• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Another kind of tail rattling

Wilder

Wilder

Y HALO THAR
When a snake rattles its tail while feeding (on F/T mice), what exactly does it mean? In all the months I've had Narya, she has never once rattled at me. She was a bit wild when I took her from the viv the other day to feed her, but as usual calmed down after a minute or two of handling and went placidly into her feeding container to devour her dinner. When the first fuzzy was halfway down, I noticed she was rattling her tail and she kept this up until the second one was done. There wasn't any more than the usual commotion going on while she was eating. I had to laugh though, it looked so cute.

I follow the same routine each time she is fed to minimize upset, but I suppose she could have been stressed or scared anyway. Do they ever rattle their tail for reasons other than warning/fear? Or was the mouse just particularly appetizing this time around? ;)
 
Lol

I have a "wanna-be" rattlesnake too. It's pretty funny! Mine is a wee bit high strung, in fact she bit me again yesterday, the little snot. I moved her to a new viv and realized I'd forgot to put in a thermometer, so as I was putting it in she bit my hand. I didn't think she'd do that, she hadn't bit me in a while. Anyway, I digress . . . the last time this one was eating I wanted a pic, I moved her tub just a hair and she rattled at me. So I'd assume that your girl felt threatened for some reason. As long as she wasn't so stressed that she didn't eat or regurged, it's probably okay. Athena, my somewhat psycho snake, eats like a champ and has never refused a mouse or regurged, so I just consider her more reactive (AKA psycho) than the others, she shows no other signs of being stressed at all.
 
Tail rattling while feeding is an attempt to drive off the source of their distress, which happens to be you. :grin01: They just want to be left alone to eat, as they are vulnerable with a mouse half way down their throat. Almost all of my corns will rattle while eating, if I approach them :cheers:
 
Mike is right on tha money

Next time this happens during a feeding session, place the feeding container inside a dark cabinet and close the door. The rattling should stop. :)
 
Rattlers

Gotta love the Tough Guy corns... I brought one home one day and it rattled so loud my mother thought it was a rattle snake and demanded I bring it back. Hehehe I explained to her that it was NOT a Rattle snake. I just so happen to have a adult male who is constantly rattling in his cage. No one will even be around him, and you can hear him down the hall rattling. Hes never bit or struck anyone since I got him and he stops as soon as you grab him. I think hes just trying to be Macho lol. I now have a very Sassy carmel girl whos picking up on the tail rattling too, she also has never bit anyone but she is known to be a little "Abnormal". Well I thought I would share my rattling story, I dont know what the rattle means but I assume they are just trying to intimidate you!
 
When I went to buy my corn snake in the pet shop cage, the girl that sold it to me would not touch it, she opened the cage and was like You grab him I dont touch snakes. So when I reached in to grab him he coiled up and rattled his tail at me, But as soon as I slowly touched it and picked it up out of the cage it calmed down, and it hasnt done it since, and I handle it all the time. (havent fed it yet though).
 
yeah it doesn't take them too long to realize that they can't eat us and usually they stop once they figure out they're ok.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top