RCReptiles.com

[tigasnake]

Tonight was officially one week since I handled or tried to feed Marty. He seemed a little active today so I headed over to my nearby pet shop and picked up a frozen small mouse (next up from fuzzy).

At first I was apprehensive, because of the last attempt, but this time the humidity was perfect, the temps were perfect and his activity even during the day was telling me that he was either hungry or feeling safe enough to travel around under the sun. Everything I read here was put to the test.

I came back from the pet shop and began to thaw the mouse by getting a depreciated coffee cup and spoon and kept the dead rodent in a ziplock bag. I put hot water (probably 100 degrees) in the mug and used the spoon to keep the bag down to ensure the mouse was fully thawed after 10 mins.

Afterwards I used a blowdryer to dry the mouse. Its body was as warm as my Yorkie's belly after playing with him, so I knew it was very adequate to be portrayed as a warm blooded, lively animal.

Marty was behind the bush setup (plastic leaves wrapped around small "monkey bar logs") acting like he found a 3rd hide. I took a needle to put it threw the feeder mouse's head to assure myself that everything was perfect and enticing for a baby python to enjoy.

Opening the cage I saw Marty curl up a bit, showing some hesitation. I picked the mouse up with my 10 inch tong from PetsMart and slowly lowered it to about 3 inches from the widest opening of the bush. Marty's head moved over the highest log on the and hid his face behind a leaf.

...

5 Minutes go by with me dangling the mouse on top of the cypress bedding . My arm is getting cramped and tired. I began doing slow and subtle jerks as if the mouse was keeping alert. Suddenly, Marty pops his head out, moving the leaf to the side and his tongue began going like crazy as he got closer and closer to his prey. At this point his whole body was loosely wrapped around the log. Is Marty planning a plot to kill from his tree? I didn't buy a green tree python, I bought a ball python!

Then the strike. I felt my arm move back slightly and my tong's grip was quickly released. For about 3-4 mins, he kept his coil firm and tight. No movement. Then Marty released his body and his tongue began going like crazy again. He moved and smelled around a foot long perimeter, which I can assume that he was assuring that there were no predators in the area before he began chowing down. I stayed alert and as focused as the snake, since I heard stories about snakes accidentally swallowing cypress chips that were stuck to the mouse.

I was so relieved when I saw him smell his way to its head and opened his mouth. When he got to the lower torso, I saw a piece of cypress. I put the tong back in and slid it off Monty's kill. At the end, another piece entered his mouth, and I swiftly slid back out onto the ground. He seemed fine with me helping his feeding out. He didn't jerk away or show any sign of intrusion.

Hopefully this is normal, but I did notice that a minute after he devoured it, he began opening and closing his mouth as if he were yawning. After reading RI stories, that was the first thing that went through my head. I'm sure he was just clearing his throat.

---

Well as a first time snake owner, I feel very relieved and very accomplished. I know that ball pythons are of the pickiest eaters and I find this to be a big win. I couldn't thank this community more to make the event so perfect. Marty is now one happy, healthy, and FULL snake thanks to you guys.

/golfclap

I took pics of him in the action. It's up to you guys if you want to see them or not.

-Kyle

[GrayKat97]

The yawning was him rehinging his jaw they do that after they eat.

Of course we want to see pics. Post 'em please.

[tigasnake]

Alrighty!



This is him right after he lunged at his prey. His poor body fell off the tree right after, finding nothing but ground.. he seemed to ignore that "embarrassing" fall.


This is him gobbling up the rest of his meal. You can see that one piece of cypress on the mouse still (before I removed it), which I was talking about in the story.


This is Marty going back to the scene of the crime, wondering if there is more (kinda like a dog sniffing around the area after eating a treat that was tossed to the ground.) "Is der more, Kyle?"

[deborahbroadus]

Wonderful pics and story board, I enjoyed it!!

Congrats on the eat..it makes US feel great when they eat..shows we are on the right track (or that they are finally hungry!)

[dragon2285]

WHOOO YEAH!!! squeeze in a quick quest. do they constrict/kill for the hell of it?? i dropped an FT in just now and he started going towards it, before i could lift the ft up my the thongs he went straight for it! but nailed the back of the mouse so he was trying to swallow from the back but i guess he couldn't even if he wanted to cuz one of the leg was hangin out, and he just gave up on it he seemed hungry cuz thats was the FIRST time he went for the FT in less then a min so maybe he will give it another go later.

[deborahbroadus]

[todd13]

congrats and pretty snake

[cupcake]

I have orchid bark in my royals viv and never feed him in there unless I lay down newspaper over the substrate first as I have heard that if they swallow the substrate it can cause impactation which can kill the snake. You say that your royal didn't mind you poking the tongues in whilst he was swallowing the mouse but if you scared him he might regurge his mouse. I would either feed him out of the viv in a tub or something or lay down paper first. I have even fed mine on my floor before.

Yeah all snakes have to put their jaws back in line (which looks like yawning) as they dislocate the jaw to enable them to swallow their prey.

[tigasnake]

I haven't tried the newspaper idea. Perhaps I'll do that next time and designate a "kill zone". What I have done was tried to put him in a seperate container and introduce the mouse 10 mins later. That was a futile effort. He showed no interest in the food after 45 mins. So I warmed the mouse back up with a blow dryer and stuck the snake back in the main cage. When I introduced the mouse literally 10 mins later, he came right for it..

I guess it's because he got so used to the primary cage that he enjoys the hunt in there.

[MikeandSlick]

Good story, I was hooked. A real page-turner, aka mousewheel scroller. Congrats on the first feed.

[redleif]

I feed Optimus in the bath tub. I just put down a warm towel because the tub is a little cold in the winter months. He is done in about 10 to 15 min.. The only time he didn't eat was when he struck at the mouse and missed, I think he was a little embarrased,but he ate a couple hours later.

[NickMyers03]

Cool story...keep'em coming..

i love how you compaired the mouse to your dogs belly...that was great