A few weeks ago, the elder Free-Ride offspring was anxiously awaiting the feeding of Ziggy, the classroom ball python. Sadly, that feeding was delayed on account of the elder Free-Ride offspring’s teacher having jury duty.
Feeding the classroom snake, apparently, is not a task you leave to a substitute teacher.
In any event, since then, Ziggy has enjoyed a couple of feedings. Here, the elder Free-Ride offspring tells me about yesterday’s feeding.
Dr. Free-Ride: When did Ziggy get fed?
Elder offspring: During last recess, which is after lunch, because now we only have an afternoon recess.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, ’cause you all are getting in the “old” grades.
Elder offspring: Yeah.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did you watch him get fed?
Elder offspring: I watched it.
Dr. Free-Ride: Can you describe it for me?
Elder offspring: It was cool.
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, that’s not much of a description.
Elder offspring: First, he was looking around a little for the mouse. And then, when he smelled it, he grasped it in his jaws.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did he sort of dart forward to grasp it with his jaws, or what?
Elder offspring: He darted forward quickly. Very quickly.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did the mouse kind of know what was up, or was the mouse completely surprised?
Elder offspring: The mouse was completely surprised because it’s not the smartest animal.
Dr. Free-Ride: Mice? Well, mice could be kind of smart, but I guess getting eaten by a snake is not something you have experience with, really. I mean, it pretty much happens once to you, right?
Younger offspring: Did that same thing happen before that happened last time Ziggy got fed?
Dr. Free-Ride: What thing? There was an earlier feeding?
Elder offspring: Um, no, he did not squeeze the pee out of the mouse this time.
Younger offspring: [Elder offspring] said it was really stinky.
Dr. Free-Ride: Maybe that’s the smell of fearful mouse. OK, so Ziggy darted forward and grabbed the mouse with his jaw?
Elder offspring: And then he suffocated it.
Dr. Free-Ride: How long did that take?
Elder offspring: It’s hard to tell. I think it actually happened pretty quick, but it seemed like an hour. You know how it is when you’re waiting for something to happen with a snake.
Dr. Free-Ride: So it probably happened within a couple minutes?
Elder offspring: Mmm-hmm.
Dr. Free-Ride: And then what?
Elder offspring: And then he arranged the mouse so that he could bite its nose and swallow it that way. Otherwise, the feet would get stuck.
Dr. Free-Ride: How did he arrange it? He doesn’t have hands.
Elder offspring: He moved it around with his mouth, and his jaw was extending while he did it.
Dr. Free-Ride: His jaw sort of unhinged?
Elder offspring: Mmm-hmm.
Dr. Free-Ride: And then he swallowed nose-first?
Elder offspring: Mmm-hmm.
Dr. Free-Ride: So the tail was the last thing to go down?
Elder offspring: Yeah.
Dr. Free-Ride: So, how did he look after that?
Elder offspring: Well, when the tail was still out, it sort of looked like his tongue. And then he flicked his tongue.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, so it looked like he had two tongues.
Elder offspring: Yeah.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yikes! And then what happened?
Elder offsprings: Well, that was about it.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did he look a little overstuffed once he swallowed?
Elder offspring: No, not really. He’s a big snake.
Dr. Free-Ride: So you couldn’t tell just by looking at him that he’d eaten a mouse?
Elder offspring: You couldn’t.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did he have to settle down and move less to digest the mouse?
Elder offspring: Well, he curled up behind his log afterwards, and it looked like he was trying to be a tree python.
Dr. Free-Ride: I see. So he wasn’t especially active afterwards, but he wasn’t especially inactive afterwards either.
Elder offspring: You got that right.
Dr. Free-Ride: Do you have any regrets about the experience?
Elder offspring: (considering the question) Yeah.
Dr. Free-Ride: Really?
Elder offspring: I regret that Ziggy couldn’t flick the mouse’s tail like he did his tongue.
Dr. Free-Ride: See, I thought you were going to be all —
Elder offspring: And I regret that the mouse died. But it was a white mouse and it was probably sickly.
Dr. Free-Ride: Sickly?
Elder offspring: Yeah, because pet stores don’t really seem to take good care of the feeder mice they sell. The last time Ziggy was fed, one of the two mice died the night before the feeding.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, so feeder fish are probably also less healthy than fish they’re selling to go in fish tanks?
Elder offspring: Yeah. But even if the mouse was really healthy, a snake’s got to eat.
Dr. Free-Ride: I guess a ball python might not live too long on a vegetarian diet.
Elder offspring: Unless it was just frozen mice.
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, you know that wouldn’t be vegetarian. That’s just that the mouse isn’t alive when it’s getting eaten. I don’t know how they make ice-mice — I don’t know if they freeze them down alive, and I can’t image that’s much fun to be a mouse being frozen down.
Elder offspring: Well, unless you’re going to change a snake’s diet …
Dr. Free-Ride: Or a snake’s nutritional requirements, or a snake’s instincts for feeding …
Elder offspring: This is how it’s got to be.
Dr. Free-Ride: But you thought it was worth watching?
Elder offspring: Yes.
We feed the ball python in our lab frozen mice after they have been thawed. It’s a lot safer for the snake, since there’s a chance that a live mice could actually injure the snake, even as it is being eaten. You can read plenty of horror stories about this happening to snake owners if you google for it.
Cheers,
Nick
Hah! I love that frozen feeders are called “ice mice” – the same name as the candy in Harry Potter.
“Yeah, because pet stores don’t really seem to take good care of the feeder mice they sell.”
Do you record your conversations with your offspring?
Very well observed.
Echoing what Nick said. Plus getting asphyxiated by a constrictor is not a nice way to go. The frozen mice are killed somewhat more humanely. They’re more convenient too.
My son managed to get his Red-tailed Boa cheap, because she’d been heavily scarred by a rat. The previous owner had put in a live adult rat to feed her, and for whatever reason, her hunting instincts weren’t “on” that night. The owner had been drinking, and fell asleep. In the meantime, even though the snake wasn’t hunting, the rat was feeling thoroughly threatened, and attacked the snake, leaving large cuts all over her sides and belly. There’s apparently no instinct for the snake to defend herself against prey animals, so she just laid there and “took” it. The vet apparently glued the larger cuts, and she managed to heal. This was 5 or so years ago, now, so the scars have largely faded, and she’s beautiful again; about seven feet. My son feeds almost exclusively “frozen”; it’s also cheaper and easier to keep around the house. “Live” is much cooler to watch, though! Snakes have to be “taught” to eat frozen; it’s not natural for them to eat carrion.
“I don’t know how they make ice-mice — I don’t know if they freeze them down alive, and I can’t image that’s much fun to be a mouse being frozen down.”
My supplier gasses the mice in a CO2 chamber which is not too bad, the other option is to break their necks. Both of which are considerably more humane than just tossing the poor little guys in the freezer.
4/5 of my snakes eat frozen food, the one who doesn’t is a ball python, notoriously picky snakes they are. Frankly I’m thankful that my Dumeril’s boa eats frozen food, the rats he eats are huge and would do serious damage to the snake.