Can't feed with tongs

[Keith]

I have hand-fed my snakes from the beginning without any problems. Last feeding we invited our new neighbor's kids to watch, and we let the eldest feed Skye (Hashie's just too viscious for a beginner). Well, he had the first fuzzie on tongs, and Skye wouldn't touch it. He smelled it, tasted it, and turned his nose at it. I thought he wasn't going to eat. I grabbed the fuzzie, dangled it in front of him, and he grabbed it without hesitation. He did the second fuzzie by hand and Skye went right after it. Any theories?

[John Pilling]

Some times i do the same with my corns, it's very rare they attack the mouse, let alone coil round it. I Believe it's because of a corns non-aggresive nature, but i could be wrong.

[mike1984]

Maybe Skye felt threatened by this lad? I mean, you dont take sweets from strangers do you? And after the fist fuzzie (from yourself) maybe Skye thought, ok, this lad has food.

[palombo77]

Maybe it has something to do with your scent ? & he is used to you feeding him ?

As far as swiping & constricting..Mine have always done this !

[Keith]

I am the one who feeds them, as my lady has an aversion to handling dead things. She bought the tongs to feed "just in case" I'm not around. I am going to try with tongs myself on the next feeding to see if it's the tongs themselves or just the "new" person handling his food last time.

When Skye feeds he doesn't really strike and he tries to coil, but just can't seem to coordinate himself to do it right. Hashie, on the other hand, will strike from up to 12 inches, and coils so fast her entire body is suspended by her dinner until I put her down. I'm going to have to record it and post it somewhere eventually. It's really fascinating to watch.

[redsnakeodo]

hi! I have always put my corns food on his logs so he dos not think my fingers always have food and have had no props with his feeding. Odo bites the mouse then constricts.