First, let me introduce myself. My name is Jenn and I (our family) got its first ball python about 5 weeks ago. He is a juvenile and about 17ish inches long. His name is Bowser (named by our 4 year old... we also have a guinea pig named Luigi). He ate great the first 2 times we fed him and then the third, he took the mouse sideways (as in mouse sideways in the snakes mouth), couldn't get it righted and spit it out, showing no interest after that. So I waited until the next feeding day (6 days later) and tried again. This time he struck the mouse sideways again but managed to get it down and it has been that way ever since. He has struck sideways 4 times and managed to get it down the last 3.

This is stressing me out. He is only eating fuzzies and I KNOW he should be eating bigger mice at this size but I can't bring myself to do it when he might choke!! Would feeding him bigger (i.e. more appropriately sized) mice fix this problem? BTW I'm feeding f/t.

Also, will he calm down a little as he ages..... I'm not a snake person AT ALL however I'm quickly getting addicted and learning to love my BP.... We're both just a little unsure of each other at the moment. I wish I'd have asked advice here before I got one because it might have been better for both of us (me AND the snake) if it would have been an older (calmer) BP....

Thanks in advance...