I introduced myself a few days ago here -> http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...d.php?t=121247 I'm new to caring for a BP, and the snake I acquired is a 40" adult. The breeder told me he's been on medium rats, a much bigger meal than the pinkies I've been feeding our little corn snake.

So, after bringing home my first BP on Thursday, we waited 3 days (as the breeder advised) and gave him a meal. Everything seemed to be going fine up until he started trying to swallow the front legs. He struggled for a while, and finally got the first one down. Then the real problems began.

He was already 30 minutes into trying to swallow by the time he worked past the first leg, and we were already getting concerned. Because we hadn't fed that large of a snake before, we really didn't know what to expect. We had also read and been told that BP's can handle bigger prey than we might think. Still, the rat was appropriately sized.

The second front leg was still hung up almost an hour in, when we finally decided to help. My wife grabbed the kitchen shears, and I reached in to try to clip off the arm, but I didn't get it close enough. He struggled for about another 10 minutes before my wife tried to cut it a bit closer. She cut it as close as she could without nicking the snake.

After that he grabbed it and flipped over to where that side of his jaw was underneath. From that perspective it looked like he was making some headway. He didn't flip over for another 15-20 minutes. When he did, to our horror, that &#^@* arm was still hung up in the corner of his jaw like a fish hook giving him a smiley face.

That's when we really got scared. We hummed and hawed trying to figure something out. He was obviously getting tired. Finally, at about an hour and a half in, my wife stuck her finger on the nub of an arm and pushed. The snake readjusted, slipped that side of it's jaw out, and POP!! The rest of that rat was down in less than two minutes.

First, sorry about the long story, but my wife is a heroine and her story needed to be told.

Second, I feel so freaking terrible that I allowed my snake to go through that. I will from now on be clipping those little @#$@ers off. How, after reading exhaustively on how to care for this animal, did I miss this? How, after now searching, can I still not find a warning about this? Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Third, the happy ending. The snake is, as far as I can tell, healthy and happy. He has been left alone since, and I won't be bugging him for a couple more days.