HELP! Baby ball python missed strikes

[prettyballsy]

I would be very grateful for any help you can offer a newbie. I've had snakes years ago but never a ball python. I now have three rescue snakes. The juvenile female seems to have eating problems. She is hungry and "hunts" the mouse but mis-strikes repeatedly. Sometimes she hits it but it seems more like she's hitting it with her head and not actually striking. She's had this problem since she came to us. We manage to get about a mouse a week down her and she tries to go after the second but can't seem to hit it. Sometimes, when she misses, she hits the side of her container and I'm worried she'll hurt herself. Please help!

[Skittles1101]

Sounds like defensive strikes, not actually missing. Have you tried other prey items? How long have you had them?

[RetiredJedi]

That's what I was going to say also, sounds like defensive strikes. If your using frozen, make sure they are warmed up properly.

[prettyballsy]

I've had her two months. She and the two adult males came from a collector who really neglected them. She was actually in the best shape. If I didn't take her, he was going to feed her to his monitor. She's almost doubled in size in two months, has had a healthy shed. She eats live - will not touch thawed and I've tried everything to try and capture her interest. She will eat one mouse a week but, even then, she seems almost afraid of it. She was terrified of the small rat so we didn't try that again. The adult males hit the rats immediately. They won't eat dead food either. They were starving when they came to me and still wouldn't eat it. The rumor is that the neglectful owner was feeding them wild-caught rats to save on the food bill. One of the adult males has quite the scar on his head. Is there any possibility the baby has simply learned to be afraid of her food? Wild rats are pretty dangerous.
Anyway, thats how I ended up with this collection of animals. I could not leave them there.

[Skittles1101]

I'd have to say she sounds like a typical mouser to me. I have a couple mousers, and they honestly appear to be afraid of the prey if it's not a fluffy white adult mouse lol. My male yellowbelly will defensively strike at least 3-5 times before deciding to constrict and eat. It's normal to some extent, and as long as she is eventually eating the food I wouldn't worry at all.

I'd be sure to get a fecal exam done by a vet. Most vets will only charge about $20/fecal sample to test for parasites, and only charge more if the animal needs to be seen for positive parasites. Given their past, I'd really get them done.

[prettyballsy]

Thats a good idea. I feel pretty lame for not even thinking about that. Its just been one thing after another trying to get them healthy. I'm relieved to hear you think its just typical mouser behavior. She is eating and growing so I guess I'm ahead of the game. I wanted to post pictures but I must be forum impaired. I can't seem to load pics to the gallery here to save my life lol. Thanks for your help

[Seth702]

try loading the pics to a site like Photobucket then posting them here useing the links provided by photobucket.

[prettyballsy]

Ok, lets see if I do this correctly! Here's the baby first. Don't mind my daughter's classy shirt lol.


I have no idea how to shrink these pics smaller - these are way too big. Anyway, the next two are the adult males.





There they are. Really awesome snakes!

[Kordie]

awesome looking snakes. Thanks for taking them from a horriable life.(im a really bad speller)

[prettyballsy]

awesome looking snakes. Thanks for taking them from a horriable life.(im a really bad speller)

Thanks! I feel pretty good about it too. The adults aren't head shy in the least - just the sweetest snakes - and the baby is coming along. Shy but the only time she ever struck out was when we tried to move her after all the missed strikes at the second mouse. Thanks to all the replies I now understand they were defensive strikes, including the one at my hand. Boy I really stressed the poor thing out