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I have a very light phase pastel columbian redtail!Heres the problem!Shes 9 months old now an is my very first redtail,so yes she got all the attention!Shes is 2 inches shy of being 4 ft long,an believe it or not,she has never been power fed,So this shows me shes probably going to be a big girl,when she hits breeding stage!The problem is,I feed her prekilled rats that I raise myself!An she nails them from my hand an reticulates around them with no problem an when the rat is completely dead she lets go an does nothing!So I take a chance getting bit but I grab the rat by the tail an hold it in front of her an instead of striking the rat again she opens her mouth an starts eating while I am still holding the rat,if I let go before she gets past the ears she will stop eating!SPOILED YES VERY!But I need to solve this problem before she gets bigger an I get nailed!!!!!Any help would be great!Thanks Charles!

First...get some hemostats before we read about you getting bite or accidently killed! I use 18" hemos. You can get them from a variety of sources.
Second...with the hemos you can wriggle the rat all you want, so it should eliminate part of your problem.
Also, are you letting the rat completely thaw? I let mine thaw in the refrigerator (in a zip loc bag) and put the bag in very warm water to warm up the rat a little before feding (I leave it in the bag so it won't get all wet). Don't try to warm up the rat in a microwave!!!
I'm sure others on this forum also have some good tricks!

No the rats are not frozen thawed!They are live ones that I have snapped their necks before feeding!Now while the rat is still flopping from its neves I offer it by the tip of their tail an she nails it but when she knows its completely dead,she lets go of it an dont eat unless I am still holding it!Then she will eat!Thanks Charles

Ooohhh, the rats are still warm then. Ignore that portion of my post, I use frozen. I would still use hemostats so the hand isn't mistaken for part of the rat. Large constrictors can inflict a nasty bite.

First of all, invest in the hemostats. I would offer the rat as you do and then just leave her alone. I have snakes that do the same thing but won't eat until things are dark, motionless and quiet. I have also had young ones that needed to be switched over to f/t, they don't even strike at it but when f/t is left nearby, it is almost always taken when left alone. Quickly they switch over to aggressively taking them from hemos. You have nothing to lose, you know how to get her to eat, you just want to let her do it with no assitance.

if she's 4ft and 9 months old... she's not starving by any means. so, don't feed her for about a month (or longer if you want), toss in a frozen thawed/warmed rat, shut the cage, turn off the lights and go to bed. it'll be gone by morning. any stubborn feeder i've ever had always comes around when there is no prey offered for a long period of time. i think it plays to their instincts of being opportunistic feeders. try it, you'll see...
now, if you REALLY want to hold your snakes food up to it so it can grab it, then USE HEMOSTATS!!! you can use the hemostats to jiggle the prey item around if you want... or if you think your boa might give up on it, then after it has grabbed the rat and constricted it, use the hemostats to move the rat around as if it were struggling w/in the coils.
or if you truly want to continue to use your hand to feed, then grab a 2x4, drive some nails through it and then beat yourself in the hand w/ it to desensitize it against future bites from your massive boa... lol
jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

And we have a smart a-- in every crowd!I feed my boa's once every 7 days!A prey item a little larger than the biggest part of her body!So I dont believe I am power feeding or over feeding her!I will admit when she was a bay I threw in a live mouse,because I was dumb about this an she got nailed good on her belly its healed an been long gone but it took quit a while to get her to eat,but because she was a baby I have always held the prekilled rat by the tip of its tail an when she took it I just shut the lid an she did the rest!But the last 3 times she wont take it unless I am still holding it by the tip of the tail!I know enough now to know that this is a problem!That needs to be solved NOW!Not when shes 2 or 3 years old!Shes ver docile so I think KILLING me is kind of far fetched but she is still a wild animal an I understand that!Thats why I asked for help!!!!!!!Thanks for the information D&M Exotics!Thanks Charles![hypoboa1]

i gave you three ways to solve your problem followed by a joke... now if all you got out of that is that i was being a smart ass, then maybe you should re-read what i wrote and then when you get to the last part, lighten up and read it too.
or... just remind me not to bother helping you ever again. and people wonder why some are hesitant to offer advice on this forum... geez!
jb

oh, and one prey item every 7 days... that explains the OVER-growth your boa has experienced... take it as a clue... ...just a hint.
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".