Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How should I do it? I want to feed my 7 footer a rat chased down by a small rabbit.

First of I am assuming that you have tried to feed rabbits and your snake is showing no interest. If this is the case then give your snake a large rat (PK, FK). Let your snake do his normal thing with the rat and watch from the side or somewhere where you will not disturb it. Once the snake is in the process of swallowing then you can present yourself again and should not cause any stress or anything. Once they actually start eating then they become pretty oblivious to whats around them. Anyway, you need to have everything ready becasue this next step can go fast and if you miss the opportunity you need to start over with another rat or wait til the next feeding. Anyway, once the snake has the rat mostly swollowed and just the tail is sticking out of its mouth then when the snake opens its mouth to slide the rest of the rat down place the head of a small rabbit(once again ft pk) in the mouth. If you get it in good enough then the snake will grab it and continue on swallowing it. If you hold the rabbit by the base of the skull you can get a good position and get the nose of the rabbit pretty far into its mouth. Just watch your fingers or you might get a few little pricks for your effort. I would use really small rabbits for I have noticed that if the rabbit is to big then the snake might get frustrated and give up and spit it back up. I have had this happen to me on two different occasions. I hope this is understandable to you and I hope it helps. Todd

but I like to keep my fingers a little further away. I use my snake stick to help guide the head in. It can be frustrating too cuz you only have a few seconds to get it done. So far I haven't missed one but it can be a challenge. Maybe try those long forceps they sell at the shows, or grillin tongs. Hell. just reach in and give him a big kiss! Sorry, tention breaker, had to be done. It ain't to bad. Good luck!

DZ

NP