Can snakes be mentally handicapped?

I mean this in all seriousness. Not intending to offend anyone.

Ramses has always had HORRIBLE aim during feeding. It's rare that he gets it on the first try and uncommon that he gets it on the second try. Normally I don't think anything of it, because he does get the rat eventually, swallows it no problem, and is an otherwise perfectly healthy snake.

But last night made me wonder. I thawed a rat and went to feed it to him with tongs, just as I always do. The rat was the same as always, just solid white, nothing strange about it. I wiggled it a bit to get his attention, just as I always do. But for some reason, it took Ramses at least seven strikes (no exaggeration, but I didn't count) to land it, and he landed it on the tail. Not the rump, not the tail base, the tail. Like an inch down.

See here:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...to10180048.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...to10180050.jpg

This isn't the first instance where he's missed multiple times. He accidentally nicked my finger once because he missed the rat. And he doesn't just barely miss, he's WAY off.

So I was wondering, is there something wrong with him? Does he have a mental disability? Is his vision/heat sensing impaired? Is his head-eye coordination hindered somehow?

And if he does have some sort of problem like this, is it something to worry about, and is it fixable?

Thanks in advance!

Maybe it's just not warm enough. I imagine it's possible for a snake to be "slow" but natural selection would wipe it out pretty quickly in the wild.

My spiders/bees sometimes strike wildly at food. I find it funny because my girl Kali will strike a few times and if she doesn't hit it she will get close to it and just bite it slowly. :P

I don't think it's an issue with temperature. His temps are a bit low right now, I admit. They always drop a few degrees during the winter months. But he does the same thing in the spring and summer when the temps are just right :/ He's a puzzle, alright.

I was talking about the temp of the rat. How are you warming it up?

May want to ensure your BP doesn't have a wobble, it's a neuro condition present more so in the Spider gene but it can rarely occur in others as well.

With that said, your BP could have problems with sight and relying heavily on heat and taste which would explain the off aim.

You can put the prey closer to the snake that way the chances of missing is decreased.

I think some snakes are just..weird. They learn to eat a certain way and by golly they eat that way.

My boa STILL forces her rats down SIDEWAYS!!! It is incredibly difficult looking. But she basically folds them in half and pushes them down. It is so weird to see the head and tail of a rat sticking out of the mouth of your snake at the same time. She looks ridiculous after she eats, her poor jaw is so stretched out! :rolleyes: Doesn't matter the size either..too small or the right size, she eats it like that.


I do actually have a mentally handicapped gecko I believe. Or at least physically handicapped. He is a normal who acts like he has severe enigma syndrome. He has to be fed by hand because he can't aim(he strikes a little to the left) and because he will always over eat. Leaving mealworms in his tank for him to munch on is NOT an option. Every time we tried he threw up the worms as he ate ALL OF THEM! No impactions or parasites. Seems to be some kind of birth defect. He has issues with quite a few things. He can thrive, it just takes a lot of extra help from us. He's just a little derpy is all. He's our special boy :)

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

he threw up the worms as he ate ALL OF THEM!

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haha, my cat does this with her food, every time we give her some, she eats all of it, if its too much, she'll eat as much as she can, throw up, and eat the rest, and sometimes throw up again lol. weve gotten it down to where she wont throw up usually though.

to OP: im inclined to say yes, a snake can be mentaly handicapped, just like any other animal. either that, or it gets way too excited at the thought of food and forgets to think about what its doing lol

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Originally Posted by Kinra

Maybe it's just not warm enough. I imagine it's possible for a snake to be "slow" but natural selection would wipe it out pretty quickly in the wild.

My spiders/bees sometimes strike wildly at food. I find it funny because my girl Kali will strike a few times and if she doesn't hit it she will get close to it and just bite it slowly. :P

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Wow, I used to have a corn snake that did that. Once he even came up to the tongs and stretched out his jaw so he could swallow directly from the tongs!

Some snakes really have crummy aim some eat backwards and some are just normal. If this is not a change but just a worse day of a string of bad days it isn't something to worry about.I have two with really poor aim and one 99% of the time eats backwards. So much so that he gets light meals as he simply cannot eat anything close to 10% of his weight it gets stuck at the hind legs. :P He is dopey. Lucy our one eyed snake has got to hit the head or she will drop it she tries to start where she hits, period, no constriction just swallow it now. If it is in the middle she will carry it around like a dog with a bone for a bit before she drops it. They can be unique.

Make sure the rat is hot enough. Let it thaw in the fridge and then put it in hot water until its warm all the way through. Make sure ur using tongs so he doesn't get confused with the heat of ur hand or any body heat. Has he ever been exposed to high temps or any chemicals? Does he show any signs neurological issues outside of feeding time. When u have him out flip him upside down and see if he can right himself. But I think its just prey not being hot enough