Accidently ate moss

[Dexterune]

Hi everyone. I am a noobie snake owner since last week. I got a baby male albino ball python last Saturday from a local reptile shop. They told me that he was eating live rat pups outside of his enclosure in a feeding tub no problem. On Monday night I fed him in a plastic feeding tub a ft hopper mouse that I had gotten from Petco. It was a little on the smallish side for him but he struck at it and coiled around it then ate it butt side first. Last night (Saturday) I decided to try a ft rat pup that I got from the reptile show. I thawed it out in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for a few hours then stuck the bag in warm water then blasted it with a hair dryer for around 20 seconds. I put him in the same feeding tub and even though he was cruizing around and looked interesting, nothing happened. I did the zombie dance and wiggled it but no response, all he was trying to do was climb up and out of the feeding tub. So I put him back in his enclosure and he immediately went into his hide. I put the rat pup right in front of his hide and turned off all the lights. I came back in the room 30 minutes later and the rat was gone, my snake was half way out of the hide and was finishing his last swallow but had a string of the sphagnum moss from his hide hanging from his half way opened mouth. I was able to get with the tongs the piece hanging out of his mouth but not the piece back in his throat. He quickly darted back into his hide and I didn't want to stress him out. I am just wondering if this is ok. I know out in the wild they probably ingest a lot of things with their prey but I just hope this won't obstruct him.

[Yodawagon]

He should be fine.

[Eric Alan]

He'll be fine. I'm not a fan of most of the "in the wild" analogies, but you're spot on. It's not like they survived eating off of sterile plastic plates for thousands of years before us. Just think of it as a bit of extra fiber in his diet!

Just like you learned, most ball pythons are simply more comfortable eating in their own enclosures. There aren't many reasons (good ones anyway) to take them out of their comfort zone during feeding time. I wouldn't mess with the separate tub next time if I were you.

[Dexterune]

He'll be fine. I'm not a fan of most of the "in the wild" analogies, but you're spot on. It's not like they survived eating off of sterile plastic plates for thousands of years before us. Just think of it as a bit of extra fiber in his diet!

Just like you learned, most ball pythons are simply more comfortable eating in their own enclosures. There aren't many reasons (good ones anyway) to take them out of their comfort zone during feeding time. I wouldn't mess with the separate tub next time if I were you.

Thanks for your helpful response! I was just trying to mimick what he was use to and after hearing so much about not feeding in their enclosure due to aggression and then also reading the opposite on here. I think he basically has told me that he wants to be fed in his enclosure. Thank you again for the information.

[Eric Alan]

Thanks for your helpful response! I was just trying to mimick what he was use to and after hearing so much about not feeding in their enclosure due to aggression and then also reading the opposite on here. I think he basically has told me that he wants to be fed in his enclosure. Thank you again for the information.

Yeah. Old wives tales are hard to get past - especially when on the surface they seem to make sense. Learning from your animals is the most important thing - good first lesson for you. And, of course, you're very welcome!