humm... is this normal

[kasper22]

OKay today I was trying to get one of the baby snakes to eat, and he ate the rat alive! He strangled it for a little while then started eating it. then I heard a squeek and looked in and the rat was trying to crawl away while the snake ate it. I could still see the rat kicking while in the snakse belly!?!

Before I get any lectures it was only thier second meal. the first meal none of them took the frozen. and then they would start on the frozen last night so I went and got some pinkys today. The good news is that they all took a frozen after the live pinky today so I'm hopping that they will all eat frozen now.
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[travis66]

wow it was still alive?is it okay?what kinda snake was it?was it a rat pinky?
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[telefrag]

I dont see any need for lectures, hey, they have to start on something, not all snakes will take frozen/thawed from day 1.

Its not abnormal for snakes to eat pink/fuzzies while they prey item is still alive,
if you dont have to waste the energy to do it, then why bother?
Some snakes capture prey and figure out that they are not getting enough resistance to use constriction.

its a little morbid to witness this, but its part of life, I guess.
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[cb76]

i see it happen alot- especially with kingsnakes eating live pinks!!

dont worry about it. what i started to do with my neos is to play tug of war. when they get it and constrict it- i tug a lil bit making them tighten up more.

they are babies- they dont know whats up.

i feel like a mamma snake sometimes.
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