Emergency!!

[alexrls]

Monty's in the middle of eating a rat and i think he's stuck at the shoulders! can that happen would he kill and start to swallow something he cant handle?

[alexrls]

UPDATE:

never mind he got past them wow was he thrashing around like crazy still my questions stand would he kill something to big for him to swallow?

[TekWarren]

its not impossible that a snake would kill something that it thought was a threat...and then not eat it. I think a general "rule" is to compare the size of your food source to your snakes head. They have dislocatable(sp?) jaws but there can be problems with over large food items.

[alexrls]

NEW UPDATE:

ok he got it down but im still worried that i may have "overfed" him is that possible?

its not impossible that a snake would kill something that it thought was a threat...and then not eat it. I think a general "rule" is to compare the size of your food source to your snakes head. They have dislocatable(sp?) jaws but there can be problems with over large food items.

thank you but i thnk the rule is the widest part of the snakes body to the widest part of the prey

[Shelby]

You don't want to give a snake something too much bigger than their belly is at the widest point because there is a risk of regurgitation. I'd give him an extra day before you handle him to digest.. especially if the lump is still big.

[alexrls]

ok thanx


BTW Monty was doing something last nite that ive never seen him do before he was dipping the bulge in the water dish and just sitting curld around the lip of it is that to like lessen the wieght? he was also unusually active for himself roght after feeding cause usually he just curls up in the warm side hide for 2 days after the meal (comes out occasionaly to, i dunno, check the weather?) but last nite he was cruisin till about 1:30

[Shelby]

Maybe he was feeling good?

[elevatethis]

Snakes that eat very large meals for their size generally get somewhat uncomfortable in the days after the meal, but I've found that ball pythons are more likely to keep it down and just tought it out than boas, who generally will regurge withing 24 hours of a huge meal.

Chances are that he was just feeling bloated. A snake that eats a large meal will often have what feels like a gas bubble in their belly scales around where the lump of their meal is. This is nothing to worry about, as they will generally pass it with a nice chalky squirt in a few days! Just make sure not to handle the snake, as well as provide plenty of fresh water as well as keeping the temps up where they should be, and everything will be alright!

[Shelby]

Geez, don't you love finding chalky squirts in the cage corners?

[alexrls]

oh the joys of cleaning up after the untoilet-trained
anyways its been like 36 hours he's hugly bloated at the middle and he doesnt fit in his hides anymore so hes under the tree shade now