Very first feeding issue....

Thanks for all of your helpful and hilarious replies. I love hearing about the quirks all of your snakes have!

I have been thinking about it and I am wondering if maybe she is getting confused because the prey is too small for her. She is still on mice, and I feed her every 4 days because she really needs bigger prey, but I cannot find ANY pet store that sells rat fuzzes, and she is still just a little too small for small rats. Until I KNOW that she will take rats, I don't want to order a whole box of them online. I think within another month or two, she will be ready for small rats, and I have a small pack of them ready in the freezer for when she is. She tried to eat the mouse butt first a couple times and seemed to have trouble finding the head. It's not like it is DRASTICALLY too small, just a little too small. But on a 4 day schedule, she is maintaining bulk just fine, and actually growing fairly quickly. I am nervous, because I know the longer she is on mice, the harder it can be to switch. But last night's episode aside, she is a GREAT feeder, so I hope it goes well when the time comes.

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Originally Posted by chaoticstone

One of my girls is a live only feeder and she will instantly constrict her prey and sometimes after unwrapping she will zoom around her tub for up to a half hour before she consumes it. I have never seen her reconstrict it but she will bump it around with her nose and drag it around drop and zoom some more. Maybe just a female quirk! ;)

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This has happened to me a lot recently with my normal girl. One time, she striked and constricted on the far left side of the tank. I left thinking she would eat it no problem. After 15 minutes, I come back and the rat is sitting fully submerged in her water dish (she must have dragged it in there, the water dish is in the middle). I contemplated taking it out, but decided to leave it for 45 more minutes. Sure enough, she had already eaten it when I went to check after. Weird !