Some kind of special?

Now that I'm back into this wonderful hobby, I am of course paying very close attention to everything Tucker does. I am wondering if he is just some kind of "special" though. He's eating very well. Two fuzzies a week at this point, although he seems to be searching for a third but I don't want to over feed him. Anyway, I've always thought it was instinctual for snakes to swallow prey head first. He has only once. He even seems to work his way to the tail end or purpose. Never seen this before. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it as he does seem to struggle a bit to get the mouse down. Has anyone else's snake done this? Did it resolve itself?

Dave

They usually grow out of it. I have a queenbee that did this for about 6 months and then she finally started to head first. I have a fire woma that does it once in a while. Nothing wrong with it as long as they are eating.

<~~~check my avatar

Yeah that about sums it up. Now if I can only get him to stop falling backwards while investigating the top of his tank. :D

Dave

No toes, no balance...

Its a snake, stop trying to figure it out. Just when you think you did it will change its behavior. Snakes seem to love making their owners crazy.

My big Blood just ate her last XXL rat backwards. They don't care how it goes down so neither should you.

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Originally Posted by AKA Dave

Now that I'm back into this wonderful hobby, I am of course paying very close attention to everything Tucker does. I am wondering if he is just some kind of "special" though. He's eating very well. Two fuzzies a week at this point, although he seems to be searching for a third but I don't want to over feed him. Anyway, I've always thought it was instinctual for snakes to swallow prey head first. He has only once. He even seems to work his way to the tail end or purpose. Never seen this before. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it as he does seem to struggle a bit to get the mouse down. Has anyone else's snake done this? Did it resolve itself?

Dave

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Mine did tht last Monday, he was fine

I have heard some people suggest that this is a sign they are ready for a larger prey item. I guess it is less common for them to make that mistake when the head of their food is noticably larger than their rump. :P Then again, it seems like some just aren't that picky lol. I definitely wouldn't worry about it as long as they are eating though. You may try a larger rat once a week instead of two smaller ones depending on the age and size of the snake. I have started feeding my guy by dangling the rat by the tail slightly above his nose so that he will grab it in the right position for swallowing. I was having some trouble with him striking in the middle of its body and then getting confused and spending the next half an hour trying to reposition in a way that he could swallow it. This probably caused me more stress than it did him, but we have had fewer problems since I have found a way to get him to grab it by the head. These days he almost always eats normally and gets it down without incident.

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Originally Posted by kiiarah

I have heard some people suggest that this is a sign they are ready for a larger prey item. I guess it is less common for them to make that mistake when the head of their food is noticably larger than their rump. :P Then again, it seems like some just aren't that picky lol. I definitely wouldn't worry about it as long as they are eating though. You may try a larger rat once a week instead of two smaller ones depending on the age and size of the snake. I have started feeding my guy by dangling the rat by the tail slightly above his nose so that he will grab it in the right position for swallowing. I was having some trouble with him striking in the middle of its body and then getting confused and spending the next half an hour trying to reposition in a way that he could swallow it. This probably caused me more stress than it did him, but we have had fewer problems since I have found a way to get him to grab it by the head. These days he almost always eats normally and gets it down without incident.

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A rat pump shows to have a very large head compared to the body at the beginning of life but that changes as it matures. The larger a rat gets the larger its body gets. Its head will never be larger than its rear once it matures. If it is you have a problem.

The XXL rats my Blood will take is several years old and still will occasionally eat the rat rear first.

I have the same thing with my ball aswell as my previous snakes (corn and BRB) they seem to take whatever is closer to thr mouth... Hahaha... As long as they are eating i do not see anythings ng wrong with it

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