Stupid, Stupid, STUPID

[srhcrawford]

I fed my baby ball python (she is now 4 months, aprox) an adult mouse that was larger than her girth. I wasn't paying attention at the store when the worker put the mouse in the bag. I got it home, realized it was too big but still fed it to her. She got to the hips and then regurgitated most of it, then made a second attempt and successfully ate the whole thing. It was such a struggle that now I am worried that I may have inadvertently caused some internal trauma. Does anyone have any experience with this? What signs should I watch for that would reveal she needs medical attention?

[jkobylka]

She'll be fine. She would do the same thing if she came upon a slightly large prey in the wild.

Just keep an eye on her and go a little smaller!

Justin

[waltah!]

Don't beat yourself up over it. She will be totally okay.

[srhcrawford]

Thanks for setting my mind at ease. I guess I just feel really guilty because she had such at rough time about it. At one point she stopped moving at all with the back end hanging out of her mouth and I thought I'd killed her. Omg, heart attack. She then resumed. It was pretty stressful for both of us I think!

[blackcrystal22]

Thanks for setting my mind at ease. I guess I just feel really guilty because she had such at rough time about it. At one point she stopped moving at all with the back end hanging out of her mouth and I thought I'd killed her. Omg, heart attack. She then resumed. It was pretty stressful for both of us I think!

If it's a bit too big, it's no big deal. You should see what my corn snake could eat if I let her.

That would stop my heart too. :]

[J.Vandegrift]

A 4 month old snake should be fine eating any size mouse (assuming it has been fed correctly since birth). I would not worry at all.

[butters!]

A 4 month old snake should be fine eating any size mouse (assuming it has been fed correctly since birth). I would not worry at all.

i have a 5 month old female that is 120g's and cannot eat a large mouse.some snakes just dont pack on the weight like others.

[blackcrystal22]

i have a 5 month old female that is 120g's and cannot eat a large mouse.some snakes just dont pack on the weight like others.

A 120 should be able to eat a small/med. mouse right? :]

[butters!]

actually i just put her on the scale tonight and she was 152.after a pooh im guessing 135.she can take a medium but id rather give her 2 small(since she is itty bitty)a large is outta question.i have a 300 gram male that had a stuggle with a large mouse.this thing was massive!i was lookin for rat hoppers and the lady came out with a bag and i trusted her.bad mistake!it took the snake at least an hour to take it down.i felt so bad cuz i knew it was big but i fed anyways.it struggled the whole time and after it was done it took 5 days to come out of its hide that i had to modify with a dremel tool.

[frankykeno]

Thanks for setting my mind at ease. I guess I just feel really guilty because she had such at rough time about it. At one point she stopped moving at all with the back end hanging out of her mouth and I thought I'd killed her. Omg, heart attack. She then resumed. It was pretty stressful for both of us I think!

Actually it's pretty normal for them to get going and then take a bit of a stop then off they go again swallowing. Remember they have that wonderful breathing tub, the glottis, that allows them to keep breathing while their mouth is stuffed full.

Btw, the snake didn't technically regurg that prey. Regurging is more when they've swallowed it, been unable to digest it or been disturbed during the process of digestion and have tossed up the prey and a quantity of their digestive acids (not a good thing at all). What your snake did was just back the prey out of her mouth for a moment to reassess the situation and start over. They'll do that sometimes to get a better angle on their prey or if you are too close or bug them while they are settling in to swallow their dinner. It's not like a regurge as there's no bringing up of those damaging stomach acids with the prey.

I think this was likely far more stressful for you than your snake. Since the prey was larger than it normally takes though, an extra day of no handling wouldn't be a bad idea just to err on the side of caution.

Some snakes get very nervy if you watch them eat so with ours we generally just confirm they have their live prey well under control then we leave them be until they've completely swalled their prey item. It's a very vulnerable time for a snake when it's mouth if busy like that so some will act up if you are too close during the actual swallowing part of it all.