jaw during eating?

[spudz11]

Hi all,

With some additional heat, no thanks to the problems with the UTHs i was having, my dude has now picked up his eating habits... and how! I've also put him back to mice, and he's taking 2 adults one feeding, then 3 adults the next a 9 days later! I now have a fairly strong day bulb, a night infrared bulb, and a ceramic heat bulb in the middle to keep the cold end of the tank warm, and a thermometer that is telling me the temps are good!

So, i first noticed this a few years ago, and i haven't thought to look again to see if it still happens. I will next feeding... but, I know that bp's jaws will stretch to accomodate the large food, but it looked like the middle of the bottom jaw was somewhat separated. So, when he was swallowing the prey and moving his jaw around a bit to manipulate it, it looked like the left and right side of his bottom jaw were not really connected, although perhaps it was just the skin stretching differently on his lip? After he closed his mouth, until he yawned after eating, his bottom jaw wasn't really sitting flat up against the top.

part of the natural process, or not? A couple times he has hit the glass pretty hard when striking for the prey, might he have broken it? I now feed him on the tiled floor, because he one got his face stuck in the carpet after missing the prey, lol.

Thanks

[Sausage]

2 adult mice at one feeding? That's too much I think. Three is definetly too much. You also don't need to feed outside of the tank. Additional lights are not necessary if you can get the temps right with a UTH or CHE.

That thing on his chin you saw is just a little chin fold that they all have. It stretches out when they eat.

[Freakie_frog]

2 adult mice at one feeding? That's too much I think. Three is definetly too much. You also don't need to feed outside of the tank. Additional lights are not necessary if you can get the temps right with a UTH or CHE.

That thing on his chin you saw is just a little chin fold that they all have. It stretches out when they eat.

Great job on the pic.

I missed where they said the age and size of their snake.I have a het pied that only eats mice and he pounds 3 a meal he's a 900 grams boy. Also my 400 gram spider and 480 gram pastel eat 2 mice a week. So it all depends on the size and age of the snake.

[Sausage]

True. Also, I only feed rats so I forget how little adult mice are. When I heard "adult mouse" I pictured some big rats.

Thanks about the pic. Good thing my BP isn't the least bit head shy.

[spudz11]

as for feeding... according to http://www.frozenfeeder.com/sizing.html 3 large mice are still within the weight of one small rat. I didn't get the exact weights, but they were not BIG adult mice. like sausage said, i was kind of surprised when i first saw how little adult mice actually are.

and I know that 'additional' lighting is not necessary, but like i said in my first post, i've been having problems with the UTHs, and no one here sells a different brand. so radiant heat it is, even though its not 'best' it still provides the required temperatures...

and yes, it is a wide 50gal, so i do need the 'additional' heat sources to keep an even gradient. but I have consistently appropriate temperatures, day and night, and constant 50-55% humidity, and 60-65% during shed (a little high, but the only way he'll have a good shed).

He's a healthy and hungry snake! what can i say... not stressed or shy in his big enclosure either.. he loves it!

anywhere to buy mice in bulk?

2-3 per feeding can get expensive vs. one rat. And i plan on keeping him on mice since he's got a much better feeding reflex with those.

[Evan Jamison]

Two-three mice/week is perfect for a ball at 800+ grams. Our mouse feeder 2500+ gram breeder girls will eat about 5/week after laying for a couple months, then I back em down to 2 once they have gained the weight back.

As far as the jaw seperation you saw, snakes lower mandibles are connected with a ligament which can separate quite a bit, not bone like most animals. They also don't "dislocate" their jaw like you normally hear, but they do have a very flexible skull which helps them "walk" their jaws over the prey until it is far enough down the hatch to pull it along with esophageal contractions. An amazing feeding adaptation that has allowed snakes to be so successful as a whole.

-Evan

[Freakie_frog]

Two-three mice/week is perfect for a ball at 800+ grams. Our mouse feeder 2500+ gram breeder girls will eat about 5/week after laying for a couple months, then I back em down to 2 once they have gained the weight back.
-Evan

Bingo and don't believe the junk about mice won't let your snake grow. My het pied (when he came back on feed) went from 750 grams to 950 in two months and thats pounding 2 mice a week. Then I have a banded girl that eats small rats and puts on the same weight.

[spudz11]

great response Evan... thanks for confirming the jaw issue. I was a little reluctant to accept it was a chin fold, because it definitely looked skewed, not just a tissue thing. I was just worried my dude broke it when he missed the prey and slammed open mouthed into the glass! i felt so guilty for feeding him in the cage that time

I don't even know if my 'dude' is a male or female, and personally since i'm not breeding, i don't suppose it really matters and i'd rather just not have him (for the sake of applying a gender) probed. I know weights vary, but is there something comparable to a body mass index, considering age, length and weight, girth for ball pythons? He looks and acts very healthy, but wouldn't mind seeing where exactly he is in terms of size compared to others.