Why did he do that?

I feed my 28” Ball Python today and it did a peculiar thing. It ate the mouse and had gotten it all the way down. I was just about to put him back into his enclosure when he lunged at and bit his own tail!

What was that all about?

:O Oh owwie!!!! ummm i don't know what to do... I would say check for teeth but that would stress him out and he might regurg...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swkirrel

I feed my 28” Ball Python today and it did a peculiar thing. It ate the mouse and had gotten it all the way down. I was just about to put him back into his enclosure when he lunged at and bit his own tail!

What was that all about?

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My cat used to attack her tail all the time.. lol

My guess, he just didn't realize that tantalizing(or annoying) thing he wanted to bite was himself. Feeding mode can bring about odd behaviors.

Well... first of all, feeding outside of an enclosure isn't recommended.. especially if your moving him right back to his cage as soon as it was 'all the way down'. This could cause a regurgitation, or other stressful problems on the digestive system.
It's really just.. unnecessary. :]

As for the tail thing.. I think if theres no bleeding or teeth in his tail, he'll be fine. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

My snake has done this too. Someone I know suggested that maybe the scent of the mouse was still on him. I agree that feeding mode causes them to do strange things. Check to make sure there was no puncture wound and I think your snake should be fine.

I was cleaning an amazon tree boa cage the other day and when i got it out, it was so riled up it bit itself before i put it into the holding cage :0