Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my Panamint to eat on Fri. I tried a live fuzzy. He wouldnt strike while I was holding it in front of him by the tail. Covered the cage with a pillow case with lights out. I left the fuzzy in with him for hours and he wouldnt hit. Finally the fuzzy died or was dead (dont know what killed him), but was fresh so I heated him up in hot water and brained him. He still didnt hit on it. Being cheap ( didnt want to lose the 1.50 I paid for the fuzzy) I left him there. I checked after work on Sat. and he had chowed. Yaaa!

Thanks for the advice on this site.

Has anyone heard of Rattlers waiting for up to a day to eat? I was told that this sometimes happens with them.

Hey, just a bit of clarification,you said, "He wouldnt strike while I was holding it in front of him by the tail" Were you holding the mouses tail with your hand? Hopefully you were using something else to hold it with. Just lookin out.

Luke

thinking the exact same thing!!! HOPEFULLY he was not dangling this rodent from his fingertips, as this is a pretty good way to get hit on the finger...

West, in response to your inquiry regarding dead prey...yes, I have kept rattlesnakes that would only eat dead prey that was left in their enclosure for quite some time....As long as the snake ate a dead rodent, you're in good shape....My best recommendation to you is to feed it a dead prey item, leave the item in the enclosure over night and check on it in the morning...

Oh, and if you did dangle the rodent with your fingers, you may want to consider a non-venomous species to work with...(either that or get yourself a pair of feeding forceps. They're much less expensive thn a trip to the hospital that could potentially cost you thousands in medical bills.) If you already used your previously purchased feeding tongs, then disregard the above recommendation!

-AzAtrox

Thank you for the concern. I am new with hots, this is my first. I was using 12 in. tweesers on a 9 in. snake and had on leather gloves ( is that protection?). Correct me plaeas if i am wrong, but it is a general rule that rattlers can only strike have their body length?

Good that the little bugger ate and you were being safe in your actions. Rule of thumb, yes with an adult. Young snakes can get airborne and strike much further than you think. Always best to add 100% on top of what YOU think is safe.

Good Luck
Al
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Save a Rattlesnake...Skin a Sweetwater Resident!

I have a 2 year old W. Massasauga and he can launch himself a good 10 inches when he feels like it,which is often! He's not 2 ft so that throws the 1/3 of body length rule out of the window

That's awesome West! Once they get going, they are no problems.

I've had baby rattlers eat 2 day old pinkies before, right when they were starting to swell up. Why they don't eat them "fresh" is an odd question but something about the smell of putrification I guess???

I've seen adult prairies strike with such a quick series of strikes and coming at you that basically, they covered that body length and them some in a matter of seconds. Just make sure you give yourself room to work with if you need to back up