Fourth attempt

[KingWheatley]

Mine often times will drop it then looks around and goes into his hide if I wait too long.

It's like he forgets it was a mouse he was chewing on and it's only a mouse if it's hanging above his head and fresh-warm.

I've left one in there for a while before and he refused to touch it.

He has struck the head many times before, and will move down to the middle and spit it out and I'll have to go in and try again.

It's incredibly frustrating when he looks down at it, and I know he knows it's there, and then he looks up at me in cobra/raised S stance like he's going to eat my face instead, so I have to distract him in order to pick the stupid thing up again with the tongs and BAM quick strike and he's usually good.

But every single time. Even on one he's already "killed" we have to go through the hugs before he starts chewing and trying to swallow. Instead of nosing about it, he will literally walk his jaws around trying to find a good angle.

My Corn on the other hand will boop and nuzzle until it's satisfied with the location.

Part of me wonders if Cookie is disabled in some way.


Herp Derp

[Vipera Berus]

Mine seems to think a mouse is twice as long as it actually is, after 4-5 attempts to swallow the middle she then decides its twice its actual length. To be fair since I've gotten fed up getting her to eat rats I'm doubling the mouse feeding by poking the head of the second as the bum of the first disappears into her mouth. So much fun trying to avoid feeding every 2 days.

[ballpythonsrock2]

Sometimes, if you get them to strike right on the nose, they'll skip the whole poking and prodding step and just go straight to swallowing. This might come in handy for your boy while he figures things out.

This is so true, and good advice, not often thought of.

I've seen my snake do that quite a few times (grab by the head and just keep on swallowing), and you can achieve this better by holding the feeder by the shoulders or mid back and bring the nose toward the snake. I try not to hit the snake because that usually causes a negative response or back away. I just hold it steady in front of the snake, often just in front of the hide opening. Then bam...