The Stupid, it Burns!!

My male BP is... well, I'm afraid he's dim.

I don't care if he eats his rats nose first, tail first, whatever. But when he grabs them by the middle and then just gives up when he can't get them down?

Holy cow.

Lucy will sometimes get a weird grab and have to work the rat around so she can take it head first (or on very rare occasion, tail first), but for Scales it's all or nothing. Either he nails it first try, or I have to offer the rat around 5 times before he'll actually get a decent bite on it.

I've tried just leaving him the heck alone with his rat, and that (excepting one occasion) results in a poor, wasted f/t rodent. It's only by offering repeatedly that we even have a snowball's chance of him eating.

He's gaining well, sheds are great, temps and humidity are spot on (90/80 60%+ humidity). So I guess I'm asking if this is this normal? Is his (apparent) lack of intelligence I sign I should never, ever, on pain of death consider breeding him?

Inquiring minds and all of that. Thanks, y'all :)

I don't think it has to do with intelligence. Ball Pythons (and most snakes) generally get by by instinct. Some will be more accommodating when it comes to their food, and others are more picky. I have (and had) some that were very particular in how they were fed. If they didn't get a good grab of their head and nose, then they quickly gave up and I would have to reintroduce the prey or they just wouldn't eat. The best way to feed these picky eaters is to warm up the nose of their prey and try to get them to grab their head. Sometimes it's difficult as they don't usually have the best aim, but it's all you can hope for. If they get a bad grab and drop the rat, just pick it up with tongs and try again. Eventually they'll get a good bite and finish it. Remember, Balls will eat based on scent, temperature, movement and the feel of the prey item. Some just focus more on the feel than the other aspects.

I have some snakes that will strike and catch a weird end, then drop the rat and ignore it once it's cold 10 minutes later. I pop it back in some hot water and give it back to them.

My bee sometimes gets derped out and spends 10-15 trying to eat the front paws.
Thankfully hes not picky at all and wont stop looking until its in his belly

I've tried reheating the prey's head with my blowdryer, but it only seems to irritate Scales. And even retrieving his disdained dinner for re-offering becomes problematic -- he doesn't want to eat it, but he doesn't want anyone else to have it either, dear me no!

He tracks us quite accurately. I wish he'd do as well with his dinner :P Maybe dipping the prey's head in hot(ish) water might work?

Thank you all :)

I would suggest heating the head a bit more. Or maybe try live and see how he does with it.

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Originally Posted by DooLittle

Or maybe try live and see how he does with it.

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Good suggestion. For the pickier snakes, live seems to really trigger their instincts.

For now, we'll stick with heating the head a bit more. He's eager to eat, it's just that his aim is beyond terrible :)

Live isn't realistic for us at the moment. Or perhaps I should say it's my absolute last-ditch option. I can't say I never have or would feed live -- my baby BCI wasn't impressed with my f/t offerings at first and had one live meal to get him going before he decided f/t was perfectly acceptable -- but considering my issues with getting my brain around the fact that I have pet rats and my snakes eat rats, I need to keep the compartmentalization in place until my little fuzzies go to that great rat house in the sky ;)

Hi Amanda,

We had a baby that liked hitting the food in the middle too. We did exactly what you said... We put the rat in a ziploc and held its head under hot water and it made a HUGE difference. I hope it works for you too.