Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[stormiemanda]

well ive just fed nemisis but i feed him by tongs but i dropped the mouse and couldnt pik it up in tim he had ate it tail first is this ok as i read somewhere its dangerous hes never done it before even when ive dropped them before he turns them around i think he just might of been really hungry. the mice he eats are med mice when hes 5ft long because he cannot manage a bigger size all the time. do you think he will be ok?
manda xx

[Stuart]

I'm sure he will be fine..some of mine do it quite often..
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[stormiemanda]

oh thank god for that im having nothing but trouble with my reps just latly one thing after anougher
manda xx

[Pendlehog]

Ditto I wouldn't worry, my hogs often take their food sideways (still have no trouble scoffing it though!)
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-Hannah-

[The Docta]

Hi,

There's a study by Mehta, R.S.: Prey-handling Behavior Of Hatchling *Elaphe helena (Colubridae), Herpetologica, 59 [4], 2003, p. 469 - 474.
He divided 60 juvenile helenas into 3 groups, fed one group with small, one with middle-sized and one with large-sized prey.

Here's an excerpt of the final discussion of the study:
"(These results) suggest that hatchlings of E. helena are able to employ different handling behaviors when presented with different prey-size-specific stimuli.
Hatchlings coiled larger prey items, while, for smaller prey items perhaps perceived as less challenging, they simply seized and swallowed the prey alive....
Hatchling snakes are probably using both tactile cues and the actual weight of the prey as indicators of which preyhandling behaviors to adopt.
Ultimately, these varied responses to prey of different size may enable these snakes to minimize prey-handling time." (Mehta, p. 473)

Hope, this is a bit reassuring...

Jürgen
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1,1 Elaphe dione; 1,1 Elaphe schrencki;
1,1 Zamenis persicus; 2,1 Rhinechis scalaris;
1,1 Gonyosoma prasinum

[stormiemanda]

thanks for that but i dont understand it lol
manda xx

[The Docta]

Hi manda,

...to cut things short: those trinket snakes in that study only <felt forced> to kill their prey by constriction before they engulfed it,
if it was real big, otherwise it wasn't a challenge for them & they engulfed it without constricting it first.

So, it's no tragedy, if they don't use the <head-first-technique>.

Best wishes

Jürgen
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1,1 Elaphe dione; 1,1 Elaphe schrencki;
1,1 Zamenis persicus; 2,1 Rhinechis scalaris;
1,1 Gonyosoma prasinum

[stormiemanda]

thanks i understand now sorry im not very clever he always coils around his food before eating it dont no why as its dead already lol
manda xx

[The Docta]

[Scott W]