Too big meal help.

My spider ball fed last night on a mouse that was WAY to big for him. I forgot to check the mouse to snake Size comparison, and he ate a meal that way 1 1/2 times as thick as him, he is a little guy, only 90grams, he swallowed but it took him an hour and a half to do it, and when he was done, he wasn't slithering, i picked him up, to go back to his cage, and he was still,(except for his Tounge occasionally flicking out, and i placed him in his hide, i came in in the mourning to see how he was doing, and he was in the exact same possition i left him in, He still has his tounge flicking, so he isn't dead, but will he be ok, or will he KO?:(

Just keep an eye on him....

Make sure your temps are good

Deal with a regurge if it happens

Learn from this and remember to double check next time:gj:

If he swallowed it, there is nothing you can do but wait. Just make sure he is warm and don't bother him...should be fine though.

Yep, keep him in the warm side so he can digest it! He should be better in a day or two but just leave him alone! He should be okay! Good luck!

:rolleyes: I did this too one time...only the mouse size was fine.....it was just a few jumbos. I freaked afterwards!! She was HUGE!!!! Thinking omg...I overfed her and now she is going to die. He should be fine...afterall he got it down. Just give him some extra time to digest maybe wait a day longer than the 48 hours to handle. I would also up your temp a little to make sure you have good belly heat...that is what assists them in digesting.

Just get ready for a quick shed coming up and probably a huge poo


When mine eat and they are full ....they go to their warm hide and I don't usually see them move for a couple of days.

DONT HANDLE HIM!! Don’t move him..Don’t mess with him. Make sure his heat temps are where they need to be so he can digest it .. U don’t want him to regurge.
If the mouse is down there is nothing u can do at this point but maybe bump up the heat to help him digest it.

Learn from your mistake and don’t repeat it. :colbert:
Power feeding is never a good idea.


let us know how it goes.. all fingers crossed for him/her and u :snake:

Like everyone else said he should be fine, leave him be and have good temps. If he does regurge the mouse, DON'T FEED HIM FOR 10 To 14 DAYS, let his digested track settle down and then offer him a mouse that is just a little smaller than his normal feeding.

I agree with everything said here. It's scary, but they can take it, they are much tougher than we give them credit for. It will be regurged if it's a serious problem.

My only additional suggestion is to cover up the entire enclosure on all sides to give the snake as much privacy as possible.

I have seen videos of snakes in the wild eating prey much larger than them. Make sure his heat is right, and he will be fine.

You DO NOT want to turn the temps up. I know everyone says to do that but think about it for a min. When the temps are up the food item spoils faster (epands) than they can digest it. This is when they regurge. Temps down a few degrees will keep it in his stomach.

Now before everyone gets wound up, think about a dead rat you didn't feed. It blows up right? Well it does that in the snake. The slower it "blows up" the more time it will have to digest it. If it "blows up" in their stomachs more than they can handle they regurge.

They use the warm belly heat to digest!

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Originally Posted by boasandballs

You DO NOT want to turn the temps up. I know everyone says to do that but think about it for a min. When the temps are up the food item spoils faster (epands) than they can digest it. This is when they regurge. Temps down a few degrees will keep it in his stomach.

Now before everyone gets wound up, think about a dead rat you didn't feed. It blows up right? Well it does that in the snake. The slower it "blows up" the more time it will have to digest it. If it "blows up" in their stomachs more than they can handle they regurge.

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You're getting a little bit confused here.
First, I've never had a rat 'blow up' before. And when snakes regurgitate, it's not 'blown up' it's actually rather solid and in one piece.

You don't want to turn the temps up, and you don't want to turn them down. The rotting process is part of the digestion, it is a good thing, not a bad thing. In order for the animal to sustain it's digestion and get enough energy to synthesize the food, it needs that crucial belly heat.

The food is currently being subjected to large amounts of acid. The snake's body will work on producing more acids and absorbing the nutrients. The food is not rotting, anymore than the food in YOUR stomach rots. There are beneficial bacteria at work helping to break it down, but that isn't quite the same thing.

A hot spot of 90 to 95 will allow him to digest his food without issue. It is unecessary to go higher than that, and you definitely don't want to go lower. The snake's metabolic rate will increase when the temperature is higher--this speeds digestion. But it will be forced to move if the temperature is too high for its comfort. My guess is, if you put it at 95, he will sit smack dab on the heat and not move.

If temps are too cool, digestion is slowed, and that's when there is a chance that the food may rot before it can be broken down properly in the stomach.

It's unlikely that he'll regurge as long as it's warm and he's left alone. They're designed to be able to handle anything they can manage to swallow. It's rare that a snake has to regurge a huge prey item for any reason other than it was disturbed and wants to flee--then it gets rid of the big meal to lighten itself up to move faster.

ur ball will be fine, if it swallowed it then its not to big IMO

he'll be fine! If he regurges well then try again next week. My lesser had been on rat pups and she looked like she could be bumped up. So I gave her a small (but big for a small) f/k rat and it was a slow going but she took it like a champ. She is full enough she is just stretched out in the tub and cant coil up.

Point is, you have ate until you get nausious before right? You either puked or you layed down and took a nap. But youre still alive and kicking right? He's just full as heck. Handling is a no go but you had him out of his enclosure to feed so now that he's back just wait for the biggest turd of his short life!!

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

You're getting a little bit confused here.
First, I've never had a rat 'blow up' before. And when snakes regurgitate, it's not 'blown up' it's actually rather solid and in one piece.

You don't want to turn the temps up, and you don't want to turn them down. The rotting process is part of the digestion, it is a good thing, not a bad thing. In order for the animal to sustain it's digestion and get enough energy to synthesize the food, it needs that crucial belly heat.

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Your misunderstanding me. What I meant was they out gas, or expand in their stomachs. Anyway if you ever had emerald tree boas you would understand what I'm saying. What I was trying to say is more heat is not the answer, they regurgitate because it is to much for them to handle. Normal temps with access to the cool side is best.

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Originally Posted by boasandballs

Your misunderstanding me. What I meant was they out gas, or expand in their stomachs. Anyway if you ever had emerald tree boas you would understand what I'm saying. What I was trying to say is more heat is not the answer, they regurgitate because it is to much for them to handle. Normal temps with access to the cool side is best.

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I envy yall emerald tree boa guys.. :)

I cannot wait till i have a snake where i have to know some science to keep ;)

IDK if ball pythons are cutting it out :rolleyes:


I want to learn lol

anywho your snake is fine and will be fine just let it chill for a while and expect a mess :O