Eating mouse tail first?

Can any harm be done by my BP eating a mouse tail first? Fed it for the first time since I got him, and he ate it tail first.

They do that sometimes. No harm tho :gj:

HAHA finally someone else with the same problem i have, i swear 3 out of 5 snakes eat them tail first everytime, i will hold the rat by the neck and they will find a way to bite the butt and then they start eating at the wrong end, its like there fav thing to do butt first whatever as long as they eat im happy. :D

lol good ol butt munchers!!! i know a few people whos snake will only eat one side or the other, mine(the two ive had a while) are more inclined to take whatever end they can reach first! the ball ate head first the one time ive fed him!

ive never heard of any harm in it either!

Both mine have tried to wrangle the rump, but they seem to realize its the wrong end and reposition the food and take it head first after numerous attempts at tail 1st.

my ball goes head first everytime. the hognose dont care, where ever he bites thats whats goin down.

My bp eats tail first every once in awhile but my beauty snake does it almost exclusively lol.

My favorite is when they grab on the hip or somewhere completely sideways, then something deep in their little BP brain says 'Hey, this isn't gonna work!"

Silly snakes... I think they do better with age, but maybe it's just mine. :)

Lol, yeah, sometimes Vincent will do that. I got lucky with Jules though, because EVERY TIME he grabs a mouse, he has almost the whole head in his mouth. Mice never have a chance to bite him. Always eats it that way as well.

It's ok though, butt first doesn't matter.

My BP ate a mouse sideways once.

Bix ate a mouse tail first a few weeks ago and got it down really easily, but literally a few minutes ago I tried to feed him and the dummy got his mouth around just one leg and the butt and started to do the wiggle - left the other leg and the tail sticking way out, up by his head. Took him ten minutes to realize it was a no-go, then he tried to eat it from the middle. I had a heart attack the entire time thinking he was going to choke himself to death. After awhile he gave up though. Had to leave for work so I took the mangled mouse out - with him being so dim today I didn't want to risk it. He's a garbage disposal but he'll just have to wait. I totally understand the concern, it's really nerve wracking to see your BP doing something different for the first time. He's not the brightest crayon in the box so I think most BPs wiill throw in the towel if it's clearly not going to go down safely. I don't think you have anything to worry about :)

This thread is from 2008....

It was the first link that popped up on Google; I try to be thorough when I'm unsure about an episode so I can take care of Bix the right way. Didn't notice, thought my anecdote was relevant enough. I don't look at the dates, it's just an easy mistake. Seems like it's clear to you that I'm new, so I think it's okay for me to navigate and figure it out along the way, like everyone else when they start something new. Bambi legs always get you somewhere, right? sorry if my wobble bothers you. Thanks for the heads up.

It happens. I have some snakes that do it at times.

Have you ever heard of a BP choking or causing serious damage to themselves because they tried to eat backwards? I haven't, but with the way Bix was going at that thing in such a weird manner...I basically didn't breathe til he put the mouse down so I could take it out of the tank.

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Originally Posted by Maggie Louise

Have you ever heard of a BP choking or causing serious damage to themselves because they tried to eat backwards? I haven't, but with the way Bix was going at that thing in such a weird manner...I basically didn't breathe til he put the mouse down so I could take it out of the tank.

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no. either way - head first or bottom first - it's gonna be a mouthful. it seems that they struggle more swallowing the bottom first as it's the larger end and the tail and legs go against the grain.

anyway i've had plenty of BP's eat their prey the "wrong" way. my girl Elphie ate a mouse side ways when she was a bb and my Emerald took one of her prey backwards just last week lol.

I have one named dumb dumb that always eats backwards. I beginning to believe he likes the taste from that end better.

What can get really interesting is watching a snake try to navigate the limbs on prey with fully set rigor mortis. Not a bad idea if you want to offer some easy to provide feeding enrichment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maggie Louise

Have you ever heard of a BP choking or causing serious damage to themselves because they tried to eat backwards? I haven't, but with the way Bix was going at that thing in such a weird manner...I basically didn't breathe til he put the mouse down so I could take it out of the tank.

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There is one definite disadvantage to eating it backward. My ball proved this last week when she tried to eat a mouse backward and somehow managed to squeeze its bladder. She spilled pee over the substrate and I assume in her mouth. She was not happy to say the least.
I don't know if that's the only downside, but snakes do seem to favor head first, so I imagine there are evolutionary advantages.

Some seem to not care, mine won't even try. He constricts all of his food for 3-ish minutes even though he's on f/t and sometimes he'll unwrap, forget where the head is, stare at the butt for a couple minutes and decide "no, that smells like crap", and then frantically look for the head. One time he was completely perplexed and practically breaded the mouse with the eco-earth so I tossed that one, thawed another, and stuck it on a paper plate for him and he took that without issue. I actually ditched the substrate and switched to paper towels because of that.

Hehe funny this just popped up on here today fed my clyde last night and he decided feet first was better, got the whole thing on video it's hilarious to watch, he was smart enough to get both feet in but the tail gave him some jip, funny little noodles they are.

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I’ve had never experienced this before. I grew up with a variety of snakes and this was the first case where my kids new young ball python ate a mouse tail first.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...TeX6KT-HK5WqFg[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-DFBE80-DD.jpg[/IMG]

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Originally Posted by duc749r

I’ve had never experienced this before. I grew up with a variety of snakes and this was the first case where my kids new young ball python ate a mouse tail first.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...TeX6KT-HK5WqFg[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-DFBE80-DD.jpg[/IMG]

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Even some snakes need to practice to get it right, lol. By the way- :welcome:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by duc749r

I’ve had never experienced this before. I grew up with a variety of snakes and this was the first case where my kids new young ball python ate a mouse tail first.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...TeX6KT-HK5WqFg[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-DFBE80-DD.jpg[/IMG]

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Great picture! My bp got it wrong as often as he got it right.