feeding question

ok so my first experiance feeding my ball python was interesting, and raises some questions. so i prekilled the mouse for'em and he wouldn't take it. i left him for a while and he still didn't take it. so i picked him up and he was normal not aggresive or anything. then i had him in my hand and put it near the mouse, and he tagged it hard!!! it was awsome, the feeling of the snake constricting like that. but then it was stuck on my hand. so i gently put him down and he moved to constrict just the mouse. my questions are, should i have put him down? he clearly did not want me to put him down, but would he still eat the mouse while he was holding on to me? i really didn't know what to do, i didnt think he was going to take it from my hand after not taking it before in the container.

yes, you did the right thing by putting him down.

next time make sure you're not holding the snake when he's near the prey item, lol. thats also an easy way to get bit.

if i was in your position i would've placed him down too...it would actually kind of gross me out, a snake on my hand constricting a pre-killed animal

I wonder if the heat from your hand hand anything to do with the strike? How long had the mouse been dead before you gave it to him? If it had cooled off that might have been the issue.

the mouse was very freshly prekilled. so i dont really know. but he wasnt interested in the mouse till he was in my hand, then he'd take it. he really likes my hand i might add. whenever i hold him he will always be on my hand or near it, sometimes he crwls away but always ends up back to my left hand. strange. :confused:

well let's hope that he doesnt need to be on your hand for every feeding :)

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Originally Posted by Kizerk

well let's hope that he doesnt need to be on your hand for every feeding :)

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haha lord that'd be interesting to see a full-grown BP eating that way.

i dont know if i like it very much. ive done some further testing and it is only my left hand. kinda cute, kinda crappy. i guess i'll find out when i feed him next.

My thought is that the heat signature from your hand combined with the smell of the mouse is what did it. Try putting it under a heat light for a few seconds before offering it to kinda heat it up. Them little critters have very little blood and they get cold pretty quick. Try that next time.