Weird feeding experience...

[JenHarrison]

Last night was feeding night for the adults. Java and Spoon took their rats just fine, Misty wasn't interested in her mouse. Diego knew it was dinner time so he was already awake and ready. I dropped the rat in there and instantly heard the "whack". But I also heard continued squealing, not the usual short squeak upon impact. I looked in, and Diego had the rat by its balls...I'm not kidding. The rat was trying to bite his sides and was just about getting his teeth in, so I reached in with the tongs to pull its head away from Diego. 30 seconds go by and I'm holding this rat's head with the tongs...and I notice it's nose, tongue, and paws are still pink, meaning it's not losing oxygen. I listen closely, and the rat is still breathing just fine. Diego was constricting the back end, not the chest cavity so he wasn't suffocating the rat. So now I'm basically thinking "Oh S***" and trying to figure out what I should do. I would have broken the rat's neck to make it quick, but the angle he was at prevented me from being able to jerk his head up or twist it. I tried tugging on him to see if Diego would let go so I could re-offer for a better grip, but he had a good hold on this poor rat's nuts and wasn't letting go. Finally I had only one option left...I had to put the tongs around the rat's throat and suffocate him myself.

I felt bad for him, the poor thing was going through all this in pain for about 4-5 minutes. Diego found the head after the rat was dead and swallowed him just fine...I have no idea why he grabbed the wrong end in the first place. That was definitely my weirdest feeding experience ever.

[jessie_k_pythons]

LMFAS. that reminds me about what happened to my husband when we got our kitten.

[JenHarrison]

LMFAS. that reminds me about what happened to my husband when we got our kitten.

Do I want to know?

[Adam_Wysocki]

I have no idea why he grabbed the wrong end in the first place.

It happens. Not easy trying to catch your food, kill it, and eat it, without the luxury of things like arms and legs.

-adam

[FPaul702]

LOL... My Ball eats all his mice a$$ first 9/10 times so I feel ya...

[JenHarrison]

It happens. Not easy trying to catch your food, kill it, and eat it, without the luxury of things like arms and legs.

-adam

LOL! Right on. It was really odd, definitely one to remember.

[Adam_Wysocki]

LOL! Right on. It was really odd, definitely one to remember.

After you've been doing this for a while, there will be so many "definitely one to remembers" that you start to forget. LOL

-adam

[JenHarrison]

Oh boy, I hate to see what tops this one. lol!

[frankykeno]

It's unfortunate that feeding went so bad Jen. I hate to see a rat die in that manner. Is it possible that your snake is unable to efficiently handle prey of that size or this prey was slightly larger than normal. Just a thought. I don't know what I'd have done in that circumstance to alleviate the rat's suffering and also protect my snake from bites...it's a tough call and one I've not had to deal with thank goodness.

[jglass38]

It's unfortunate that feeding went so bad Jen. I hate to see a rat die in that manner. Is it possible that your snake is unable to efficiently handle prey of that size or this prey was slightly larger than normal. Just a thought. I don't know what I'd have done in that circumstance to alleviate the rat's suffering and also protect my snake from bites...it's a tough call and one I've not had to deal with thank goodness.

I'd bet you dollars to donuts that the prey was too big.