OMG... thought I'd killed her!!

[Lolo76]

Last night I had a rather scary incident, involving my little "boob egg" who hatched out in early October - named her Bobbi the Boobie, LOL. She was only 39g at hatching, and since then has been slowly getting the idea that eating is good. Prior to this week she had taken a total of 4 live pinky mice, and refused anything bigger and/or frozen that was offered. A few weeks ago I weighed her, and she had actually lost 4g dropping to just 35g!

So last night I decided to offer a fuzzy instead of a pinkie, and thought I'd eyeballed a good size for her. I dropped it in her tub and left the room for a while, since she prefers to eat alone in the dark... when I came back (maybe 20 minutes later?) to check on her, I found her in a contorted position & completely STILL with half of the rat down her throat. She looked almost blue, oddly contorted, and didn't move when I poked her a few times. For those few scary minutes, I honestly thought the poor thing had suffocated herself to death.

Thankfully with a few more prods, she gave me a movement so I knew she was alive - and then proceeded to slowly swallow the fuzzy, butt first. I was terrified watching the whole thing, since it really looked WAY too big for her! I took some photos of the whole feeding (once I knew she was okay), and would appreciate opinions on the size of this prey. Of course, it didn't help that she took it backwards.









Note how her chin looks kinda saggy? It looked like that even after adjusting her jaw, which is why I think this was too big of a meal...




At least she'll get some weight on her now!

[Jonas@Balls2TheWall]

She does look very skinny. Its a good thing she is eating for you.

[Lolo76]

She does look very skinny. Its a good thing she is eating for you.

Yes, she is extremely skinny - or was before this meal, which is why I'm happy she took the fuzzy! Hopefully this will give her some weight, and next time I offer it won't be such a stretch.

P.S. Even before this meal, she did have good energy and tone... so despite her small size and feeding issues, she seems pretty healthy otherwise.

[ballpythonluvr]

Awwww! She is such a little cutie!

[jackiechan]

Hahaha she has a cute face. I would just keep feeding her pinkies until she gets a little bigger. Get her into the phase of knowing how to eat i guess... but without struggle (a bigger meal)

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Maybe slightly too big but not by much.. If she was a healthy size and weight, a rodent that large in comparison to her size as it looks in those pics would be fine for a baby. For one in a weakened condition, it's ever so slightly too big.

[blueberrypancakes]

Aw, she's so little! She's adorable! I just wanna snuggle your baby snake....
I'm glad she's eating for you!

[Lolo76]

Thanks all... and yes, she is a cutie-pie! Guess I'll see how she looks after this meal's digested, and try to offer a slightly smaller one next time... the problem is that my rats (small 1.3 colony) seem to be on the same breeding cycle right now, so I either have NO pinkies or a whole bunch. Guess it's time to fix that situation, maybe by separating one girl & reintroducing her 1-2 weeks after the others give birth?

[Lolo76]

P.S. Here are two more (non-feeding) pics of her, so you get an idea of how small she is... very sweet temperament, too. And fyi, my hands aren't big at all!

[meowmeowkazoo]

She has a ridiculously cute face.