Gellar
Well-known member
Yes, you read that correctly and but it’s probably not like you pictured.
I know from previous posts the dislike of snakes is huge on hunttalk. But I keep a lot of native animals to Iowa including 6 non venomous snakes and a timber rattlesnake at work. The timber rattlesnake, affectionately named Tim, had not eaten for several months. This is not uncommon and only is a concern if they lose to much weight. Well, Tim has lost to much weight and he needed to eat. So we had to force feed him. Basically it’s forcing a dead mouse down his throat and then massaging it to the point the snake can’t regurgitate it. To start I thawed the mice, if it worked to get one down him we were going to give him two. My coworker got a clear tube about 2” in diameter ready. When the mice were thawed we let Tim go into the tube until just his head comes out the other side. I pinned his head down with the soft grip end of a snake hook and my coworker got Tim at the base of his neck, forcing the snake to open his mouth. At this point we were ready to force feed the snake. I grabbed a thawed mouse with 12” tongs and inserted the mouse into the snakes mouth. Tim bit down to inject the mouse with venom and I had to keep working the mouse back into the snakes throat. After the whole body of the mouse is down you have to use your fingers and massage/work down the mouse so the snake can’t regurgitate the mouse. The first one went beautifully. The second one did not because we didn’t have the mouse down far enough to keep Tim from regurgitating the mouse. The second attempt with the mouse worked and Tim kept both mice down!
Here is Tim in the tube, about to come out and I’m going to pin his head down.
I don’t have a picture force feeding him, but I think our boss took one, so I’ll get that tomorrow. But here’s a video from YouTube exactly like we do it. Start at the 4 minute mark, unless you want to see some other cool snakes. Just another day at the office!
I know from previous posts the dislike of snakes is huge on hunttalk. But I keep a lot of native animals to Iowa including 6 non venomous snakes and a timber rattlesnake at work. The timber rattlesnake, affectionately named Tim, had not eaten for several months. This is not uncommon and only is a concern if they lose to much weight. Well, Tim has lost to much weight and he needed to eat. So we had to force feed him. Basically it’s forcing a dead mouse down his throat and then massaging it to the point the snake can’t regurgitate it. To start I thawed the mice, if it worked to get one down him we were going to give him two. My coworker got a clear tube about 2” in diameter ready. When the mice were thawed we let Tim go into the tube until just his head comes out the other side. I pinned his head down with the soft grip end of a snake hook and my coworker got Tim at the base of his neck, forcing the snake to open his mouth. At this point we were ready to force feed the snake. I grabbed a thawed mouse with 12” tongs and inserted the mouse into the snakes mouth. Tim bit down to inject the mouse with venom and I had to keep working the mouse back into the snakes throat. After the whole body of the mouse is down you have to use your fingers and massage/work down the mouse so the snake can’t regurgitate the mouse. The first one went beautifully. The second one did not because we didn’t have the mouse down far enough to keep Tim from regurgitating the mouse. The second attempt with the mouse worked and Tim kept both mice down!
Here is Tim in the tube, about to come out and I’m going to pin his head down.
I don’t have a picture force feeding him, but I think our boss took one, so I’ll get that tomorrow. But here’s a video from YouTube exactly like we do it. Start at the 4 minute mark, unless you want to see some other cool snakes. Just another day at the office!
