Funny Ball Python Feeding Story

[EthanMG]

Has your ball python ever struck at the tail and eaten the tail of the rat alone? Lol, because mine has! This is my first BP, had him for a few months, and he struck at the tail and wrapped at nothing. After that he sat there and stared at me while finishing the tail. I offered the rat while he was chewing on the tail, but he just stared and continued gnawing on the tail . Finally, after he finished his stupid tail, he decided to eat the rat. Idk, I just thought it was funny and thought I’d share. Has anyone else had any interesting feeding experiences?


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[Bogertophis]

Well everybody knows that the tail has the most flavor. Goofy snake! It's always entertaining when snakes decide to eat rodents backwards. They're not all "fast learners", lol.

[EthanMG]

Well everybody knows that the tail has the most flavor. Goofy snake! It's always entertaining when snakes decide to eat rodents backwards. They're not all "fast learners", lol.

Yeah half the time my guy eats his backwards. It’s so funny all of the little quirks and differences I notice from him than other snakes. It’s cool how they’re all unique. One good thing is he is a great eater (if he can find the food after striking). He has never gone one rat without striking at it at least, and is yet to miss a meal. It just sometimes takes multiple attempts.


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[Bogertophis]

Perhaps some snakes are here to teach us patience. They certainly do provide some laughs.

[Bogertophis]

It's not only BPs anyway- I have a corn snake that is a very enthusiastic eater, but if she sees ANY motion outside her tank after she has grabbed her mouse, she drops & ignores it to come after me, or rather my "motion"- that apparently in her snakey-mind might just be a bigger, juicier mouse? But at least once I make my "get-away" she'll go find & eat the mouse she dropped.

I know it's because she doesn't have my scent thru the glass- to most snakes, visual recognition doesn't happen- it's all about motion, which is either predator or prey. Corn snakes don't have heat-sensing pits, so at least that makes them much easier to feed. BPs rely on heat more than scent, so they look pretty goofy when their prey cools off & they can't seem to find it.

Every now & then, I've had a snake grab their prey tail-first, & they hate to let go, much like your BP. But I suppose it's a bit like people that refuse to stop & get directions when they're lost, & just keep going the wrong way. (I wonder what snakes would say about us?)

[EthanMG]

It's not only BPs anyway- I have a corn snake that is a very enthusiastic eater, but if she sees ANY motion outside her tank after she has grabbed her mouse, she drops & ignores it to come after me, or rather my "motion"- that apparently in her snakey-mind might just be a bigger, juicier mouse? But at least once I make my "get-away" she'll go find & eat the mouse she dropped.

I know it's because she doesn't have my scent thru the glass- to most snakes, visual recognition doesn't happen- it's all about motion, which is either predator or prey. Corn snakes don't have heat-sensing pits, so at least that makes them much easier to feed. BPs rely on heat more than scent, so they look pretty goofy when their prey cools off & they can't seem to find it.

Every now & then, I've had a snake grab their prey tail-first, & they hate to let go, much like your BP. But I suppose it's a bit like people that refuse to stop & get directions when they're lost, & just keep going the wrong way. (I wonder what snakes would say about us?)

Haha yeah, gotta adapt to each snake. It’s funny tho because he eats from the back so often I thought it was normal to start from the butt. I now realize it’s not… guess it doesn’t matter to him.


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[Bogertophis]

Haha yeah, gotta adapt to each snake. It’s funny tho because he eats from the back so often I thought it was normal to start from the butt. I now realize it’s not… guess it doesn’t matter to him.


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Maybe your snake is just a 'show-off'? It's harder to eat backwards. The back legs get in the way- they don't fold easily, plus the fur is the wrong direction too. Maybe he'll figure it out eventually.

[nikkubus]

I have had one grab the tail and wrap it before, it was so silly. She ended up eating it from the head that particular time though.

I have a few girls that are notoriously eating backwards and it drives me crazy. Takes them so much longer.

My hognose LOVES eating them sideways!! It takes her absolutely forever to eat. I try to hang on to the butt of the mouse while she swallows to get her to properly orient it, but almost always it fails and she eats it from the middle, folded in half.

[Snagrio]

Mine grabbed a rat by the foot before of all things. And he must've had a sunken cost moment because he chose to just run with it and continue wrapping despite the fact that he clearly didn't have a good grip since, you know, he grabbed a FOOT. There was also another time where he hit the rat sideways to the point where he didn't even get his teeth in properly so it fell out of his mouth, but he already had momentum so he just, wrapped it while his mouth wasn't even on the rat anymore.

Nature's most fearsome hunter everybody.

[Luvyna]

Haha I love this thread! BPs are so derpy

2765117[/URL]]Has your ball python ever struck at the tail and eaten the tail of the rat alone? Lol, because mine has! This is my first BP, had him for a few months, and he struck at the tail and wrapped at nothing. After that he sat there and stared at me while finishing the tail. I offered the rat while he was chewing on the tail, but he just stared and continued gnawing on the tail . Finally, after he finished his stupid tail, he decided to eat the rat. Idk, I just thought it was funny and thought I’d share. Has anyone else had any interesting feeding experiences?

Lol maybe he just wanted a rat-flavored noodle?

My BP has done plenty of whacky things while eating, including:

• Wrapping the tongs and the rat together - I just left the tongs in the enclosure with him until he finished eating.
• Wrapping the edge of the plate I feed him on along with the rat (I feed on a plate to reduce the chances he will ingest substrate and it makes cleaning easier if the rat bleeds a bit)
• Folding a rat’s nose down to it’s tail and eating it sideways like a taco… this is funny in retrospect but it was a little horrifying to watch because he was so adamant about eating it sideways and I thought there as no way he would get it down. As a result I could also see a round bulge which was the rat’s head on the side of his body when he was done but he digested it just fine and a day later the bulge was gone.
• Following the heat signature of my hand but the smell of the rat… he struck in between my hand and the rat and missed both lol