Feeding question

[pbjtime8908]

Hi, new member and newer herp owner here. Just got my bp, Eddie, a couple months ago and im not sure how old he was then but hes pretty small. I just fed him earlier and he ate the mouse backwards. Usually he'll try eating it from different angles and sometimes ill have to move it around for him but he's always gotten it right before but this time he wanted to eat it backwards even though i tried moving it around and he's kept it down so far. Just wanted to know if this was bad or not. thnx

[qman1126]

Hi, new member and newer herp owner here. Just got my bp, Eddie, a couple months ago and im not sure how old he was then but hes pretty small. I just fed him earlier and he ate the mouse backwards. Usually he'll try eating it from different angles and sometimes ill have to move it around for him but he's always gotten it right before but this time he wanted to eat it backwards even though i tried moving it around and he's kept it down so far. Just wanted to know if this was bad or not. thnx

From what ive learned, it usually means that the prey is too small. Double check the size of the prey, it should be about the same size as the snakes body, maybe a tiny bit larger so theres a very slight bulge. but its not gonna hurt if they eat it tail first

[pbjtime8908]

im pretty sure it was just slightly smaller then his body but i was worried that was too big. i usually give him smaller mice then this one. ive always given him pure white mice but this time the store was out of white mice so i had to get a spotted one and it had a big spot on its lower back so idk if that had anything to do with it.

[snakesRkewl]

The color of the prey has nothing to do with how the snake eats it.
From experience if the prey item is too small every now and then they will eat it backwards.
It's not to often that they will eat a large meal backwards, but I won't say I haven't seen that too

[Quickone4u]

As the others have mentioned, it's not really a problem when they swallow then backwards. You'll notice sometimes they will do goofy things just make sure you are feeding appropriate sized prey and as long as they get it down all should be good Congrats on the new BP and welcome to BP.net! Lots too learn and share here.

[pbjtime8908]

thnx for all the help. has me less worried now. he usually does do some pretty goofy things when he's eating. usually he'll bite at the mouse in a couple different spots before he figures out how to eat it. one time he was actually working on eating it from the side and i had to help get it out of his jaw.

[Quickone4u]

thnx for all the help. has me less worried now. he usually does do some pretty goofy things when he's eating. usually he'll bite at the mouse in a couple different spots before he figures out how to eat it. one time he was actually working on eating it from the side and i had to help get it out of his jaw.

No problem! Thats why this place is so great!
On a side note, although they may bite around figuring out how to swallow their prey, more times then not they are just getting adjusted to swallowing it the way they want to. You may be risking stressing your bp out by manipulating the prey while it's eating. I would just leave him be and only observe while he is eating unless you see a real need to lend a hand. They may be goofy sometimes but they usually get things figured out and take care of business