Reptile & Amphibian Forums

tongs? i have seen this being used by some of the big breeders and was starting to ask myself if i should start doing the same? also pre scenting to room 30 -60 min prior to get a better feeding response how many of you guys do that and noticed a change in there feeding? thanks in advance.

i don't have an answer to the live/tong thing-- i imagine it would work fine and be safer than just having a mouse/rat/etc running around the cage with your snake... keeps it in one area and if not eaten- you don't risk getting tagged when removing the prey....

as for pre-scenting...
There are a few animals we have, as soon as i hit the door home from picking rats up- they are stationed at the top of the cage- waiting. They are not underfed by any means so they aren't starving- they're just my 3 garbage disposals. 1 retic and 2 red tails.

I have noticed that when i start on one side of the room, by the time i make a full circle- the last several cages are awake and know its food time... so i suppose thats pre-scenting... i'm in the room for about 30 min. with a tub of rats/mice before i get to the last cages....

does that help?
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

yes thanks!

I tried that and didn't care for it . When I picked them up by the scruff of there neck with the tongs. They would hold still untill you set them down . Then they would run. Often scareing the snake . Other times the snake would take the rat right off the tongs. Half the time grabing the rat in the body instead of the head . Now you have a rat with his head free fighting for it's life .
What works for me has been to prekill them one at a time as needed . Some people don't like that. They can't kill something . They love animals to much . Most of my feeder rats I raise myself . I think rats are pretty cool animals. (except for the smell). You owe it to them to end there life as quick and painless as possible . When it's my time to stop sucking air I could only hope it's that sudden . Sorry for the rant . Claude

I am trying to switch my snakes over to accepting prey off of tongs. Seeing other people do it, and doing it at work, it is really much easier and great for monitoring feeding response. Unfortunately, most of my balls have issues realizing that the tongs mean food - my boa, kingsnake, and large old female ball have figured it out but the rest of the balls have not. Ugh.

As for pre-scenting the room... I have to keep all of my animals in my bedroom while I'm going to school. In addition to my reptile collection, I also breed fancy rats...so my room is constantly prescented. My snakes do not react at all if I bring new rats or other rodents home.

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

You must have watched 8balls new video, if you haven't you should. He shows the snakes eating off the tongs and he never sets them down. I do prescent the room, helps a lot, gets them interested. I do not use the tongs but have been thinking about trying it after seeing the video.
Link

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I feed all mine off tongs. I hold them where there front feet are just touching the ground, so they don't climb back up the handle. It usually gives a strong feeding response. If they slip off and run around it usually results in the snake getting PO'd and doesn't eat them..usually. And if the snake acts interested but doesn't take them within a few minutes
I keep the rodent in the tongs and whack them hard against something solid to kill them quickly and put the feeder in the tub with the snake. No worries about snakes getting bit and the rodent is still warm and 9 times out of 10, the feeder is gone when I check in about an hour.
~Tony

..Sorry about the spellling, I'm half numb right now, lol.

I feed live, but do not use tongs. I have never pre-scented, but am planning on trying it this Friday.

I don't use tongs at all with live prey...even with the few stubborn feeders I have that won't take pre-killed or frozen thawed. For one...put too much pressure and the squealing rat upsets the neighbors, too little pressure and I end up chasing a scared rat all over the snake room. Instead I just use barely weaned rat pups for my live feeders..to lessen chances of the snake being bitten and if they need more food I sometimes follow it up with a similar sized pre-killed...sort of nudge the nose of the new rat just as the snake is nearly finished swallowing the first. If I don't miss it.
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PHLdyPayne

why not just feed F.T.? It is way easier to wiggle a dead rodent than hold onto a struggling one with tongs.
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I eat human infants. They, like everything else, taste like chicken. What?

I know this post is kinda old but i have had good luck with hemostats, like they use in hospitals. from 6" to 24" long and you can lock/unlock them in place with one hand. you can use as much or as little pressure as needed to keep control of the wee beastie. 100 times better than that crap they sell in the pet stores. you can get them at any medical supply store (check yellow pages) or ask your doctor or vet i found one 1/2 mile from my house. trust me these places are everywhere, but typicaly are prety small businesses and don't advertise on the net (gasp) word of mouth is the way to go, my vet told me about the place where i got mine. mine are 14 or 20" (i forget) cost me a whopping $14.00 are surgical steel and will last forever.
another benefit is the leverage that these things give you. if you have to kill a mouse or rat for whatever reason grab it by the neck with the hemostat and squeeze...the neck will snap and it will die almost instantly. my $.02
good luck
Mike