My snake will only eat them alive

[JakeThorn]

I have a banana ball python that eats very weird and it is scary and worries me. First off the snake will not eat frozen no matter what I do. He will only eat them alive. Now when i say he will only eat them alive I mean he will only swallow them them they are alive. He will not try to kill them but eat them as they are still breathing. I can even see the prey moving in his stomach. Lucky he has only been eating pinkies. I am scared he doesnt know how to kill or something and when he moves onto bigger mice he will try to eat them alive still and hurt himself. Is there any way i can get him to kill before he eats? I tried every method to try to get him to eat dead mice but nothing works.

[SaintTawny]

Is he big enough that he really ought to be eating something bigger than a pinkie? I've never seen a ball python do it, but when my significant other has a pinkie left over from a cornsnake hatchling that refused to eat, he'll give it to an adult, and since it's so much smaller than the meal size they're accustomed to, they swallow them live without constricting. That same snake will constrict an appropriately sized prey item, even if it's F/T.

If you re-evaluate the prey size you're offering that snake (almost no ball python should be eating pinkies at any stage) and decide that you should realistically be offering a larger rodent, be sure to stand close by the entire time the rodent is in the cage. Firstly, because it's dangerous to leave larger prey items unattended with a reptile, and secondly to ensure that your snake constricts it appropriately and intervene if not.

[MarkS]

I've personally never fed anything that small to even a newly hatched ball python. I start everything off on mouse hoppers, a rat pup of similar size would also work. Give him something a little more 'challenging' and he'll constrict readily enough.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Lucky he has only been eating pinkies

That is the root of your problem.

If the prey is inappropriate in size the animal is more likely not to recognize it as a prey and if it does to eat it live.

Feed the right size prey (prey equal the animal's girth size = widest part of your BP's body) and your problem will be solved, not too mention that right now you are underfeeding your BP

[albinos_rule]

I agree with the others. You need to be feeding your snake rat pups, or mouse hoppers. pinks are far too small...

[PitOnTheProwl]

Foods too small