Is she okay?

[cristacake]

The rat seems to be too big or weirdly posed or something. This just happened about 30 seconds ago. Should I take it away? Is she hurt? I worry that she'll keep trying and hurt herself or end up eating it but then regurge

[cristacake]

She's trying again now

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If the rat is the right size and from the angle it seems to be she will be fine, they sometime eat in very awkward positions, as for what she is doing with a mouth she is simply realigning her jaw.

[cristacake]

Well consider me impressed. She got it down pretty fast the second attempt. Thanks Deborah for the reassurances. It looked impossibly big when she was holding it wrong but it made a nice slight lump

[bks2100]

I can't watch my snakes eat because I always wonder if I need to help them. I'm sure big metal sticks coming into their enclosure while they're trying to swallow something would hurt more than it helped, so I don't do it, but I have that urge. So I just walk away and deal with a dead rodent in the rare case that they don't swallow (it's only been one of them and only with f/t).

[Reinz]

Even my adult snakes try to come in at weird angles or the rat's head is not flat or straight. Sometimes it takes a few tries.

When it really becomes problematic is when the front legs are extended way out at an angle and hook around the snakes mouth after the snake gets the head down. Then it can take an extra long time for the snake to work it out.

I do try to bend the front legs back, but they just spring back.


Lizzy, Coastal Carpet

[Nixon]

Speaking of weird feeding stories. Sometimes when I feed my baby spider ball python he will eat it the wrong way and just keep going at it. My other snakes will search for the head but he'll eat it from the rear end and go up. Every time he does it I have to help him get it down because the leg gets stuck. It's either that or wait hours for him to finally give up and find another way. I've watched him try to get the legs down and he tries and tries and it's funny for some time until it gets to the point where he's just making poor life decisions. Silly snake.

But, for future reference, when you get a frozen or live mouse make sure they're the same size as the biggest part of the snake or smaller. Snakes can take in a bit bigger but you never want to risk it.

[Snoopyslim]

I'm always concerned at the odd angle Valentine eats. It's like they see the prey and lose their minds haha She always manages to get it down.

[cristacake]

Even my adult snakes try to come in at weird angles or the rat's head is not flat or straight. Sometimes it takes a few tries.

When it really becomes problematic is when the front legs are extended way out at an angle and hook around the snakes mouth after the snake gets the head down. Then it can take an extra long time for the snake to work it out.

I do try to bend the front legs back, but they just spring back.

I always love your pictures, Reinz Yeah, the very same thing happened with this one and it did take her a couple minutes to get past the front legs but she did it. I skipped a week feeding for Spring Break so she was pretty determined to get that thing down!

But, for future reference, when you get a frozen or live mouse make sure they're the same size as the biggest part of the snake or smaller. Snakes can take in a bit bigger but you never want to risk it.

Yeah, usually her food is properly sized for her body but for some reason this one was way bigger than all the others that were supposed to be the same size. I ended up with one that is just absolutely huge and I'm saving that one for when she's bigger. Also, she's eaten backwards once before and it was honestly kind of frustrating to watch haha. I was just like "for goodness' sake let it go and turn it around!"

[Rob]

This goes back to the old "we over love our snakes" saying. Don't over think it and start messing with it when it's eating. This is what they were built to do, they will take it down at odd angles even backwards sometimes. You had an appropriate sized rodent, good to go.


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