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Constricting prey = best work out for your captive snake??

G

grdn1014

New member
Ive personally always tried to get every one of my corns to constrict habitually when it comes to feeding. All the corns I have had since hathlings violently constrict every single meal, even now with little work from my end. It seems every corn I pick up at a year or older has no interest at all in constricting, and just looks at me like an idiot til I drop its food so it can easily swallow it whole. :cry:

Its not hard to get a baby snake a little angry at its meal, without putting fear in its eyes. I am not backed up by any scientific or experimentational evidence to conclude this, but it is in my best opinion that constricting is, in fact, the best if not the only physical work out our captive snakes get. Sure we hold them and play with them and let them climb, but have you felt the power that comes from them constricting? Its almost exponentially stronger than the "I might fall off of your arm" grip.

Basically, does anyone else feel this same way? I guess its hard to tell if your snake is getting any benefit from this, but has anyone noted any positive results from constantly constricting its prey? Does anyone else do this or am I the only crazy one?? :crazy02:
 
I don't know that they get a "work out" from it or that snakes encouraged to constrict have an advantage healthwise over those that aren't. But I'm with you in that I always try and get my snakes to constrict. I just like to see them behave the way they would in the wild. The fact that they live in artifical habitats doesn't mean that what natural things I CAN achieve should be overlooked. ;)
 
what is a good way to get your snake to constrict?
my snake is still very young
i fed her the first couple time by just putting the food in the tub with her because i didn't want her to be too nervous
but now that i know she is a good eater i would like her to do a little work for her meal
i've bought some bamboo tongs
what is a good way of getting them riled up?
 
grdn1014 said:
Ive personally always tried to get every one of my corns to constrict habitually when it comes to feeding. All the corns I have had since hathlings violently constrict every single meal, even now with little work from my end. It seems every corn I pick up at a year or older has no interest at all in constricting, and just looks at me like an idiot til I drop its food so it can easily swallow it whole. :cry:

Its not hard to get a baby snake a little angry at its meal, without putting fear in its eyes. I am not backed up by any scientific or experimentational evidence to conclude this, but it is in my best opinion that constricting is, in fact, the best if not the only physical work out our captive snakes get. Sure we hold them and play with them and let them climb, but have you felt the power that comes from them constricting? Its almost exponentially stronger than the "I might fall off of your arm" grip.

Basically, does anyone else feel this same way? I guess its hard to tell if your snake is getting any benefit from this, but has anyone noted any positive results from constantly constricting its prey? Does anyone else do this or am I the only crazy one?? :crazy02:
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I think that it is in there best interest to constrict, just because of the energy and power they use doing it. I think that the reason why they don't constict, is just because they are just not used to it. I always get hatchlings in that just grab and eat, and ill work with them to get them to constrict.

I have noticed though, when feeding gravid females, and getting them to constrict, makes the birthing process alot easier IMO.

20070121016.jpg


Ryan McCullough
 
It is my personal opinion that snakes don't need to be unnecessarily riled. This leads to unnecessary stress and stress related issues. Eating/digesting is just that. My little beasties will sometimes simply pick up their prey and sometimes they constrict it. I don't try to provoke any response other than the "you know the drill" - which is my desire that they eat regularly :)

If you want to work-out your snake then hold him. Get him out... let him crawl on a branch... interact with him.

Of course... it's just my .02

-Tonya
 
MaizeCrazy said:
It is my personal opinion that snakes don't need to be unnecessarily riled. This leads to unnecessary stress and stress related issues. Eating/digesting is just that. My little beasties will sometimes simply pick up their prey and sometimes they constrict it. I don't try to provoke any response other than the "you know the drill" - which is my desire that they eat regularly :)

If you want to work-out your snake then hold him. Get him out... let him crawl on a branch... interact with him.

Of course... it's just my .02

-Tonya
Click to expand...

I don't think getting them riled up is the best terminology. I don't get them riled up in the least to constrict. Some do it naturally, and some are hard cases. All I do to get them to have that response, is crawl the f/t around with a pair of tongs, let them bite it, wiggle it a bit, and they do the rest.

:wavey:

Ryan McCullough
 
Alien Zulu said:
what is a good way to get your snake to constrict?
my snake is still very young
i fed her the first couple time by just putting the food in the tub with her because i didn't want her to be too nervous
but now that i know she is a good eater i would like her to do a little work for her meal
i've bought some bamboo tongs
what is a good way of getting them riled up?
Click to expand...

Well it is key to start young (but not until it has already had a few meals without you bothering it). The best thing to do is constantly wiggle the prey at the end of long tongs, and if your snake will slowly follow after it just pull it away a bit. Make it chase for its food a little. Pay attention to your snake and make sure it doesnt startle the poor thing. Do this for a few feedings, and if that is enough to get it to habitually constrict then thats great.

If thats not enough, you can use the tongs to slightly "tap" the snake on its mid body. DO NOT get close to the snakes head!! This is very important as it will scare most young corns, and it may go on a hunger strike.

The only downfall of this is that sometimes the snakes scent/blood will rub off on the snake. Most snakes that constrict will take their time to eat, DONT WORRY if it takes a while. The only thing to worry about is if the snake tries to eat itself. Some snakes learn faster than others if its eating itself or not, so be cautious the first few times.

At the moment, the two corns I have had since hatchling will grab the prey within seconds of me lowering it into their tank and constrict it for about ten minutes. One tried to eat its mid-body, but immediately noticed it was snake and not rodent!

This may cause snakes to be aggressive when you handle them from feeding tank back to their enclosure. This does NOT make them mean snakes! Only when going from feeding tank to viv. To place my corns back into their viv after feeds, I always pick them up as if they were venomous, but a bit more gentle. I pick them up by the end 1/3 of their body and support the front with a hook. With this method, unlike others, I have yet to get tagged.

:cheers:
 
MaizeCrazy said:
It is my personal opinion that snakes don't need to be unnecessarily riled. This leads to unnecessary stress and stress related issues. Eating/digesting is just that. My little beasties will sometimes simply pick up their prey and sometimes they constrict it. I don't try to provoke any response other than the "you know the drill" - which is my desire that they eat regularly :)
Click to expand...

Id have to kindly disagree as well. Though it may cause minimal stress when starting this practice in young corns, after the constriction becomes a habit of feeding for the snake there is no stress at all. :santa:
 
My corn constricted for the first time at her last feed. Of course, it was the first live peacj fuzzy she ever had, too.

I would like to get her in the habit of constricting prey, as I tend to agree that the physicality of the act, as well as the naturality(is that a real word?) is most likely beneficial, even if only mentally.

Now, my new MBK...she didn't hesitate to constrict her first feeding. I had to feed her under wraps of a towel cause she prefers the dark, though, so I couldn't really watch the constricting/feeding process. I can't wait 'til she loses that habit so I can watch her feed...
 
MaizeCrazy said:
It is my personal opinion that snakes don't need to be unnecessarily riled. This leads to unnecessary stress and stress related issues. Eating/digesting is just that. My little beasties will sometimes simply pick up their prey and sometimes they constrict it. I don't try to provoke any response other than the "you know the drill" - which is my desire that they eat regularly :)

If you want to work-out your snake then hold him. Get him out... let him crawl on a branch... interact with him.

Of course... it's just my .02

-Tonya
Click to expand...

maybe riled was the wrong term.
i didn't mean that i wanted to provoke or upset the snake in any way
i just want her to get excited about "killing" her dinner
i don't feel that this is anything cruel, unnatural, or dangerous for the snake.
it's the way they have caught their prey for hundreds if not thousands of years.
i feel it would be a hindrance to my snakes mental health to NOT teach this.
aside from mating, eating should be the most exciting activity in the world to a snake. IMO just plopping a mouse down and watching a snake unenthusiastically gulp it down is not helping my snake live a fulfilling life.
we keep them in captivity
the least we can do is make it a little more realistic for them as long as it isn't going to endanger the animal. :shrugs:
 
I also try to get my snake to constrict. I don't know if it has any health benefits at all, but I think it's fun to watch him do what his ancestors have done since before we existed.
I don't know if you guys remember that I commented on the controversial live food thread (yeah I know, which one right?) but after I got him I did feed him live once and he seemed so much more interested in eating! He snatched it instantly, instead of sniffing it for so long, killed it in about 8 seconds and swallowed right away. I thought that looked like the closest thing to "enjoying" a meal that I could imagine! (I know that's kind of anthropomorphic..)
Anyway, after the reading the rest of the threads I never fed live again, but I do wiggle the f/t on tongs and try to simulate a struggle to bring out the big squeeze.
I don't have any reason to believe causes any change in his health, but I like to see him do it..

By the way I only have one snake, so it's very easy for me to feed that way.
 
Honestly? My snake is a lazy SOB when it comes to feeding. I haven't had her for more than a month, and fed her a handful of times, she wont constrict anything. She investigates, prode the helpless pinkie a bit and then bites down whereever. This last time, she took the pinkie in from the butt first with a rear leg being harshly bent in a painful way of the pinkie. Maybe its because shes in captivity and realizes that her meals are helpless? I dont know what is going thru her mind, if anything, really.

All I know is, she's only tried to constrict her meal once and failed miserably at it. Lol I handle her two-three times a week, allowing her to crawl and climb all over my hands acting like a jungle gym, but really, what good does this her? I couldn't answer that question either.

Great question though. :)
 
I doubt I will be able to feed my corn snake anything but F/T due to the fact that she doesn't constrict struggling pinkies. This last time, she took the pinkie from the rear, which allowed the pinkie to bite Demeter if it had the ability. So imagine what a fuzzy could do. Or an adult mouse for that matter. If Demeter doesn't learn to constrict or take a meal head first, there will never be any live feedings when she gets older. Im somewhat opposed to live feedings, just for the fact that my animal can be injured by her prey, but Im not against it in anyway. I think its completely healthy and actually better for the snake. If there was a way to get those teeth out from the mouse, it would be game on everytime! Lol
 
Stock350 said:
I doubt I will be able to feed my corn snake anything but F/T due to the fact that she doesn't constrict struggling pinkies. This last time, she took the pinkie from the rear, which allowed the pinkie to bite Demeter if it had the ability. So imagine what a fuzzy could do. Or an adult mouse for that matter. If Demeter doesn't learn to constrict or take a meal head first, there will never be any live feedings when she gets older. Im somewhat opposed to live feedings, just for the fact that my animal can be injured by her prey, but Im not against it in anyway. I think its completely healthy and actually better for the snake. If there was a way to get those teeth out from the mouse, it would be game on everytime! Lol
Click to expand...

If that's true, could we be creating snakes that lose the instinctual knowledge of how to kill prey?
:shrugs:
 
I could be wrong, but many baby snakes don't constrict pinkies because they realize they won't be harmed. Once the snakes start on fuzzy's or hoppers is when the constriction may begin. Because at that size the mice are more apt to put up more of a struggle which I'm assuming may be what triggers the constriction process. I could be way off base with that. As I'm no expert, but it does sorta make sense to me.
 
I really dont know what to think, to be honest. She never really tried to constrict until this last feeding, which I may add, she failed miserably at. It was more humorous than anything. Kind of like watching a small infant fit a square block into a circle hole.

The treat wasn't there with pinkies, correct. And, the snake just may realize that. If only snakes could talk, we'd have all of our answers. :)
 
snakemom1961 said:
I could be wrong, but many baby snakes don't constrict pinkies because they realize they won't be harmed. Once the snakes start on fuzzy's or hoppers is when the constriction may begin. Because at that size the mice are more apt to put up more of a struggle which I'm assuming may be what triggers the constriction process. I could be way off base with that. As I'm no expert, but it does sorta make sense to me.
Click to expand...

I'm inclined to agree with this, although I only have 1 snake that has moved up to fluffies so far.

With pinkines, Milenko never bothered attempting to constrict or strike, I did try dangling the pinkie in front of her but she just looked at me as though I was stupid and my srm started to get tired so I thought "Fine, have it your way you lazy cow." lol.

But once I moved her up to fluffies, she constricted on her first one and every one since. I haven't tried using tongs yet but I might next time to see if she'll srtike aswell.

Any other people with more snakes and more experience agree??
 
Make sure everyone knows that this thread is not a "feeding live" thread, because I DO NOT feed live.

Also, I don't bother making them constrict pinks. I start wiggling it as they are on peach's and fuzzies.

Ryan
 
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