Feeding Concerns

[Vonnie]

My Big Ball Python I've Had For Almost 4 Months Now Seems To Be Having A Little Trouble Or What I Feel Is Trouble Eating Now. I Try Feeding Him Two Mice Every Thursday. Lately He's Been Eating The First Mouse (I Feed Live) Then He'll Act Interested In The Second One, But He Hesitates It's Like He Wants To Eat But He Doesn't Know If He Should Strike At It Or Not. He's Done This For The Last 3 Weeks Straight. What Could It Be?

And Then I Have This Baby I Just Got And I Tried Feeding It A Hopper Mouse It Wouldn't Eat That So I Gave It A Pinky (I know it's to small) but the snake is EXTREMELY Thin weighing 50g. But the problem is he has a hard time eating all together, he doesn't strike properly or something. Yesterday when I fed him he stuck at the pinky constricted & then I had to help him get the pinky out of its mouth., he is visibly hungry but has trouble. What should I do? Any advice would help.

[chrid16371]

I would put your big bp on rats so he can have 1 rat that is the appropriate size so you don't have to feed another. If he switches to rats well than you won't have to worry about him being interested in a second meal ever again bc you can always find a rat but enough to feed no matter how big he ends up being.

As for your baby explain the trouble he was having.

I just received a new snake and she took her first meal fine on Wednesday, it was a small meal bc she was just shipped and I wanted to feed her again today to get on the same schedule as my others and I fed her another small meal today. When I first offered she came flying out of her hide so fast that she struck the rat fuzzie on the back and then tried to eat it that way but gave up, I reheated while she was still hunting and offered it right in front of her so she couldn't miss the head and she was able to put it down fine then. Idk if this is similar to your problem you had or not but either way you can try offering again next time. He may of looked like he was struggling but he should have no problem getting the pinky down but explaining what exactly happened that you had to pull it out will be extremely helpful.

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[Vonnie]

I would put your big bp on rats so he can have 1 rat that is the appropriate size so you don't have to feed another. If he switches to rats well than you won't have to worry about him being interested in a second meal ever again bc you can always find a rat but enough to feed no matter how big he ends up being.

As for your baby explain the trouble he was having.

I just received a new snake and she took her first meal fine on Wednesday, it was a small meal bc she was just shipped and I wanted to feed her again today to get on the same schedule as my others and I fed her another small meal today. When I first offered she came flying out of her hide so fast that she struck the rat fuzzie on the back and then tried to eat it that way but gave up, I reheated while she was still hunting and offered it right in front of her so she couldn't miss the head and she was able to put it down fine then. Idk if this is similar to your problem you had or not but either way you can try offering again next time. He may of looked like he was struggling but he should have no problem getting the pinky down but explaining what exactly happened that you had to pull it out will be extremely helpful.

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i put the pinky in his tub & he struck and missed then he crawled over it for about a minute like he was looking for it, so i picked it up with my fingers and dangled it in front of him, he struck at and got it side ways he constricted then started trying to eat it or he may have been trying to spit it out but he was flipping around and getting tangled up with himself so I unwrapped him and let him try again he did the same thing he was like spinning and getting tangled up in himself so I unwrapped him and opened his mouth and got the pinky out. I tried giving him another because I could tell he wanted to eat but he didn't strike at that one it's like he gave up. I was thinking I should try assist feeding him, but I want to let him try again on his own

[JodanOrNoDan]

i put the pinky in his tub & he struck and missed then he crawled over it for about a minute like he was looking for it, so i picked it up with my fingers and dangled it in front of him, he struck at and got it side ways he constricted then started trying to eat it or he may have been trying to spit it out but he was flipping around and getting tangled up with himself so I unwrapped him and let him try again he did the same thing he was like spinning and getting tangled up in himself so I unwrapped him and opened his mouth and got the pinky out. I tried giving him another because I could tell he wanted to eat but he didn't strike at that one it's like he gave up. I was thinking I should try assist feeding him, but I want to let him try again on his own

Do not help the snake eat. The snake will figure it out. I've seen them mess with food for an hour before they actually decided how they were going to eat it. If you mess with them during this process odds are they are not going to eat.

As a matter of fact the only reason I am up right now is one of my girls is playing with her food and i won't go to bed with a dead medium rat laying in the tub.

[chrid16371]

Is this a normal ball python or a morph?

My killer bee flips and winds when she eats which is probably bc of the neurological problem with the spider gene but she always gets if down no problem, it may have nothing to do with the spider gene and that's just how she gets it down. Wait a 5-7 days and try again, like I said before he should have no problem eating a pinky and should be able to spit it out on his own if he wanted to. Who knows how many meals he has even had, it might just be a little harder for him to get one down. I would hold off on the assist feeding, if he strikes and starts to eat than he shouldn't need help bc he knows what to do. Assist feeding is just shoving it in his mouth and letting him take over, if he puts it in his own mouth then assist feeding isn't going to be any different than him striking and trying to eat. Just give him the chance.

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[Vonnie]

Is this a normal ball python or a morph?

My killer bee flips and winds when she eats which is probably bc of the neurological problem with the spider gene but she always gets if down no problem, it may have nothing to do with the spider gene and that's just how she gets it down. Wait a 5-7 days and try again, like I said before he should have no problem eating a pinky and should be able to spit it out on his own if he wanted to. Who knows how many meals he has even had, it might just be a little harder for him to get one down. I would hold off on the assist feeding, if he strikes and starts to eat than he shouldn't need help bc he knows what to do. Assist feeding is just shoving it in his mouth and letting him take over, if he puts it in his own mouth then assist feeding isn't going to be any different than him striking and trying to eat. Just give him the chance.

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It's a normal
but I will try again in another 5-7 days