Some Feeding Pics of my Okeetee

[tarsier]

She's adorable. Docile and gifted with quite an appetite

Constriction

Feeding

Always amazed at the ability to unhinge the jaw to cram in food

Done!!

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Pretty snake!

The only thing that makes me nervous is feeding on top of loose wood shavings like that--if she ate one by accident along with the mouse, that could be bad. Do you have any shoeboxes or anything to do dinner in?

 

[Taceas]

Not to nitpick, but if that's an Okeetee, then I'm the Queen of Sheba. What you have is commonly called a 'Classic' or 'Normal'. Okeetees should have really vibrant colors and thick black bordering around the saddles.

And also, please use a plain bottomed tub for feeding, feeding on substrate just makes me cringe! You would be surprised the problems that can arise from impaction. It takes two seconds longer, but 100% safe for your snakey to eat on.

 

[tarsier]

Thanks for the kind comments

On the subject of what cultivar this snake is, I got it from a reliable breeder who got both parents from Kathy Love. This snake is actually het for Sunglow being a cross between an Okeetee and a Sunglow

From what I have researched, not all corns collected from the Okeetee locality have the thick black saddles although the latter are characteristic of Abbott's Okeetees.

I also appreciate the concern about impaction and I know that there is a fair amount of debate over the subject even among experts but choose to believe Robert Applegate's experience on the matter.

 

[crazy4tat2s]

I always feed my boa in the bath tub.When you put him in the tub he went straight into feeding mode.

 

[ktblotchking07]

Thats a beautiful snake!

I was looking into corns and milks, but i ended up getting an Apalachicola King.

 

[pharaoh2653]

nice corn but i agree that is no oketee but a normal

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I also appreciate the concern about impaction and I know that there is a fair amount of debate over the subject even among experts but choose to believe Robert Applegate's experience on the matter.

You mean this experience? :?

Many will tell you sand or wood chips can be swallowed during feeding and cause internal problems. I have raised thousands of snakes, and to my knowledge, have never had a problem resulting from swallowing of substrate (the 200 pound python that swallowed its blanket with a rabbit doesn't count!), but it has happened to others. If this possibility concerns you, it is very easy to get an appropriate sized "feeding container" such as a plastic ice cream container with lid. Cut a hole in the lid, place the food item inside, and the snake will crawl inside and consume the meal on a nice clean substrate without the possibility of it ingesting any harmful substrate from the cage.

I always feed my boa in the bath tub.

That's so unsanitary.

 

[tarsier]

I said Applegate's not "others".

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I said Applegate's not "others".

It's from the article you linked using the words "Robert Applegate's experience."

 

[tarsier]

Yes I did.

Kindly note the portion of the article written by Mr. Applegate which you quoted states:


"I (referring to Mr. Applegate) have raised thousands of snakes, and to my knowledge, have never had a problem resulting from swallowing of substrate (the 200 pound python that swallowed its blanket with a rabbit doesn't count!)"

For one reason or another, you chose to focus on the statement ""but it has happened to others (Meaning people other than himself)."".

I said I was following Applegate's experience (in his never having had problems with his snakes swallowing substrate). Not "others" (who have).

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I said I was following Applegate's experience (in his never having had problems with his snakes swallowing substrate). Not "others" (who have).

That's my point. He is NOT saying that it doesn't happen. It does happen, or he wouldn't have SAID it has happened to others. Just because luck of the draw didn't leave him as one of the ones it happened to does not mean it will not happen to you. :?

 

[Mina]

Beautiful little girl!!! How big is she? She has lovely colors.

 

[tarsier]

@ Mina - Thanks. She's about 22 inches give or take.

@ Mushroomspore - The article speaks for itself.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

@ Mushroomspore - The article speaks for itself.

It does, but not the way you apparently think it does.

If I ride in the back of a pickup truck going 90 miles an hour on the freeway and I don't die, does that mean I should tell other people that they'll be perfectly fine if they do it too, despite the fact that plenty of other people have died doing it? When people take risks, some of those people pay the price. Maybe it's you, maybe it's not you, but there is nothing in the world that will make you immune...except for not taking the risk.

The article SAYS that people have had problems with snakes eating substrate. It didn't happen to the guy that wrote the article, but it happens. IT HAPPENS.

 

[rollinkansas]

While it can happen, I think the chances are small enough not to really be concerned about it.

Its like skydiving...noone hears in the newspapers when people successfully skydive and land safely, but god forbid someone dies, and its all over the papers as a dangerous sport.

Yes they can get impacted, but you have to remember in the wild, they arent fed on clean tubs. And of course others will say "well the snake is in captivity, not the wild" but the point still stands. Of course it can happen, but the chances of it happening are slim.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Of course it can happen, but the chances of it happening are slim.

The chances of it happening should be zero when it's this easy and this much in the power of the owner to make it that way. It's a matter of taking a shoebox and feeding the snake in it, it's not like we're asking him to (god forbid) spend money.

 

[rollinkansas]

Ehh, the chances of something happening I think are small enough not to warrant it. The odds are so small that its not going to have an effect on 99.9% of the animals. Especially an adult..its not like this is a hatchling.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

99.9% still means that somebody has to draw the bad card. All I'm saying is, I know for a fact that somebody won't be me, and that no one else can say the same unless they take a simple basic measure to make sure it won't be them either.

 

[tarsier]

Like I said, the article speaks for itself.

So are you saying the choice is to:

Believe a reputable breeder who says he has raised over 200 snakes without experiencing impaction?; or

Mushroom Spore who is not trying to be helpful but is trying (and failing) to be witty by insisting that he/ she has better reading comprehension skills than all of us, hence his/her unsolicited interpretation of an article that any of us can read?

Go ahead, Spore. Continue this ridiculous insistence that you, and only you, have interpreted the risk factors of impaction as discussed in Applegate's article correctly.

I'm enjoying the fact that your continued posts on this thread show how mature, smart and helpful you are :clap:

Oh, and if you are disappointed that I haven't stooped down to your level, that fact speaks for itself too.