Feeding help, sideways mouse?

First off, if I'm asking a question that's been asked before, I apologize. Nothing is more obnoxious than reposting in forums. I searched for a similar post first, and didn't find one. But if this question has been beaten to death I'm terribly sorry...

I'm a new ball python owner. I went to feed my ball a second time today. Her feeding response was excellent both the first time I fed her, and this time as well. Both times she took the prey immediately. I'm feeding f/t pinkie mice. But this time I encountered my first feeding hitch: she took the prey sideways. She seems determined to fit the thing sideways down her hatch. I tried gently grasping one side of the pinky with hemostats, but she's not letting go with her jaw and I didn't want to apply any kind of force.

So do I let her continue to wrestle with the thing? Will she eventually give up and spit it out? Should I re-offer it to her if she does let go? Basically, what should I do here. Like I said, this is my first ball python. Any advice would be greatly appreciated here...

I never intervene in a feeding. The snake can figure it out on its own.

Sometimes they start off taking it wrong, but will switch it around. Others times they drop it and start over.

I had one bp that ate butt first for the longest time. I just figured the butt was the tastiest part of the rat... never eaten a rat so I cannot say.

Just let the snake do it's thing, and it will figure it out in time.

Bruce

While I was posting she managed to get the thing down. The whole process looked far more stressful than her first feeding though. She was panting. Thanks very much for the quick reply!

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Originally Posted by bushonk

I'm feeding f/t pinkie mice. ..

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Don't know how old you BP is, but even the small babies should be able to eat mice hoppers at least.

I had figured she could probably eat something a little larger. She was previously being fed the pinkies, and so in an effort to not change everything right away I thought I'd give her a few feedings on what she was used to before trying to switch. She's a champ at taking food *knock on wood* which is a huge relief (a champ except when she takes the pinkie sideways, but she seemed to manage even that!).

Thanks for the input though. I'm afraid most of my friends are afraid of snakes (why?), so any input is most appreciated! These boards are an amazing resource!

I have a two-month-old baby, and he was started on hopper mice. Now he's eating small adult mice once every 5/6 days, and they don't even leave much of a bulge. Their skinny necks can take more than we could possibly imagine, I tell you.

A good rule of thumb is that you want your rodent to be about the same size around as the thickest part of your snake. When I first started feeding I was amazed that my little girl could eat something as big as she could, but once it gets past that skinny part in the neck, you can't even see a budge anymore. When you pick up your mouse/rat either under the front arms or by the tail, that is a good time to judge the size....they always look fatter when they are sitting all bunched up. ^_^

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Originally Posted by bushonk

I had figured she could probably eat something a little larger. She was previously being fed the pinkies, and so in an effort to not change everything right away I thought I'd give her a few feedings on what she was used to before trying to switch. She's a champ at taking food *knock on wood* which is a huge relief (a champ except when she takes the pinkie sideways, but she seemed to manage even that!).

Thanks for the input though. I'm afraid most of my friends are afraid of snakes (why?), so any input is most appreciated! These boards are an amazing resource!

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Glad she got it worked out. :)

I would agree with the other posters, you can move her up a size or two. If she will be moving to her third feed I think you can bump her up a size, and then another at the next feed. You know she has a strong feed response and that is the important part, especially for a newly homed BP.

Good luck with her.

Bruce

In an effort to not waste the four remaining pinkies, can feed her in succession (two per feeding) until the pinkies are gone? Or should I just scrap the remaining pinkies? It's not like they're expensive, but they were alive once.

I know, I know, total whiny hippie. I'll stop now... :oops:

Thanks again for all the input! This board is amazing!

giving her two until your done should be fine, i have done that before just cause i dont want to waste food =] lol

I thought of this thread a few minutes ago while feeding my baby BP for the second time. It was an adult mouse, and I was hoping it was not too big (no other slightly smaller frozen ones available, and I went to two stores).

Anyways he stared eating sidweays along the neck, and that was just not going to work. I watched for 10 minutes and wondered if he would abandon the effort.

Then he stopped biting it, and seemed to ponder the situation, smelling the mouse face (tongue flicking) for about a minute before starting again at the nose. It was as if he realized the sideways strategy was NOT working and intentionally figured out how to restart properly.

The mouse looked much bigger after blowdrying, I was amazed to see it all go down.

Question, the mice i ended up buying were very clean, healthy looking, and it appeared very fresh but in paperbags (obviously killed by the mouse breeder, a small operation). It had blood on its face. How are they usually killed? Does the blood on the face signify a less than painles death?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bushonk

In an effort to not waste the four remaining pinkies, can feed her in succession (two per feeding) until the pinkies are gone? Or should I just scrap the remaining pinkies? It's not like they're expensive, but they were alive once.

I know, I know, total whiny hippie. I'll stop now... :oops:

Thanks again for all the input! This board is amazing!

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What most of us do when faced with a dilemna such as this... is to die another snake that can eat pinkies. :)

*kidding* Ok, not really...

How big is your snake? Size is best expressed in grams. I know I cannot imagine feeding pinkie mice to my smallest BP. Definitely you can feed them off in the next few feeds, but you do want to get her on something more substantial soon. Pinkies do not offer much in the way of nutrition.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Sonya610

Question, the mice i ended up buying were very clean, healthy looking, and it appeared very fresh but in paperbags (obviously killed by the mouse breeder, a small operation). It had blood on its face. How are they usually killed? Does the blood on the face signify a less than painles death?

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As far as I know the bloody noses are just the blood vessels that burst in the process of euthanizing and freezing them... does not mean they were not killed humanely, etc.

But again, *I think* and someone can correct me if I am wrong.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by td30

Don't know how old you BP is, but even the small babies should be able to eat mice hoppers at least.

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Yep, Pinkie mice, thats like throwing a hotdog down a hallway!
:rolleyes:

:rofl: Oh man. That's awesome...

LOL mine just took it sideways too.... seems pretty determined to wrestle with it a bit so good to hear he will prob figure it out on his own.... Im sure in the wild every catch is not face or ass first .... haha

Our girl will try to eat them leg first or neck first. She always stops and finds the head.