From: gerard@progress.COM (Gerard Bras)
Subject: Re: Handling rats & Burmese
Organization: Progress Software Corp.
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:54:43 GMT

aad@siemens.com (Anthony A. Datri) writes:


>Last Saturday was the first time I ever fed a rat, and I must admit that the
>poor blighter was bigger than I expected.  I have to admit that I was nervous,
>given the rep that rats have for being evil, baby-eating hellspawn.  Should I
>treat them differently in any way than I treat mice?  I've already determined
>that they need a quite stronger whack to be stunned than does a mouse, but
>should I be worried that one will BiTe me when I'm grabbing or whacking it?

In my experience, it's mice that bite.  Rats are surprisingly docile.

>I learned a valuable lesson that day.  This was also the first time I've ever
>fed a boid.  My Pine (rip) and Corn had always been quite mellow about food
...
>Burmese.  I pulled off the top of his tank and started whacking the rat.  Monty
>decided to be much more agressive wrt his food than I was used to, and decided
>to snack early.  Yes, my docile little boy lunged up out of the tank and bit my
>elbow, then proceeded to wrap himself around my arm.  I left him alone for
>several minutes, hoping that he'd let go.  He eventually did, but remained
>coiled around my arm.  I was able to slowly and carefully remove him through
>a combination of unwrapping him and pushing his coils off my hand.  Neither
>was easy.  This was a 6.5' animal.  The next time you think that someone
>coiled by an adult could just push the coils down off the feet, think again.

You got off easy son.  Don't let it happen again.  When Monty is 14 feet and
half your weight you are going to find his bites a charcater building
experience.  He'll also be far less likely to let go on his own.

>o Don't smell like a rodent when feeding a Burmese
>o Stun the food quite thoroughly before uncovering the animal, and either
>  drop in the food through a slit, or do so from a distance.

These are good ideas but let me add a few.

1. Pay attention.  Maintain visual contact with the snakes head at all times.  Do
   not allow yourself to be distracted for any reason.

2. For really large animals, have an assistant standing by.

3. Keep a bottle of alchohol (the hard stuff, not beer or wine) around.  Rubbing
   alchohol works great.  A few drops in the snookies mouth and he'll let go
   right quick.

4. Remember that this is not a laughing matter.  A large snake can cause  
   serious injury.  At the very least, expect to bleed a lot if you get bit.
   I've not been bitten up in a long time but I still have scars.  If you
   get bitten on the hand, the most common place, you run a risk of getting
   teeth marks all over those little nerves, tendons,  surface blood vessels.
   Youch.

5. Do not get lulled into a false sense of security because a particular
   snake is normally quite tame and docile, no matter how long you've
   owned it.  These are large carnivores with one-watt brains.  When the
   need to feed is on them, all bets are off.  My brood female has been 
   known to hunt after people when she's hungry, even when no food is 
   around.  When a large moron manages to drive you into a corner it's
   pretty unnerving.  No, she couldn't eat a person but she does seem to 
   like chasing them.  Other times she's a real sweetheart.  I think the 
   problem is that over the years she has come to associate people with
   being fed, so her intent may not be to attack the person.  Non the less,
   her way of begging can be a little hard to take.

6. When in doubt just hand over the goods and leave the room.  It may be
   humiliating to get mugged by a snake but you'll over it.

cheers,
gerard
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp