Snake feeding tongs for boas

Tong types

My friend was feeding his boa pets. They’re boa imperators. He has three of them. One is a large female. He has a male that is smaller just because he’s a male. And the third one is a female albino boa. She’s the really light-colored one in the photo.

Something he mentioned about his feeding tongs is that they’re covered in rubber on one side to protect the snakes when they’re striking their meal. They’re built really solid, so you can hold on to the feeder animal and not worry about dropping it or hurting the snake as it strikes.

Rubber-coated ends

When a boa sees food, they hit pretty aggressively, and they will launch right out of the enclosure if the item is dangling. They don’t slow themselves down. They just follow the strike.

If you have a firm grip on the feeder animal when the boa hits, you can basically catch the snake at the point of contact instead of having the snake fly out of the enclosure with the rat. Then you can set the snake back inside to coil and eat.

These tongs have a long reach, and you squeeze a handle at the end. It clamps tight. There are no pointy parts at the end, so the snake isn’t going to hurt its mouth or teeth when it hits. 

That’s one of the most important things. No skinny sharp metal ends. I want everything to be more like paddles holding the feeder animal. Rubber-coated is helpful.

Boa launch

He found his on eBay for cheap. The main thing is that they’re sturdy and thick. Nothing flimsy. Nothing with loose hinges or little gripping teeth. Just something that can hold a rat firmly without twisting or slipping, and that won’t injure the snake on contact.

After the snake strikes and firmly bites, he uses the tongs to set the snake back onto the enclosure. This wouldn't be possibly with flimsy or pointy tongs.

What to look for

If someone is shopping for tongs, the most important details are the build quality and the safety of the gripping surface. Rubber padding or silicone padding protects the snake. 

A thick metal bar and paddle-style grab. Long handles keep your hands out of the strike zone. A strong hinge makes sure the feeder animal doesn’t slip.

A lot of tongs look the same in photos, so the easiest way to pick them is to avoid anything thin, sharp, or flimsy. The thicker and blunter the ends are, the better.