Eating

Is it normal for a ball python to try and eat its mice tail first? We have 1 that is bound and determined to eat a mouse tail first.

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Originally Posted by Kevin_Hornby

Is it normal for a ball python to try and eat its mice tail first? We have 1 that is bound and determined to eat a mouse tail first.

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its not uncommon for juvies to do this or hatchlings with smaller pray. as thye get larger and they eat more they will start going head first always. my bp ate his second meal sideways. but it was a small pray item so he some how got it down.

This is a 400g female. She has eaten lots the right way, but the last 2 times we've fed her she's been eating backwards. Or at least trying to then giving up when she can't get it in and leaving the dead mouse.

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Originally Posted by Kevin_Hornby

This is a 400g female. She has eaten lots the right way, but the last 2 times we've fed her she's been eating backwards. Or at least trying to then giving up when she can't get it in and leaving the dead mouse.

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thats a little bit odd then. have you switched pray items?

We got her at an expo about 3 weeks ago (not sure what they fed her) and she's eaten probly 4 times with us. But the last one and this one she's tried backwards then got fed up and left the mouse.

They go through this sometimes...keep trying to feed as usual, and she'll get it figured out.

Doesn't matter as long as she gets it down. :]

That's the problem though, she tries it tail first and can't get it in so she gives up and goes somewhere else.

well mine just did that this past sunday. he killed the mouse and then tried several times to eat it tail first. he finally did get it down but he went away from the mouse for like 20 minutes. but like i said he did finally eat it. i thought they had to eat prey head first but i guess not. any reason as to why they would eat it backwards

my pastel took about 15 minutes to find the head this past feeding. I though I was hilarious. If she were to abandon the prey item, I would simply re-offer it. I feed frozen thawed so it's not a problem for me. I have done this in the past and they just rekill it, LOL

i do feed live food. sorry! but i guess that is just my personal preference. i know people have their doubts on live feeding. but i thought it was weird that mine tried to eat it like 4 different times and then he finally ate in backwards!

you should see it when they try to eat it from the middle:rofl:

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

i do feed live food. sorry! but i guess that is just my personal preference. i know people have their doubts on live feeding. but i thought it was weird that mine tried to eat it like 4 different times and then he finally ate in backwards!

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there is absolutely no issue with live feeding as long as its done correctly. I feed live, so do my family members with BP's

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Originally Posted by nixer

you should see it when they try to eat it from the middle:rofl:

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my b p did this with a fuzzie, swallowed the thing the whole way cockeyed as as could be. took him forever but he got it.

well i put it in a different cage when we feed. and only let the rat stay only for 30 minutes or so... but he always eats in like 3 minutes.

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

well i put it in a different cage when we feed. and only let the rat stay only for 30 minutes or so... but he always eats in like 3 minutes.

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There is really no need to feed into a seperate container. The risks really outweigh the benefits.

I hope you don't leave the rat unattended! There is nothing wrong with feeding live, I have done it before, but prefer F/T because it is more convenient (ex: I don't have to go out and get live feeders, I just freeze a bunch). Just make sure you keep an eye on that rat while it is with your BP, don't want any nasty bites.

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Originally Posted by Kevin_Hornby

Is it normal for a ball python to try and eat its mice tail first? We have 1 that is bound and determined to eat a mouse tail first.

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when I first got my girl she too tried to eat her mouse backward so when she released it after gnawing on its butt I turned it around with by the tail and she bit the head and that was it.

yes i watch my snake very closely. and i do not leave the room until the mouse is dead. once it is dead i go what i need to do for bout 20 min and come back and he is done. sooo he is always being watched when he eats

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Originally Posted by Kevin_Hornby

That's the problem though, she tries it tail first and can't get it in so she gives up and goes somewhere else.

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What I'm saying is, she'll figure it out before she starves...trust me.

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

i do feed live food. sorry! but i guess that is just my personal preference. i know people have their doubts on live feeding. but i thought it was weird that mine tried to eat it like 4 different times and then he finally ate in backwards!

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No worries with feeding live. The best thing to feed is what your BP will eat, be it live, F/T, mice, rats, gerbils, or new born puppies....ok, not puppies, but you get my point.

haha. ya i get the point. well for right now he seems to love the live stuff. he has never hesitated to eat a meal when we have offered it the first time. he always eats. i am actually surprised because everyone says how there snakes a really picky eaters. i have never had a problem.