| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 05/09/2010 : 19:58:10
Hello everyone.
Today was my first attempt at feeding Valhalla, I took her out the viv to avoid her eating any substrate and dangled the little mouse up for her but she didn't seem that interested, in fact at one point she was even moving away from the mouse.
I've put the mouse in her viv overnight to see what happens but am not expecting much.
I'll try her again in a few days see if I can get a strike out of her.
Also,is it possible the mouse could be too small for her attention? It's nowhere near the girth of her body but it's what the chap in the store was getting her to strike on.
Thanks alot! will keep you all updated :) |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 12/11/2010 : 21:15:26
I wish I had taped Valhalla, I've never witnessed such stupidity before from her, it was quite incredible.
However I have to admire her spirit, although she fails and humiliates herself every feed time she doesn't give up, in fact just now I was "attempting" to feed Diablo (who again, refused, and just made a bid for freedom by charging out of his rub as soon as the mouse came along) I finished up getting him back in his rub and placing the lid on when I noticed Valhalla, who was asleep before I got the mouse out, was pressing her nose against the glass looking up at Diablo's rub as if begging me to let her have it instead, he's only going to waste it anyway!
On a side note: Does anyone know if it's dangerous for Diablo to be starving himself for this long, I know alot of royals don't eat for months on end but he's only 2 months old, I've had him for 3-4 weeks so surely he needs all the good stuff from a mouse while he's still this young? |
| deadmansfinger |
Posted - 12/11/2010 : 15:45:54
It's funny reading this as my royal KingBob did exactly the same thing on Sunday. I have only had him a few weeks so I am still learning about his habits but the first rat I gave him last week he ate it quickly. This sunday he took it first strike but then he totally milked it and took 30 minutes to eat it with about 20 of those minutes spent constricting it and rolling about the tub. At one point I got fed up and went and made a cup of tea and came back and he was still "killing" it!
I am going to try and video it this Sunday so I hope he puts on a show again! |
| n/a |
Posted - 12/11/2010 : 15:06:58
Hi, if it's any consolation:
Shahi's feeding day today. New consignment of frozen - beautiful quality and still incredibly cheap despite delivery cost - congrats A&N - so Shahi has correct size mouse, as large as rat weaner and biggest prey he's eaten so far.
1.50 - I let him feed in-viv since the room is cold and he doesn't seem keen to come down from his climbing branch. Mouse well defrosted, warmed on warm oven top, finished off still sitting in plastic bag nose down in jug of hot water (poor mouse!) Strike, coil, and ...wait ...Better make sure it's dead!
2.00 Holding mouse by neck, tries to eat. Fail! Adjusts mouse in coils, very dexterously, but unfortunately mouse head is jammed against ceiling and inaccessible. So he starts at the tail, looking like someone trying to eat sphaghetti. This doesn't work, so he starts on a back leg instead ... Talk about wide-eyed, legless and rat-a**ed!
2.05 Fail. Lowers mouse and tries tail again.
2.06 He's lost the plot entirely. Still hanging from the branch, mouse in coils, he's staring worriedly at me as if asking for directions. I profit from your post and don't interfere, knowing that, like Valhalla, he'll coil madly again and we'll be back to square one.
2.07 He's now nuzzling jerkily up and down the mouse and his own coils, still very worried as to where the mouse really is. Perhaps an existential moment? (Where am I? What am I doing here? What is the meaning of mouse?)
2.09 Manages to grab mouse behind the ears again ... facepalm! But no, he finally manoeuvres round to mouse nose ... at last!
2.25 All gone!
I adore royals but I have to say it ... they're thick! Bless them! |
| n/a |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 23:45:41
LOL, probably gave her quite a thrill! I've heard some snake keepers do that, tweak the prey about a bit, to give the snake the excitement of the chase. It would've brightened up a boring Sunday afternoon! |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 23:29:11
yeah i think i prolonged the event by trying to help her, she probably thought "Oh crap! it's still alive" every time I tried to help. |
| n/a |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 21:27:13
Wow, she sounds enthusiastic - at least she got there in the end - was probably enjoying herself!
I've known Shahi strike and coil - and then wait ... for an eternity ... do you think this might be an instinctive thing? When full grown and in the wild they would be hunting quite large prey, so our pet snakes still wait for their f/t meal to 'die'? When you
helped her she might have thought that the mouse itself was moving, so gave it an extra coil and waited to stop it getting away? Probably saw it as a bit of a challenge! (By heck, I had to take me coat off to that one!)
(All this is off the top of my head - I'm not a snake psychologist!)
Hope Diablo feeds for you soon - I've heard humidity can be a factor, but they can still be slow starters when they're in a new home. He'll get there. All the best. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 20:27:48
Shop was out of rats so I bought a Extra large mouse, first time she's eaten one so big, took her 2 hours to get to the bloody mouses head and everytime I tried to drag it out a bit or move it so she could find the head she just clutched it tighter and buried the head again, was a god damn nightmare!
She ate it eventually though once she found the head.
Diablo still isn't eating, 2 failed feeds so far but I'm guessing that might be to do with the humidity problem. |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 27/10/2010 : 06:20:35
Royals have very poor eyesight and use their heat pits and sense of smell just as much to aim their strike. So make sure your prey is nice and warm (mine get 30 secs of hair drier before offering, concentrating on the head). |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 26/10/2010 : 23:23:17
Thanks for the advice Burned :)
I was a little worried about her biting herself, thought she might be blind haha. |
| n/a |
Posted - 26/10/2010 : 22:59:08
Hi, sorry to hear that. I'm assuming she's nowhere near another shed at the moment, so we can rule out that as a cause for any moodiness.
However, I fed Shahi today and he mis-struck - was I glad I was using those cheap kitchen tongs with soft plastic grips - as it was he must have really banged his nose, and when I offered the mouse again, he winced. Then he recovered and grabbed it and ate. I've heard a lot about royals missing their strike like this ... let's face it - they're sweet, but a little thick ... bless them!
I've also seen snakes biting themselves before - a couple of my corns have done it when coiled round a mouse; they go into a sort of feeding frenzy and for a few moments forget where they put the mouse lol.
And the aggressiveness and wariness ... in my experience, snakes simply aren't consistent. One day they seem to recognise you and it's as if they want to come out and be handled; the next it's 'do I know you? Go away!' As has been said before, they're wild animals. I call Shahi my 'bold' python, but he will often wince or flinch at the slightest thing, and my very laid back corns sometimes change into racers when I need to pick them up. Totally unpredictable.
But you've said that Valhalla's had a bad home before you got her? I've no experience of rescuing snakes - perhaps someone on here can give you more advice regarding this. It could be that it will take Valhalla a long time to calm down - as I say, I don't know about this.
Oh, and the refusal of the second mouse - I wouldn't worry. They're like that. Like us, really, one day hungry, next day not that bothered.
Hope things settle down with her soon, and hope this helps. Sorry to be so long-winded! All the best. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 26/10/2010 : 21:36:46
Update.
I fed Valhalla today and it was terrible.
She ate her first mouse, but the strike was mistimed and it looked as if she hurt her jaw, took her ages to finally bite into it and start eating and she did that weird yawning thing about 7 times before she bit the mouse, however before eating the mouse for some reason she struck it again but missed this time, biting into her own coil and having to pry her teeth out, no damage done but was a bit strange.
I offered her the second mouse once she was done with the first and she missed her first strike at it then refused to strike a second time and turned away from it each time I wiggled it. I eventually gave up with the second and attempted to get her back in her Viv but she was very aggressive with me and it took me a few attempts to get close enough to her to pick her up.
I'm a little worried about her behaviour;
She jumps every time I touch her and is always rearer her head back to strike at me when I lift her hide, I have to give her at least 5-10 minutes to pick her up each time I handle her and any movement she's not expecting causes her to jump, strike or flee.
I'm thinking maybe the damage done by her previous owner was a little worse than I was told and perhaps she's going to always be like this
- any tips to any of this post? |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 20/09/2010 : 22:45:23
Yeah I was so proud haha! My girlfriend even threatened me that when we have kids I better be as proud of the things they do xP |
| anatess |
Posted - 20/09/2010 : 21:58:51
Awesome!!!
You're all past the hump then! Just relax and enjoy now! Wonderful! |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 20/09/2010 : 20:00:16
Fantastic feed today! She took both mice, struck and missed the first, struck again and coiled. Ate that one then I introduced the second, struck it and clung to it's head, I gave it a wiggle and she constricted it so tight there was blood left in the box at the end where she was eating it. She's settling down in the box right now I'll move her into her viv in a moment when my hands stop shaking and I pluck the courage to put them into the death zone she has created |
| anatess |
Posted - 20/09/2010 : 17:29:14
Yeah, 1 big rat is better than 2 small ones.
Sometimes, the stores run out of the correct size, so you have to go with the smaller sizes. If you have to feed multiples, a lot of people wait until the first rat's rump is inside the mouth and then just put the next rat's nose right against the rump of the first one - the royal should just continue to swallow the 2nd rat as if it's just 1 rat. No added stress of trying to get another strike. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 18/09/2010 : 10:13:06
Righto, I'll avoid the tail technique then don't really want to p*** her off while she's eating.
I'll run these mice out and then upgrade to a bigger rat or something. |
| Blackecho |
Posted - 17/09/2010 : 22:34:01
Never heard of lifting or even touching the snake while feeding. Snakes generally don't like their tails being touched, so I presume on some animals it would make them angry enough to strike, others it may just put off feeding.
He means 2 in one sitting, personally I try to avoid multiple feeding, just offer 1 prey item the correct size. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 17/09/2010 : 21:56:03
Sorry for the 3 consecutive posts >.< was just curious as to if anyone had an update on the previous post? |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 16/09/2010 : 11:36:15
Hey I have another question, the chap at the store said to feed her 2 medium mice every week or so, does he mean in the same sitting as in 2 in one night or 1 every 3-4 days?
Also, he mentioned a good way to get a strike was to hold the snakes tail a little in the air while you're waving the mouse around for her, apparently that is how he got her feeding, anyone heard of this technique before? |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 14/09/2010 : 18:41:12
I'll keep it in mind and I'll let you all know when she's ready for shed :) |
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