Baby BP strikes, constricts, but drops frozen thawed.

Small update: I ended up making a drive down on the 14th to get him some live rats. I was too worried about him possibly going another month without eating, it wouldn't be fair to him. He's eaten two rats since I posted this so he'll definitely be good to go! We're moving in 5 days so he won't have to go without food for very long. Plus, he's due to be going into shed any day now so it might work out perfectly. After we get there, I'm going to work on transitioning him to frozen thawed rats.

Thanks to everybody who responded! (:

I know how hard it can be to transition a snake from live to f/t- good luck with that & thanks for the update. I would have done the same thing in your situation.

You seem to have already figured this problem out, and I am a newbie owner too, so take what I am saying with a grain of salt, but when you try again you might want to hang out and watch your guy eat. My boy struck, coiled and then dropped his last meal, but it was obvious he still wanted it, he just didn't know what to do. He had a bad strike, caught it in the middle, and couldn't swallow it, then he spit it out and just kept looking for it, (he is pretty, but apparently not too bright). I just picked up the rodent, reheated the head and tried again. Luckily my boy is an eating machine who really really wanted that rat, cause it took him 5 tries and 30 minutes to get a good strike. Once he did he swallowed it down. Your snake might just not know what to do with a F/Ted if it gets a bad strike. If he is game, I would watch him and keep trying to set him up with a good strike.

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Originally Posted by Twisting

You seem to have already figured this problem out, and I am a newbie owner too, so take what I am saying with a grain of salt, but when you try again you might want to hang out and watch your guy eat. My boy struck, coiled and then dropped his last meal, but it was obvious he still wanted it, he just didn't know what to do. He had a bad strike, caught it in the middle, and couldn't swallow it, then he spit it out and just kept looking for it, (he is pretty, but apparently not too bright). I just picked up the rodent, reheated the head and tried again. Luckily my boy is an eating machine who really really wanted that rat, cause it took him 5 tries and 30 minutes to get a good strike. Once he did he swallowed it down. Your snake might just not know what to do with a F/Ted if it gets a bad strike. If he is game, I would watch him and keep trying to set him up with a good strike.

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I agree. You want to watch, but just don't be too close or obvious- many snakes (like BPs) are so shy. But you're correct, some snakes really want it & then drop it, & because it has cooled off AND isn't moving, they get confused & lose interest.

I keep large rat snakes that are very enthused about eating, but now & then they go thru so much motion (thrashing & constricting pre-killed rodents) that they drop them in their water bowl, & then can't find them! :rofl: So I have to fish them out with my long tongs (non-locking hemostats) & they re-take & eat them successfully.

Snakes do unexpected things with their meals, lol. Even when they make a sure-fire grab, never assume that it's a success until you see the lump in their mid-section.