Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a yearling pair of Easterns, they are almost 3 feet. When the snakes were smaller, I would present an ft mouse or chick with tongs, and it was fine. Now, the feeding response is so strong, and so visually oriented from the perspective of the snake, that I cant deliver the prey item in tongs, because once they smell the prey, they will leap at any movement. After they eat, and all is still, they dial in on the slightest movement, even me blinking my eyes.

My current method is to put the snake in an empty tub that has fairly high walls, and throw the prey in. This works and I can slowly reach in and pick up the snake to put it back in its box after the zeal has subsided some.

As I anticipate the growth of my snakes, my question is... How do you deal with the aggressive feeding response of a large, adult Indigo? I think I have a plan, but would like to hear how you guys do it.

Thanks,
Thad

I always use a snake hook to let the indigo know it's me. Once they realise I'm not a meal, they mellow out.

Doug T

Thad,

In the past, I have fed both neonates and adults in containers SEPARATE from the cages that they lived in. Since then,I have converted to feeding them in the cages that they live in, using long tongs to place the mice in the cage, or putting a plate of mice with or small rats that are frozen thawed in the cage.

I also make sure that the snakes realize it is ME by moving them around with a hook, much like Doug does. And not gently.

I also tend to handle my neonates and adults quite a bit when they are not being fed in the cage, this way not to reinforce this feeding response that occurs when you have a snake that goes into predator mode EVERY time the cage or slidebox is opened.

Hope this helped,

Fred Albury

You may not be feeding them enough items at one meal. Give them more than they'll eat for awhile. They may become less frantic to go after what ever approaches.

Not getting enough. That’s why the feeding switch is always on.

Feed the need. As yearlings the extra food will slow the constant attack reaction and help kick that growth spurt.

Wait till your Indies are 6’ plus and that feeding response hits them.

baby drys have unbelieveably ravenous appetites & will easily eat small meals a few times a week w/out getting fat. they just seem to absorb everything in sight & shed alot. that's how you end up w/ big, healthy adults. alot of guys it seems, tend to underfeed the youngsters & overfeed the adults. the exact opposite is true. feeding babies once every 7 to 10 days may be ok for boas but does not nearly cut it w/ the drymarchon genus. but once they hit a certain size & are regularly taking larger prey items, they become less inclined to eat as often but when they do......be careful!!

I prefer to feed my indigos inside their own cages rather than feeding them in a separate container. I always have a snake hook on hand to give him a little nudge to let him know its me. Since I, like the others, take my indigos out quite a bit they learn to not always expect food. Also, having two sliding panes of glass on the front (Visions) makes it easy as I can just look at where the snake is and open the cage from the side opposite where h/she's at....a pair of long hemostats goes a long way.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>I have a yearling pair of Easterns, they are almost 3 feet. When the snakes were smaller, I would present an ft mouse or chick with tongs, and it was fine. Now, the feeding response is so strong, and so visually oriented from the perspective of the snake, that I cant deliver the prey item in tongs, because once they smell the prey, they will leap at any movement. After they eat, and all is still, they dial in on the slightest movement, even me blinking my eyes.
>>
>>My current method is to put the snake in an empty tub that has fairly high walls, and throw the prey in. This works and I can slowly reach in and pick up the snake to put it back in its box after the zeal has subsided some.
>>
>>As I anticipate the growth of my snakes, my question is... How do you deal with the aggressive feeding response of a large, adult Indigo? I think I have a plan, but would like to hear how you guys do it.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Thad
>>
>>
>>
>>
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

That's exactly what I do. Have the nice big vision too. The sliders on either side make handling and removing from cage very nice. Makes feeding easy too. Just toss in the side he's farthest from Of course as he gets bigger this may get more challenging.

>>I prefer to feed my indigos inside their own cages rather than feeding them in a separate container. I always have a snake hook on hand to give him a little nudge to let him know its me. Since I, like the others, take my indigos out quite a bit they learn to not always expect food. Also, having two sliding panes of glass on the front (Visions) makes it easy as I can just look at where the snake is and open the cage from the side opposite where h/she's at....a pair of long hemostats goes a long way.
>>
>>Rob Carmichael, Curator
>>The Wildlife Discovery Center
>>Lake Forest, IL

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Thane

WHAT Don't you guys have any eye hand co-ordination?