New BP Owner!!!

I Just bought my first BP last week today was her first feeding, I fed her a very small pinkie, It was like she didnt know how to kill it first, is this normal? she took 3 attempets to get it but not once did she wrap her self around it it never stoped moving, 3rd time she just started swallowing it! but im worried that it could have hurt her because i saw it moving inside of her for like the first 10-15 seconds, is this normal? Ive watched my friends bps eat like a dozen times, but thiers always squeeze thier prey before the swallow them! thank you for your help!

When you say pinkie do you mean pinkie rat or pinkie mouse? Depending on how big your BP is relative to the size of the pinkie prey item it may have just not needed to constrict it much in order to snarf it down. Are you sure what you saw "moving" wasn't just the normal ripples of a snake moving it's prey down it's body fully into it's body cavity area?

Congrats on acquiring your first BP. If you haven't had a chance to check out our caresheet here's a link to it.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

Welcome to BPNet!

nah when I mean I saw it moving inside of her, I mean as she was eating it, the end of it was still hanging outta her mouth, back legs kicking and all, also when I say pinkie I mean it was a mouse. Im just concerned because she struck it 2 times before that and it was like she didnt know what to do with it she just held it in her mouth waited about 2 mins then let it go, popped her jaw back, then tried again, same thing, third time she just swallowed it down. I just thought that they are supposed to constrict their prey before they eat it! again thank you for your help!

A pinky mouse is way too small for a hatchling bp. It should start an at least a hopper mouse or pinky rat.

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Originally Posted by wickedhabits13

nah when I mean I saw it moving inside of her, I mean as she was eating it, the end of it was still hanging outta her mouth, back legs kicking and all, also when I say pinkie I mean it was a mouse. Im just concerned because she struck it 2 times before that and it was like she didnt know what to do with it she just held it in her mouth waited about 2 mins then let it go, popped her jaw back, then tried again, same thing, third time she just swallowed it down. I just thought that they are supposed to constrict their prey before they eat it! again thank you for your help!

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Bill is dead on. Your snake didn't know what to do with a meal so small ... but it was hungry so it made the meal work. ;)

A fuzzy rat or small adult mouse next time will work better. ;)

-adam

I second everything stated by the other members.I have a hatchling baby ball python that does the same exact thing yours does only to a pinky rat.She grabs it then kinda looks shocked when it starts moving in her mouth.Then instinct kicks in a she swallows it.

Yeah, pinky mice are more like appetizers.....even for a baby ball.