survey

[bmm]

O.k. Well I have finished making my "survey"

I understand it will not be concrete results, but I am definitly interested in getting as many replies as I can and comparing results. So please if you have like two minutes to answer 7 questions I would appreciate it.

the link:
<a href="http://members.rogers.com/marisamarenbrophy">Survey</a>

If you do include your email address/name I will not be posting that anywhere, or be giving out like personal results. I.E. all answers will be lumped together. I will also post it again in a couple weeks to give anyone new a chance to do it. I need as many people as I can for the best results. thank you people!

bmm

 

[BrianB]

Did the survey. Got a "Forbidden" error.

In the event it didn't go through, here's the nutshell version:

2 snakes. One milk snake, one juvenile boa.

Both fed in cage. Paper substrate.

No need for tongs due to small size of snakes. Will use tongs when the boa is a bit larger.

Zero bites. Ever. I've only ever been bitten messing around with wild rat snakes as a kid.

I practice the following, and haven't had a SFE:

1. Feed on irregular schedule, and handle regularly. I feed when the snake is looking for food, basically. That works out for the boa to every seven to ten days anyway. Exceptions are if she's in shed or if she hasn't gone to the bathroom with two meals in her.

2. Feed Frozen/Thawed. The milk takes them off the cage floor, no problems. The boa likes them dangled, but doesn't care at this point if I move them. She sniffs the items thoroughly before taking them, no shark-like feeding response as I've seen in pythons. Eventually, she'll be taking them left in the cage. Simple movement isn't associated with meal time, just the smell of the food.

3. I try never to smell like a mouse or rat. I've put my hand in the cage within minutes of feeding the boa, to keep her from rubbing all over the cage (looking for second item after switching up to larger food), and she did not attempt to bite. I let her sniff my hand, as I usually do prior to handling (I didn't handle her, just rubbed her chin a minute to distract her from looking for that second item), and she responded as she usually does.

I think a lot depends on the species of snake, the individual snake's behavior, and how frequently you handle the snake.

The drawback to a tub is that you still have an association (trip to tub = food) developed, and unless you have a setup to allow the snake to remain in the tub for 24-72 hrs (depending on the snake) you're going to have to move it before it's done digesting.

Tubs are probably still a good idea for very agressive feeders, though. I'd suggest an irregular feeding schedule still, so the snake doesn't realize it's meal time.