These are rat pinkies, born yesterday. I raise my own snake food because they are $6 each at the local pet store. I have four snakes and it is cheaper for me to grow my own. It isn't hard when they are like this. But look out if they get their hair and open their eyes. They become what are called rat pups and are cute as hell. It just makes it harder to view them as snake food.
Today is the day I feed Sirrius Black, my Black Pine Snake. He will eat all three of those pinkies in five minutes. I do not feed him in his house. I remove him and use a cardboard box, which keeps him from being tank aggressive. If your snake strikes at you or actually bites you, stop feeding him in his cage because he thinks your hand is food. They are not hard to train. I also use a latex glove when I handle the food items so that if I do get tagged, the snake lets go. They do not like the taste of latex.
Sirrius knows that it is dinner. He wastes no time in going after his prey. Pinkies he can just swallow live because they are too weak to struggle. If this were a mouse, he would have wrapped it up and killed it first. Snakes move with lightening quick speed. (I feed all but pinkies frozen-thawed (f/t) so no injuries occur to the snake)
Once he gets the pinky positioned properly, he uses the muscles in his throat to swallow it whole. Yes they do make squeaky noises as they are going down. This is not for softies to watch. That is another reason to use f/t.
Rat pinkies are best because they provide excellent nutrition. It helps young snakes like Sirrius to grow bigger and stronger. Doesn't he look like a mighty Cobra!! LOL...Do not handle snakes for minimum of 48 hours after they have fed. They can regurgitate and that can kill them. (Say you fed at 3 pm Friday- you can't handle them until Sunday at 3pm.)
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