feeding question

[ktulu]

hi all this is my first post here and i think i've got a good question for you all.

Yesterday i was feeding my year old ball a rat....it was his 12th rat and it wasn't any bigger or smaller than any other i've given him.
This time he gets about half way through eating it and it was like he just fell asleep. For about 15 mins he just sat there with the rat half in half out of his mouth, during which time the rat slid about halfway out to about the front shoulders. I tried periodically to take it from him but he gripped harder and it seemed he was interested in eating it. Well he finished eating it and everything appears normal now....has anyone else experienced this or know what happened???
ps i feed a med rat every 10 days

[Jeanne]

My older bp has done that a few times, I really dont think it is anything to worry about. since my bp is just fine. I guess it just happens.

[RPlank]

Never heard of that before! Maybe he just was taking a power-nap! I guess as long as he ate it, and kept it down, no worries.
Welcome to Ball Python Kingdom!

[BallKingdom]

Yeah, I've never come across that kind of thing either. Weird, but he's ok right? Ball pythons do weird things all the time. Expect the unnexpected. Hmmm, I'll watch for that.

[ktulu]

yes he seems fine nothing looks odd, when i first glanced over and sen that he had stopped i watched for a sec or two then the worst thought ran through me...he died eating it. everything seems ok now he's back to crawling around at night. so i'm not worried now till the next time the dinner bell rings.

[BallKingdom]

Yeah, when I was reading your post I thought it was going to end with the snake dying mid-meal. I've read about burmese pythons and ball pythons eating a meal, having a bit of trouble, and dying. Some of them stopped like yours did and died.I imagine that they suffocated, maybe things can go down the wrong hole with snakes as well.

Scary to think about....