Change in eating habit - seems odd

I have an adult male BP that has always been a really good striker & feeder & I have never had to worry but the last 3 times I've fed him he doesn't strike it, he sits & stairs at it forever then slowly puts his mouth around it & starts to swallow (no constricting). He gets it down without any problems but it just seems odd to me. He's always eaten frozen thawed as long as I've had him (over 2 years now & he wasn't a baby when I adopted him either) so theres no change in that, temp, humidity, enclosure, etc. Any suggestions why he's not striking his food anymore?

Maybe hes feeling lazy?
I know of several f/t eaters that don't strike or constrict and go straight to swallowing, doesn't seem to be a big deal.

sent from my EVO

Ye some balls seems to understand after a while that the constricting isn't necessary. I've got a female who used to strike but now she never does. I prefer it that way to be honest... no more strike-flinching:P

/E

Same here. Jack stopped about 4 months ago. He is 1300+.

I think he just got smart and lazy lol

Who says they are not smart!

Buddy is a big & lazy so maybe tats what it is then. Well I guess thats it. I always enjoyed watching him hit it but I still have my little who strikes. Thanks guys/girls

I heard a lot of people say that their big boas and burmese pythons do this too. I would think with a big snake doing that, it would make handling that much easier.


1.0 normal bp- Blitz
1.0 Nicaraguan boa- Gavin
0.1 Red Tail Boa- Tara

I had a Normal male that while he was small enough to eat mice would never strike and constrict. He'd just nose over and start eating. I got very used to that style from him. Once he put on enough weight to make the move to rats, I thought nothing of it the first time I went to put a rat in his tub...however, when he hit that thing like a run away truck before I could even open the tongs, I did an Olympic qualifying broad jump! After that, he struck and constricted every F/T rat I threw in there.

Snakes are just funny sometimes...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slim

I had a Normal male that while he was small enough to eat mice would never strike and constrict. He'd just nose over and start eating. I got very used to that style from him. Once he put on enough weight to make the move to rats, I thought nothing of it the first time I went to put a rat in his tub...however, when he hit that thing like a run away truck before I could even open the tongs, I did an Olympic qualifying broad jump! After that, he struck and constricted every F/T rat I threw in there.

Snakes are just funny sometimes...

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lol he liked mice and felt bad about eating them but he must of had something against rats!

Yeah Buddy eats medium rats & has for a while. He's as lazy as my pitbull (who just sleeps & eats)