FEEDING PROBLEM PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

HI ALL,

I FEED MY YEAR OLD BALL PYTHON TODAY AND THE FIRST MOUSE SHE ATE SHE STRUCK ON THE HEAD NOW I NOTICE WHEN SHE WAS EATING THAT THERE WAS A LITTLE BLOOD. THEN AFTER SHE HAD A LITTLE BLOOD IN THE CORNER OF HER MOUTH. WHAT TO DO? SHOULD SHE BE OK?? HELP????

first off, no need for the caps, if anything, it makes it more annoying

secondly, was the blood from the mouse, or the snake?

and are you feeding live?

FROM THE SNAKE I THINK

Live sorry

well, try to get it so you can see the mouth, and see if you can see where it might have been bleeding from


**Edit** and you dont want to be feeding live, switch to f/t or p/k

how would i swich, i just got her about a week ago and she is jumpy I don't know if she would let me hold a mouse over her

there is a small cut right underneath the top lip. worry or will it heal

you should have waited to feed her, so she can get used to it all


but you get a frozen mouse from wherever you get your rodent, then you thaw out the mouse, i put them in a plastic bag, and then put them in hot/warm water, for however long it takes, so keep checking it, then get tongs, and hold it in front of her head, and maybe dangle it to make it seem alive


it might not eat right away

so you might ask for a pre killed mouse, which is killed right then and there, so it will still have the scent on it, and do the same with with the tongs

i dont know what to say about the cut, sorry

maybe someone else will know

it is good that it is on her bottom lip and not in her mouth right?? mouth rot??

if your so worried about it take her to the vet, better safe than sorry right.Next time try f/t so you dont have to worry about this again. good luck hope she is ok :)

I've noticed on some feeds that if they get a good hit on the head or lower legs when they coil it can pull the teeth back across that taut skin and you can see blood - sometimes enough of it to make you think the snake got hit if you didnt know the prey was pre killed. Definitely try at least p/k - abandon feeding live and later move to f/t if you can. Can you get a pic of the cut?

THANKS EVERYONE SHE SEEMS TO BE OK. I THINK THAT YOU ARE RIGHT SHE DID GET A GOOD HIT ON THE HEAD AND THE BLOOD IS GONE NOW AFTER A FEW HOURS. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THERE IS A CUT ANYMORE!! CLOSE ONE. p/k THIS POINT ON!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TONYDM41684

CLOSE ONE. p/k THIS POINT ON!!

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Glad to hear it! It's so much safer for your snake, and no more of this type of worrying for you.

Feeding your snake life prey is one of the worst things a keeper could do. If a prey item injures you snake very badly and it does recover the snake will associate the injury with eating and may never eat again. This holds true mostly for ball pythons because of thier shy nature. Feed fresh killed or frozen thawed. I suggest if you cant find frozen. Buy the rodent live and wack it yourself. The idea is to keep the mouse at its normal body temp so killing the mouse right before feeding is ideal.

I don't know, I've been feeding mine live for months with absolutely no problems, however, as the prey I feed begins to be bigger I will either switch to frozen because of the health benefits or raise my own and break their jaws. I think I am just lucky to have such good eaters and I am currently feeding week to 10 day old pups with their eyes still closed and mouths to ting to even bite my snakes. I can't think of any reason to switch at this point but I think it is better for most to feed frozen or p/k

Break their jaws?:shock: I've never heard of that method. Sounds inhumane. Wouldn't it be better to just bag them and wack them against a hard surface to kill them instantly?:(

And as for waiting to switch...my advice is to switch as soon as you can. The younger the bp is, the less problems you'll have switching, IMO. :)