Whats wrong here?

[iceman25]

Ok so the new rescue shed off about 50% of her belly rot a week ago and now there seems to be something wrong with her strike. She has eaten only live mice for six years(according to the person I got her from) and she keeps biting her food and throwing it up against the box instead of coiling and swallowing as she usually does :? And she also hesitates a lot before striking. Does anyone have this kind of experience with their older BP?

[Nate]

mine has hesitated a few times before finally striking and killing the mouse...umm i figured it was normal..?

[mlededee]

maybe she was bitten by her prey before since the previous owner was feeding live and now she is afraid that what you are feeding her might bite her too. i don't know though, it's just a guess.

[led4urhead]

Are you feeding live? Knowing you, you're prolly not. It could be that she had a bad experience with a live rat/mouse comming back and gettin her.

[Anonymous]

I think you should convert her to Frozen/Thawed for her safety.

[iceman25]

I'm feeding her fresh killed and gerbil scented :wink: She is so thin its not funny guys. I mean she is like four feet long and her rear end is skinnier than my baby balls :shock: I do not think that she is afraid of the prey cause she struck at it a total of ten times! Its as if she has forgotten the technique of strike and coil. She just strikes and flings the mouse around like a rag doll!

[iceman25]

I have an idea! I'll let you guys know if it worked.

[led4urhead]

Good luck man!

[Ginevive]

She must be thin. 6 year old Bps are usually near five feet long and really nice and fat. I can't believe the person who owner her before was just feeding mice. This could maybe be part of the reason she's so undersized?
Usually, I have found that adult Bps have a more easy time of striking, coiling and then swallowing prey. My little guys are the worst "killers" (although the rats they eat are already dead, though the snakes don't know this, hehe.) But my big guy never misses, and coils multiple times around each rat he takes.
I would take her to the vet and see if maybe she has some kind of parasites? This could also be part of the cause of such thinness. Whatever happens, just know that you most likely saved her life, if she was in such crappy conditions to develop belly rot. People amaze me.

[iceman25]

Sneaky little me :mrgreen: I think she is just too weak to strike and eat multiple prey. She usually manages to eat the first mouse and has refused rats on all feeding occasions. So...hehehehe...as she was almost done with her first small mouse, I stuck the rats face up the mouse's rear end and voila, you guessed it Sneaky little devil ain't I :wink: