2nd feeding was last night, went good surprisingly lol

[ndizzleg]

So last night around 8 or so i went to the pet store and got a good sized hopper, brought it home and my ball was in his warmside hide with his head poked out. I open up the screen and dropped the mouse in. I figured he'd stayin his hide and do an ambush again like he did the first time i fed him. But he decided to come out, and he wasted no time doing that lol he came out and started going near the mouse, and the mouse ended up running into the coolisde hide, and this is not what i wanted to happen because the hide has no room for if he were to strike the mouse, he wouldnt have any room to coil up around it and do his work. So i got kinda nervous, being that this was a slightly bigger mouse and the fact that he didnt have much room to work, plus i wouldnt be able to see what was going on (if he was alright, if he got bit in defense, etc).
So anyways, he slithers over to the coolside hide and is just sitting their right in front of entrance to the hide. And i honestly couldnt even see the mouse in the hide, but it was in there. So my ball just sat there for a minute not even looking in the hide,..then all of a sudden( i didnt even see this coming) he striked into the hide! And from this point i had no clue what was going on. No sign of struggle or anything, i couldnt really see what was going on. Then he finally started to slither back out of the hide. And for a second i thought he was retreating because he got bit or wasnt successful in the kill. But as soon as he backed out of the hide, the mouse was just laying there dead
So i guess he just sunk his jaws on and it was over. It was a total surprise because i thought they had to coil around the prey also to kill it. I didnt know they could just bite into it and call it a day. Crazy lol But it was funny because he ended up dragging it out of the hide into the middle of the tank then he ate it haha

[Ringo]

Good story but that is why I would recommend feeding freeze thawed prey. It is so much safer for the snake. I get mine from rodentpro.com and have been pleased with their service. I find their prices to be resonable as well. In my opinion it is easier to just get one out of the freezer and thaw it than to run to the pet store each week to buy a mouse.

[snakelady]

I use f/t but mine still coil.
They can squeeze the prey with just a small amount of their body.

They only use the length of their body they need to, to subdue the food item.

[ViciousBliss]

i personally feed live, but when i feed i take out the hide to make room for striking and less hiding places for the dinner