Snake wont contrict or bite its food
I have a Blood python that doesn't constrict its F/T mouse. It just casually slithers up to it and swallows it. I do heat up the mouse with a heat lamp. I was wondering if anyone has seen this behavior before. The snake eats fine, at least once a week. The snake is about 5 Months old. I took a 10 year break from snake keeping. I am looking to get back into it and start breeding some bloods. I have tried everything to encourage her to constrict her food, but nothing I do works. I mean should I try to get a live mouse and kill it right before feeding her? Honestly I don't think this is an issue since the snake is eating just fine. I was just curious if anyone else has seen this before?
Re: Snake wont contrict or bite its food
Quote:
Originally Posted by
craigafrechette
Nothing at all to worry about. If there's no reason to fight, why waste the energy???
Not trying to be rude, but that's kinda "Snake 101". I would take a few years and learn about these animals before considering breeding.
Please know I'm putting the animals first, and breeding is a large responsibility.
I have bred before, but not Pythons. I was breeding Corn Snakes. I just took a 10 to 12 year break. With the Corn, and Kingsnakes I never had a snake not constrict is food. That is why I was asking. I realize that this is a newbie question, but I am not a newbie to snakes. I had a collection of about 16 different snakes, and 2 iguanas, and a Savannah monitor. If this was my first snake, or I hadn't bred before I would not be looking to breed now.
Re: Snake wont contrict or bite its food
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bogertophis
I've kept many kinds of snakes for many years, & bred some of them including kings & corns...this behavior of not constricting prey that's already dead is both
normal & common among snakes...& fairly smart on their part. As already noted, constriction would be a waste of time & energy, therefore counter-survival.
Please never throw live prey at any snake that's used to eating dead prey, in the hopes of watching them constrict: they are FAR more likely to get injured by
doing so. In my experience, many snakes fed f/t also become far better (ie. calmer) pets also...a win!
Thanks for the reply everything oyu said is what I found online in my research on the subject. I just figured I would ask, as there is no harm in asking. I realize this question is very basic and I could answer it on my own, but again, in case I missed something in my research I figured I would ask. Thanks guys for all the replies and taking the time to write them.