Eating Disorder??

[UnforgivenScarz]

I have a 2 year old ball python that I think has some kind of messed up eating disorder. I usually feed her in her cage but make sure to take her our first and hold her and put the mouse in before putting her back in.

Two days ago when doing this however, she apparently did not eat her food and pulled it into her hideout and left it there and I did not check to make sure she ate it cause I was in a rush to work and did not notice she hadn't eaten it until it started to smell the next day. When I checked the cage to see what the smell was I found the mouse and went to go and get a bag to throw it out in but by the time I got back she was already eating the smelly mouse. I didn't know what to do because I'm sure that mouse was not healthy for her but I didn't know what to do to stop her.

This is not the first time she has done this. When I first got her she would leave the mouse for hours even a full day before eating it but after realizing it, I started to take them out right away if she waited more then an hour. I've tried many things to get her to eat properly (braining, putting her in a smaller cage when feeding) none seem to work though. She has been eating and is not underweight but I have been wasting many rats because of this and am really worried about any possible negative side effects of that rat and what would cause her to eat like that in the first place.

Any help would be really appreciated because I'm really worried and concerned. Thanks everyone.

- AJ

[Slim]

Well, I'm not sure that eating a funky mouse will hurt her. Certainly not the prefered method for feeding, but if thats the way she eats.....

Are these live mice she's killing and not eating till later, or F/T?

The acid in a snakes stomach is pretty strong stuff. After she eats one of these funky mice, does she poop nomally or is it runny?

[UnforgivenScarz]

the mice are frozen and thawed and she seems healthy in every other aspect except for this but I was not sure if I should be worried about it or not

[frankykeno]

I have a 2 year old ball python that I think has some kind of messed up eating disorder. I usually feed her in her cage but make sure to take her our first and hold her and put the mouse in before putting her back in.

I think this may contain a hint to what's going on. Ball pythons are by their very nature ambush predators. They need to wait for their prey, they need to set up their strike from a safe position, they need to hunt (even if that "hunting" behaviour is simply striking at an F/T on a set of feeding tongs).

When you remove her like right before feeding/introduction of her prey you are interrupting the process and likely throwing her completely off her game. Try changing your routine. Watch for her to be lurking out of her hide watching for prey. Introduce the f/t prey on your feeding tongs, give it a bit of a wiggle to simulate live prey and she should likely strike at it. At that point, walk away and leave her to settle down and eat. Do check back about 30 minutes or an hour later to see if she's consumed her food.

Remember that the time when a snake is swallowing a single prey item is a very vulnerable time for them. With their mouth so full they can neither easily fight or flee a predator. If you disturb them during this moment by hanging over them or allowing a lot of noise or vibrations around them, they may break off the feeding.

Lastly make absolutely sure the mice are properly thawed and warmed to blood temps. Some people find that after defrosting and warming f/t prey, a quick blast with a hot hair dryer can help promote a good heat signature on the dead prey and encourage the snake to want to eat it.

[UnforgivenScarz]

... Try changing your routine. Watch for her to be lurking out of her hide watching for prey. Introduce the f/t prey on your feeding tongs, give it a bit of a wiggle to simulate live prey and she should likely strike at it. At that point, walk away and leave her to settle down and eat. Do check back about 30 minutes or an hour later to see if she's consumed her food.

Many people I talked to told me not to put food directly into her cage like that because they begin to associate anything entering the cage as prey and they tend to strike out at anything that enters the cage. Is that something I should consider or is it not a problem? I've heard mixed opinions on the subject so I played it safe so far and tried to avoid it. I'm not afraid of getting bit every now and then but I'm not the only one who picks up her and I don't want them getting hurt. Would this feeding technique cause any problems with that?

Thanks agian
- AJ

[DutchHerp]

I feed my BPs in their cages and they never strike at me. I personally think it's part BS, even though I have limited experience, because they can smell the difference between your hand and the rodent.

[UnforgivenScarz]

I feed my BPs in their cages and they never strike at me. I personally think it's part BS, even though I have limited experience, because they can smell the difference between your hand and the rodent.

I think it has something to do with them maybe not being able to smell the difference between your hand and the rodent before it strikes ... but the sources I heard it from I can't call completely reliable so I don't know.

[Bruce Whitehead]

Many people I talked to told me not to put food directly into her cage like that because they begin to associate anything entering the cage as prey and they tend to strike out at anything that enters the cage. Is that something I should consider or is it not a problem? I've heard mixed opinions on the subject so I played it safe so far and tried to avoid it. I'm not afraid of getting bit every now and then but I'm not the only one who picks up her and I don't want them getting hurt. Would this feeding technique cause any problems with that?

Thanks agian
- AJ

That is a myth... and not a maybe myth.

Snakes need 3 things to recognize a prey item....

1) smell
2) heat
3) movement

I feed 45 snake every week in their enclosures and have never been mistaken for food.

Snakes need to be "warmed up" to a feed, meaning they need cues, and a process to get them into feed mode. Randomly reaching in to tend to them will not get you mistaken for food.

Reaching in when your snake is in feed mode and you smell like a rodent, THEN you stand a good chance of being hit.

I never handle any snake on feeding day, and how you are feeding you do run a good chance of getting tagged, which is what you seem to be trying to avoid.

Ironic, eh?

Bruce

[DutchHerp]

I think it has something to do with them maybe not being able to smell the difference between your hand and the rodent before it strikes ... but the sources I heard it from I can't call completely reliable so I don't know.

Let's just put it this way: big breeders feed inside the tubs, and as far as I know very few of them still bite. And this probably has to do with the snake, not the hand/rodent confusion.

[UnforgivenScarz]

Alright so ...

It's not bad for the snakes health to be eating the old rat?

And feeding her directly into the cage wont cause her to bite (one slip up and she bites my mom ... I get it taken out of my hide).
This particular snake [Nova] was picked out by my mom at a reptile show so she became a family pet unlike the rest of my herps. So it's really important that I don't have this one biting [unless the rats are bad for her and feeding her in such a way was the only way of getting her healthy food. Health first]

Thanks everyone for the help so far I really appreciate it,

- AJ