Weird eating?

Today was the second time I've fed my new snake and both times he's started from butt first. He got it down last time but as I watch him now he seems to be struggling just like the first time. From what I understand snakes start head first and work their way down. He's a young snake so is this just an inexperienced eater? Is it a problem?

What size prey item are you feeding? Sometimes they start from the wrong side because the prey item is too small. One of the reasons snakes prefer to eat from the head first is because that way when they get to the legs they naturally move to the sides of the body, so they don't have a leg sticking out and making feeding uncomfortable.

Your snake is just being a goof, they dont have the best eyesight, so he probably does not realize he is eating it backwards at first, try offering the rodent so that the snake bites it right on the nose, that way when it starts to swallow they already have it head first, this is what I do, as it makes the whole feeding process much faster, rather than having the snake struggle to find the rodents head for 15 minutes.

It seems to me that Ball Pythons in general (atleast the ones I have fed) seem to be goofy about finding the head, one of mine will struggle for 20 minutes to find the head sometimes, lol. My Kenyan Sand Boa is even worse, he will just give up if he cant find the head.

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Originally Posted by lexxielightning

What size prey item are you feeding? Sometimes they start from the wrong side because the prey item is too small.

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This :)

They do sometimes take bigger prey backwards, but mostly it's because the food is on the smaller size.

I'm feeding him fuzzies. I wish I knew his weight but I couldn't find a decent scale. (Any suggestions for a good scale would be nice!) I'll bring him in to the pet shop we got him from and weigh him before his next feeding and let you guys know. In the mean time thanks for the help!

Mine did this with the last feed too. I have no clue what she weighs but I am feeding her one F/T small fuzzy every 5 days. Should I bump her up to mediums? She's only 6 month's old.

I picked up my scale from target. Look in the kitchen section, you can usually find small digital scales there.

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Originally Posted by Jeo123

I picked up my scale from target. Look in the kitchen section, you can usually find small digital scales there.

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I got one at Wal-Mart!!! Good reptile secret...instead of paying way to much for a REPTILE scale. Also, go to a smoke shop. They also have scales.....:D

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Originally Posted by TDent1

I'm feeding him fuzzies.

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would that be mice or rats?

it just happens sometimes.... one of my snakes is a nearly fully grown male who eats small adult rats. he still eats them backwards sometimes...