Here’s Some Frequently Asked Questions About Reptiles! Got One For Us? Send In Your Question and We’ll Post The Answer!
Feeding Your Snakes
Many people feed their animals by hand. Most of the time, dropping prey into reptile cages with your bare hand doesn’t result in any problems. But even tiny snakes can make a mistake. If your reptile start associating your hand with food, there’s a chance that it’ll bite you before it’s even realized what it’s doing. After all, snakes often strike first, and think later.
Most constrictor bites aren’t likely to be damaging to you, but they can hurt the snake. Plus, no one likes to be bitten. Feed your animals prekilled prey using tongs, and you cut down on the risk of being bitten, stressing your snake, and treating your reptile for tooth loss. Feeding with tongs is just a smart idea.
Handling Your Snakes
Handling your animals with snake tongs is a little less common than tong feeding, but it’s still smart. This is the way most zoos and professionals handle their snakes, and for good reason. Even snakes that don’t associate human hands with food may attack something moving quickly in their cage, especially if they sense that it’s warm.
Using tongs to remove animals from reptile cages means that you don’t end up being bitten. This is a particularly big concern for larger snakes. Tongs can also help you handle snakes that don’t have a great attitude. Not every snake requires tong handling, but some of them are going to. It’s a good idea to have the tools on hand before you need them.
Which Tongs To Use?
By now you probably see there are good reasons to use snake tongs. Some people use regular kitchen tongs but for handling, special snake tongs are required. Be sure that you use the right size for your snake and for your reptile cages. A small, twenty-five inch tong will work just fine for many snakes, but it’s not the right choice for a full grown Burmese in a deep tank. You may also wish to use rubber cushions for your tongs to make them more comfortable for your snake.
Just remember to observe basic safety rules with any snake, especially the bigger ones. Remember, your reptiles aren’t always thinking clearly. They react on instinct. It’s up to us to keep ourselves and them safe. Fortunately, as long as you make sure you take a few basic precautions and handle your snake right, you won’t have any problems.