Ok, this is getting to be too much....Ky-Lin can apparently smell food the instant I take it out of the freezer...yesterday when I went to get her to feed her, she was already in feeding mode...She didn't bite me when I started to take her out, but her tail was wrapped around her rubber branch, and I had to pick it up with her as she wouldn't let go of it...on the way to the feeding tank, she started snapping wildly at the air, and I was afraid she'd get my fingers...so I moved my hands out of her way and just held the far end of the branch to take her the rest of the way to the feeding tank...as I put the branch near the fuzzy in the tank she went nuts and bit the branch, getting her teeth stuck for a moment...is she in danger of losing her teeth that way?

Then, even though she can smell fuzzies in the air from another room, she had trouble finding the fuzzy in the tank *sigh* and bit the branch again about 4 times...she got her teeth out of it again, but I was afraid she might have lost some teeth in the process as she had to work a little to get loose...

What should I do about her and her overactive feeding response? I held her before I started thawing fuzzies, and she was fine- calm and nice with no snappiness whatsoever.....it was only after I thawed the fuzzies that she went snap-tooth crazy...she starts "pacing" in her enclosure the minute I put them in the warm water to thaw, even though they're in another room entirely...so she must smell them in the air...

It's possible I guess that she smells them on my hands too, but I wash my hands several times in hot water and soap, and then apply Germ-X after that....yesterday I even put alcohol all over my hands before I went to get her in case there was any residual odor of fuzzies at all on my hands...so I can't imagine that it's a scent on me that she's responding to...

What can I do? Should I get some snake hooks to move her to the feeding tank with at feeding time?

Oh! Wait...maybe I should put her in the feeding tank before I even thaw anything...that way she'll already be there when her "snap-mode" kicks in...and I can just slide the top open a little and drop the fuzzy in...Do you think that might be the best solution?

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~Juliane~

Juliane is it possible that you need to up the amount you are feeding her? It sounds to me like she is VERY hungry come feeding time

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Do you only get her out on feeding day? some snakes just know that it's feeding day outside their enclosure and get a little crazy.
I think your idea sounds good,put her in the feeding tank before thawing her food!
How often do you feed her?

How old and big is she now Juliane? I recently had to up my Okeetee's food because they always seemed hungry and in feeding mode. They are fine now and dont do it anymore.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Merlin is right;that's exactly what came to my mind!

I don't think so, Merlin, but I guess I could be wrong...however, she has snapped at fingers and things even when she was being fed just one week after eating prey big enough to make her look like her skin is literally going to pop or split after she eats it...I'd be afraid to give her anything bigger than that...

It's like her "snap-at-anything-that-moves" button gets pushed by the tiniest scent molecules floating in the air...It just amazes me that she can smell them THAT well from another room!

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~Juliane~

I take her out a lot because she begs to be picked up every time I go near her cage. She's never a problem unless fuzzies have been thawing in the kitchen...

I feed her once a week, like I do the corns...that's how often the breeder said to feed her...

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~Juliane~

Sounds like she is conditioned to a feeding cycle. Try changing the day around once in a while, my snakes don't seem to know the day, but when they see their feeding bin it's like blood in the water.

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I do the same as Jay,,,,mine were at one time conditioned to feed every 7 days and they seemed to "know" when day7 arrived. We mix up the intervals now and keep em on there toes,,,lol

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

The mixing up of feeding intervals sounds like something to try. Then see if she still goes into snapping and all on feeding day without thawing the prey.
And off YOUR fingers huh Ken!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!