he would go in kill both really quickly then at his leisure and eat them one after another and sometime's tail first :-3 .One time he was so fast he actually bite into himself while going for the mouse that was a bit more tricky because we had to some how try and prise his mouth open (without getting bitten) so he could release himself i think if we'd left him to do it by himself he would have struggled .We only use live food once in a million year's only if they've not eaten for month's we had one that refused to eat for a year and whatever the expert's say i just could not force feed a snake. Luckily they all take frozen, some time's we try chick's (but they dont really have much nutritional content) so most of the time it's mice . Also when the they do get little scape's or abrasion's i use Tamodine by Vetark it's great for all reptile's it's an excellent wound cleanser . We also had one snake disappear for over a year. My neighbour found it in their garage and nearly had a heart attack ( they thought it was a belt ) when we moved into the house we live in now some how in all the confusion it escaped.... it was tiny when i bought it no more than a little worm (it was orange corn) we searched high and low every place we could think of and in the end we had to give up then one sunday morning my neighbour knocked on the door and said have you lost something long and orange ..so i had to go in and retrieve my long lost snake . In the time he'd been gone he'd grown a lot all most doubled in size and kept the natural mouse population down. My neighbour's still a big fat wuss .:rolleyes:

Scrat wrote: I do find it really amusing when some 20 something "snake expert" kisses his pet rattler. And gets kissed back.
Uhh...yeah. I've seen some of my "not-so-bright" friends do that. Here's a tip....NOT A GOOD IDEA!!! Geeze, some people....

I'm surprised that so many people have or had snakes at pets, that's something that I never would of imagined. I don't think anyone has them as pets anywhere near where I live, they are considered to dangerous for that, and besides, thankfully we hardly have any of them compared to some of you in the US or other countries. Hehehe you may have gathered that I'm not a snake fan!! :p

chrisb84uk wrote: I'm surprised that so many people have or had snakes at pets, that's something that I never would of imagined. I don't think anyone has them as pets anywhere near where I live, they are considered to dangerous for that, and besides, thankfully we hardly have any of them compared to some of you in the US or other countries. Hehehe you may have gathered that I'm not a snake fan!! :p


Oh I don't think you are alone, my SIL goes into severe panic at the sight of toy snakes. A horrible Phobia for her.

chrisb84uk wrote: I'm surprised that so many people have or had snakes at pets, that's something that I never would of imagined. I don't think anyone has them as pets anywhere near where I live, they are considered to dangerous for that, and besides, thankfully we hardly have any of them compared to some of you in the US or other countries. Hehehe you may have gathered that I'm not a snake fan!! :p


Hey chris do you really think snake's are dangerous ..most keeper's have non venonmous snake's they are easy to handle very docile and just concidered exotic animal's .

minks wrote: Oh I don't think you are alone, my SIL goes into severe panic at the sight of toy snakes. A horrible Phobia for her.


Well my biggest phobia are bees and wasps. So if you hear one whilst on our merry adventures, then expect me to be half way down the street or wherever we happen to be!! :wah:

chrisb84uk wrote: Well my biggest phobia are bees and wasps. So if you hear one whilst on our merry adventures, then expect me to be half way down the street or wherever we happen to be!! :wah:


and me right behind you. I hate those things!!!! And seeing as I am allergic to everything under the sun, I am doubly fearful of their sting, not yet been stung but am not risking a reaction.

minks wrote: and me right behind you. I hate those things!!!! And seeing as I am allergic to everything under the sun, I am doubly fearful of their sting, not yet been stung but am not risking a reaction.


Well we are really lucky to have a bees nest just outside living in one of our trees, but my dad doesn't mind them, so there they will sadly remain. I've been stung twice, both when I was young, and since then have always had the jitters around them.



Oh and Raven tells me that you are alergic to cats, hehehe me too, well sometimes anyways. I'm just hoping to remember to bring my hayfever medicine with me just in case I can't stop sneezing!! :p

In England, it is illegal to use live mammals as feed. Live insects are legal to use. Many snake owners tend to ignore this fact or simply don't know the law. Pet shops will not sell live mammals to a customer if they find out it's to be used for live feed.

OpenMind wrote: In England, it is illegal to use live mammals as feed. Live insects are legal to use. Many snake owners tend to ignore this fact or simply don't know the law. Pet shops will not sell live mammals to a customer if they find out it's to be used for live feed.


I think it become's illegal if i were to use my snake killing live prey as a side show inviting you to come and watch . Most reptile shop's do sell live it tend's to be normal dog/cat /rabbit /gerbil type of pet shop that if you told them what it was for they would still sell to you but would explain that what they don't know they can't do anything about . I prefure frozen myself i'm a bit of a wuss i could'nt kill something myself .

pantsonfire321@aol.com wrote: I think it become's illegal if i were to use my snake killing live prey as a side show inviting you to come and watch . Most reptile shop's do sell live it tend's to be normal dog/cat /rabbit /gerbil type of pet shop that if you told them what it was for they would still sell to you but would explain that what they don't know they can't do anything about . I prefure frozen myself i'm a bit of a wuss i could'nt kill something myself .


Well, I've done some quick research now. I was wrong. it is not illegal, just advised against in case the live bait fights back and injures the snake/reptile. The legal requirements are that the live food should be well treated as for any live animal and if not eaten straight away, it should be removed from the tank. It should not be allowed to suffer prolonged stress.

I was told that it was illegal by people who owned snakes/reptiles. Shows that you can't believe everything you are told.

pantsonfire321@aol.com wrote: Hey chris do you really think snake's are dangerous ..most keeper's have non venonmous snake's they are easy to handle very docile and just concidered exotic animal's .
Yeah, that. Some snakes are dangerous, and I would not own a venemous one. Constrictors, especially when hand raised and socialized are very friendly pets. Still, they ARE considered a wild animal and should be respected as such. Constrictors have been known to bite, and damn it does hurt, but a snake the size of mine is easy enough to get control of should he happen to bite. Which he never has.

Fuzzy likes to wrap himself around Bullets neck and massage him. He also likes to climb over Bullet's head and take his glasses off his face. He's quite comical, sometimes.

ArnoldLayne wrote: My son, Nick has a Royal python which I think is the same as a Ball python and he has been bit once or twice. Its a beautiful creature
Did he get the snake young? Does he handle him a lot? We handle Fuzzy several times a day, to make sure he's used to it, because when people come over, the first thing they want to do is hold Fuzzy.

ArnoldLayne wrote: Yeah he was young. He's had it for about two years now and is handled regularly. When he first got it, it wouldnt eat for maybe 2 months. Change of environment I suppose. He settled down soon after and is fine now and is fed on mice. The thawed out, frozen variety
So is a "Royal" python what we call a "Ball" python? I've never heard them referred to as that.

ArnoldLayne wrote: Just googled it............



V. SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS:

The Royal Python is also known as the Ball Python since it will coil into a tight ball with

http://www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/azroypth.html
Ah, so it is the same animal. Cool, thanks for looking it up, Arnie! :-6

We have a young Royal python(4ft) . I'm a bit of a Reptile freak so i find all reptile's amazing and over the last 7/8 year's i've kept most lizard's ,spider's tortoise's, iggy's you name it we've had it . The only thing i would say about snake's is they sometime's do bite and i have been bitten but if you handle them regulary you should'nt really have any problem's the only time to avoid handling is just before feeding when the snake could possibley mistake your hand for it's dinner so no sharp movement's .Not many people see the beauty in reptile's which is a shame and the common misconception is people thinking all snake's are venonmous .Here in the UK you would need a licence for something venonmous ..snake's really are wonderful serene creature's it's just bad keeper's that give the hobby a bad name.

pantsonfire321@aol.com wrote: it's just bad keeper's that give the hobby a bad name.
As is true with most things considered "controversial" by people who just aren't educated about such things.

Would you ever own a venomous snake, Pants?

BabyRider wrote: As is true with most things considered "controversial" by people who just aren't educated about such things.

Would you ever own a venomous snake, Pants?


NO never i would need a licence which i would never be able to get

pantsonfire321@aol.com wrote: NO never i would need a licence which i would never be able to get
If you didn't need the license? Would you then?

BabyRider wrote: If you didn't need the license? Would you then?


NO NEVER why anyone would want a venonmus animal is beyond me .

pantsonfire321@aol.com wrote: NO NEVER why anyone would want a venonmus animal is beyond me .
For the same reason they think owning a big cat, (lion, cougar, etc....) or a viscious dog is a good idea. It's a status symbol to them. It's stupid, to me, but that's just one person's opinion.

BabyRider wrote: For the same reason they think owning a big cat, (lion, cougar, etc....) or a viscious dog is a good idea. It's a status symbol to them. It's stupid, to me, but that's just one person's opinion.


VERY TRUE i have a 10 1/2 Rottie and you would'nt find a bigger baby i have always had large breed dog's 2 Rott's and Shepard ....it's again a misconception people think if you have a large dog it must be vicious Jake is a 7 year old castrasted male who get's bossed aroung by three cat's. :wah: