rear end first

[DCain14]

guys, (and girls)


My BP often starts eating his live mice, rear end first. It seems like this is very tiresome for him. It takes him 30 minutes, sometimes an hour to take the mouse down. he is about 2.5 ft. and i feed him 2 live mice every 2 weeks. is there anyway i can train him to go head first so that he doesnt get in the swing of going bum first. come on snake experts, help me out!!.

[xdeus]

I'm not sure you can train a snake to do anything. However, you might be able to make the head-first approach more appealing by warming up the head area under a lamp before giving it to him.

I have one large snake that seems to take them backwards almost every time. It does take longer, but other than that there's really nothing wrong with it.

Good luck!

[Inknsteel]

Mine tried to take her first two feedings bum first. She was having a hard time with it because the tail was caught on the side of her mouth. I ended up reaching in with the tongs, and turning the mouse a little and she moved to the head. Since then, she's taken all her meals head-first with no assistance...

[DCain14]

Ive always thought of giving a helping hand but wasnt sure if that was right. Also how would i go about heating the head of the mouse if its live, clamp it down? haha. she seems very frustrated while trying to swallow it, shell thrash back and forth, than squeeze for a few minutes, almost as if its trying to tear it apart, isntead of swallowing it whole.

[NickP]

One of my friends feeds live and I witnessed him doing it once. His BP constricted around the mouse until it was dead then let go. That's when my friend grabbed the mouse and reheated it's head by holding it in front of the lamp for few minutes (someone already suggested this) and put it back in front of the BP who happily chowed down the mouse. He told me he does that so that the BP always eats head first.

[DCain14]

One of my friends feeds live and I witnessed him doing it once. His BP constricted around the mouse until it was dead then let go. That's when my friend grabbed the mouse and reheated it's head by holding it in front of the lamp for few minutes (someone already suggested this) and put it back in front of the BP who happily chowed down the mouse. He told me he does that so that the BP always eats head first.

hmmm. i like that, but when you say "let go" what do you mean because my BP doesnt really let go, he will unravel himself, but his jaws never leave the mouse.??????????????? should i rip it away from him ?

[xdeus]

hmmm. i like that, but when you say "let go" what do you mean because my BP doesnt really let go, he will unravel himself, but his jaws never leave the mouse.??????????????? should i rip it away from him ?

No, if you feed live then I would suggest that you leave him alone and let nature take its course. There's nothing wrong with eating it backwards and if you interfere you run the risk of stressing out your snake and having him not eat at all.

If you ever switch to F/T or P/K then you can try the head warming method... but either way, as long as your snake is eating that's all that really matters.

[NickP]

hmmm. i like that, but when you say "let go" what do you mean because my BP doesnt really let go, he will unravel himself, but his jaws never leave the mouse.??????????????? should i rip it away from him ?

He would choke the mouse(usually grabbing from the throat by his mouth) then would drop it and re-grab from the head of it and start swallowing. At least that's what my friend's BP does all the time. Mine never lets go either :\

[Entropy]

A few of mine eat theirs rear end first, one of them my odd granite female and I'm simply not stupid enough to put my hand back in her tub, I value my fingers.

[jasbus]

Mine eats head first 90% of the time. Fun to watch him try to get the feet and tail in when he drives in reverse.