Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay I love the spiders and the one I have I simply adore! But at feeding time he's a bit slow.. LOL He has an appetite that can't be beat, and he hits hard and fast without a problem but it takes him 20 minutes *i'm not exagerating here* to figure out how to eat it. If he is lucky enough to catch the head end he will just swallow it down after he has "killed" it.. but the last one was still alive, but barely. (ps.. is that bad for him) The last time I grabbed the rat behind the head and put it in his face. He started to swallow right away. Does anyone else find that yours does this too? I have not noticed a "spider wobble" to speak of when i watch him or hold him, could it be that when he gets excited the wobble comes out and shows then? I got him for my breeding projects, but not sure now if I should use him. I'm waiting for spider female babies to come out of the egg right now, and since I'm not breeding spider to spider I could just keep him for a pet if need be. personality wise he is my favorite.. but not too shabby in the looks department either..

What do you all think..
I also wonder if I could give prekilled since he took it off the tongs for me after he killed it.. hmm..

Sorry for the long post.. here's a pic of him..

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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

1.0 Basset Hound (Capone)
1.1 cats (San Quinton and Gracie)

I'm probably going to get a lot of crap for saying this in a BP forum but, one of my boas does the same thing. He will take the prey item with out hesitation and so on, but when it comes to the eating part he will taste the rats whole body several times, and mouth it a few time before he finally figures out where the head is, it takes him forever. He is the only one I own that does that. But as long as your snake does eat, then I wouldn't worry about it. As far as the "spider wobble" I have never delt with one so I couldn't tell you what is actually going with your spider, which I bet is nothing. Also if your snake is eating off the tongs right now, I would definitely consider switching over to frozen food Items. Beautiful ball by the way.
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Brian Grosart
Forever Constrictors ©
foreverconstrictors@hotmail.com

I have a couple of snakes that I had problems with doing this. I discovered that the problem was most likely too much movement and activity around the snake during the constriction and feeding process. It may make them nervous so they look like they are working to find the head but what I think they are actually doing is looking around to make sure it is safe to start eating (during which they are quite vulnerable). I'd recommend feeding him in a clear plastic container that you can put a lid on and set aside while he eats so you won't disturb him or feed him in his cage/tank/tub.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

To tell you the truth I wouldn't be suprised if some of the morphs out there aren't half retarded or slow from all the imbreeding, I mean really, look at humans. Some that are imbred have downsyndrome and other visual defects, but some look “normal” and they only have an IQ rating that barely gets them to homo sapien status. I'm sure the same has been done with snakes. I have owned alot of snakes and I have had the same problem as you. I have stuck the prekilled mouse or whatever in the cage, let the snake “kill” it again, leave the room for 20 mins and comeback only to see my snakes mouth around the mouses a** and spit it back out and start searching for the nose again. Only snakes I have seen take down prey quickly are burmese, anacondas, african rocks, alot of boas (some where slow as molases in winter though) and green tree pythons. In the end though it's not a marathon. Just be greatful they don't choke on it LoL.

you should really read up on the actual truth of inbreeding. also inbreeding doesn't make your snake eat a mouse backend first. its a lot more common than you would think. just because animal planet or discovery says "snakes always eat their prey head first" doesn't make it true. ive seen plenty of wild caughts eat stuff backwards or even from the side, doubled over.
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www.bamreptiles.webs.com
www.facebook.com/bamreptiles

Yeah, I was just trying to bring some comedy to the forum. Sorry I will keep it to a minimum.

You mean you haven't tried to offer him pre-killed or frozen thawed before??

It would be a shame to see a beautiful snake like yours with bite marks or a missing eye! A dead mouse or rat will never hurt your snake and he can take all the time he likes to figure out which end is which.

I have had hundreds of snakes of all kinds over the last 20 years and every single one of them ate frozen-thawed food. You don't even need to get him to take it off tongs. Just place the food near his hide in the evening and I bet it will be gone in the morning.
At least give it a try.

John

I prefer to feed prekilled, and my pastel is the only one not taking pinks or rat pups.. and I have wasted many a rat because he wouldnt eat it. I don't like feeding live, but I've had no luck switching him over. And I don't leave him unattended. If he's gonna take it he takes it right away, if not it gets removed. I've wasted many a rat leaving prekilled in over night.
My spider, and mojave are on large rat pups and the normal baby is on large rat pinkies. They wont hurt my snakes if left uneaten.
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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

1.0 Basset Hound (Capone)
1.1 cats (San Quinton and Gracie)

From your original post it sounded like you hadn't tried offering pre-killed food. I didn't mean to offend and I know it wasn't really the question. You've clearly made the effort to switch him.

It's just one of my "hot-button" issues and it amazes me how many people don't try. For me, feeding F/T is part of my effort to nuke the myth that keeping snakes as pets involves cruelty to small fuzzy mammals. As well as the public's perception that we enjoy watching our animals kill.
Feeding frozen-thawed, humanely euthanized rodents, when possible, eliminates that argument.

John

spiders are retarded...period....they suck...but people like them and buy them ....so we make them....

as for frozen...too much work....too much waste....

I feed live....almost all live....20 years ...one snake hurt/lost, baby male ball....must have been a really posessed hopper mouse....?...and a really sissy baby ball....one...not bad from thousands of feedings....

(this is where they cry about that one baby ball)....
insert here....>>>

.....I know.....humane.....yes...I do it the most humane way possible....I let the snake have at it....

....origional post,....yes...spiders are stupid....

.....
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......JY

Well, it's true. If possible it needs to be switched to f/t. Just keep trying them. Make sure they are completely thawed. If it's still somewhat cold the snake can tell. Try feeding it once a week the same day every week for five weeks. It will eventually eat. Yeah, sometimes they are stubborn, but once they go f/t you never let them go back. If you do then you have to go through the whole process. What I did when I had frozen thawed was lay them on the counter for about two hours and then lay them in a sunny window seal about an hour and a half to make sure they were completely thawed and body temperature was where it should be. That was for large rats though. Probably wouldn't take that long for pinkies or adult mice. With pinkies I just turned on the faucet and got the water hot enough to where I could hold my hand under the water and thawed them like that.