Zick is, after all, new to this planet and still honing her accuracy.
Her instincts to make the strike and to instantly wrap up the prey animal in tight bands of squeezey snake muscle have been honed over millions of years and they work beautifully.
That is the wonder of the bio-programming known as instinct.
It's just there.
Zick is instinctively wonderful ... she just needs a little more practice judging distance.
Here, she makes a little love knot to show me how fond she is of me ... or is she just chilly and enjoying the warmth of an endothermic hand?
The video below shows her already "in the grip" with a thawed pinky mouse.
Zick eats about once a week and I bet it wont be too long before I walk in and find a shed skin.
I suppose I should really try to get her to stretch out on a meter stick so I can get a baseline starting length.
There is something in a snake that abhors straightness though, so my measurement may not be accurate.
At least snake eating habits aren't gory with rending and tearing ... just smoothly, sinuously, squishy.
15 comments:
Great timing, i'm eating lunch too!
Dave,
Enjoy your mouse.
Ssssweeet sssssnake....
Isn't that precious :) My cat has been leaving mice on the welcome mat for me - I would be happy to send them to Zick. Oh, but only if she doesn't require them to have a HEAD...LOL
One night at the pub this woman aske me out of the clear blue if I know anyone that sells rats and mice? WTH? But what was even funnier is that we actually DO have friend that sells rats and pinkies to pet stores! That just the way Thunder and I roll!
She is prettier here than on my phone! :D
maybe she would curl up on a scale. i do recall that snakes don't usually like to be straight.
mmmmmmmm pinky mouse. from zick's point of view.
My friend had snakes when I was younger and he always took them out of their cage/tank when feeding. He would put them into a cardboard box or somewhere else. It's supposed to keep them from getting aggressive towards hands in their normal home. Might be something worth looking into since it will be around kids.
Lovely little snake.
If she won't play ball stretching out on a metre rule you could always try taking a photo of her reasonably stretched out on squared paper and then do the math.
How abt a tape measure? You could start at her head and let the tape measure follow her body. A string would do as well, just follow Zick with the string/rope and measure THAT stretched out. Bet that would be easier to unroll than Zick!
Bring me up to date, what kind of snake. cool video by the way. I was glad to read in the last post that the squirrel is doing good!
Watching her move is mesmerizing. When you have time, I would love to see a picture of her whole tank set-up.
3Collie,
SSSSSSucinctly ssssssaid.
Sharon,
Yes, I think Zick prefers her mice "heads on" ... like those crazy trout eaters up north.
Lightnin,
What's weird is that I taught a kid with a family business that did just that, plus they raised snakes of all kind for the market.
Cindy,
Ahh, the difference in a real camera vs my old school phone camera!
roger,
she definitely has a passion for mouse flavor.
Mike,
Good point. She is actually eating in her travel cage in that video.
Tai,
Not math!! LOL
Lynn,
Good idea. I've used the string thing before.
Lisa,
She is a Florida Kingsnake!
Miz S,
Will do. It is pretty basic right now, but she's planning to spruce the place up a bit.
Do you ever vary her diet like with earth worms or crickets? Or does she not eat anything else?
I would bet that Zick is in line to get all manner of wild-caught verts and inverts from her doting keeper. I gave a bark of surprised laughter when you said, "Good girl, Zick!"
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