why does my ball keep trying to eat the mouse feet first

[lyricalcyphr]

anytime I feed my bp (he's about 8 weeks) and I feed him live, after he kills, he always tries to eat the dayum thing feet first ... any suggestions

[lyricalcyphr]

i have to take it away hold it by the tail and let him grab it by the head...

ok this is the process...

i put the ball in a bucket

i drop the mouse into the bucket with the ball...

the ball attacks the mouse and wraps around the mouse until its dead

it tries to eat the dayum thing ass first


i try to let him figure the process out but he just keeps trying to eat it ass first until i pick him up, and pull the mouse out of his mouth

then i hold the now dead mouse by the tail and he grabs a hold of the head and i let it go and he eats it

how do i get him to figure out to eat the head first? the very first time he ate he did it right but after that its been ass first ever since

it seems like he just starts eating where ever he grabs on at and it doesn't matter if its the head or not but it seems that if he doesn't grab the head the mouse doesnt go down

[TanyaL]

Back when I had my bp at the vet, I asked her about my bp eating backwards and she said it wasn't anything to worry about. I would think that taking the prey from your bp would cause more problems than eating backwards.

[Hthree]

My BP did that and the next time I just bought a bigger mouse and that fixed the problem

[Inknsteel]

My first question is why are you feeding in a bucket rather than feeding in your bp's normal enclosure? To me, feeding in a separate enclosure has no benefit, and only stresses your bp out, which could lead to illness, feeding refusals, or regurgitation.

Secondly, how long are you letting your bp try to swallow the meal on its own before stepping in and grabbing the mouse to turn it around? I've often thought my little girl was "special" because it seemed that she tried to swallow every meal bum first. She would work at it for 5-10 minutes, trying to manipulate her jaws around the back legs and tail, then she would let go, sniff around and eventually find the head.

I'm almost certain that if you feed in the snake's enclosure, let the snake strike and constrict, then allow the snake to swallow the prey without interference, he/she will almost certainly find the head for him/herself just fine. Even if he/she doesn't find the head and swallows the prey bum first, it shouldn't harm the snake as long as the prey is of appropriate size. In fact, I actually have a pic on my cell phone of my snake eating bum first, with nothing but the head sticking out of her mouth...

[darkangel]

Cuz he's a silly goose...

It doesn't really matter... It'll prolly take him a little longer to get it down because he has to get around the legs without them sticking out of his mouth, but if the mouse is in, it's in. Either he'll get it down that way or he'll decide to try the other way. No point in feeding outside the enclosure tho...

[TanyaL]

To me, feeding in a separate enclosure has no benefit, and only stresses your bp out, which could lead to illness, feeding refusals, or regurgitation.

I have to disagree with you. We have been feeding our bp in a seperate 'feeder tank' for about 8 months now and the only time she has refused was prior to a shed or if we offered prey within 7 days of her prior feeding. She has never regurged, and doesn't appear stressed at all. Granted, feeding in their own enclosure would be ideal, especially for those who use paper as a substrate but what works for one does not always work for others. My 13 yo son feeds our snake because it is his snake and he is not comfortable feeding in her normal enclosure. Plus, we know for sure that she won't get any substrate while swollowing the prey. We also give her some time after the prey is gone before we move her back and so far, so good!

Original Poster...have you heated up the head by hitting it with a hair dryer or lamp? That might be what you are lacking.

[littleindiangirl]

Original Poster...have you heated up the head by hitting it with a hair dryer or lamp? That might be what you are lacking.

He said he feeds live.

No biggie, most snakes nose around the prey looking for hardness and warmth indicating the head of the animal. Some snakes are just better at it than others.

[TanyaL]

He said he feeds live.

No biggie, most snakes nose around the prey looking for hardness and warmth indicating the head of the animal. Some snakes are just better at it than others.

OOPS! My bad! I read the original post last night but forgot that he fed live. I guess heating up the head wouldn't help, would it.