hunting behavior

[Matt.B]

I thought that I would post my Q here because jungle corns arent really corns. Anyway I fed my snake today for the first time and noticed that she doesnt constrict her food. Is this a baby thing cause I just love watchin the snakes strick and roll all over the floor lol(not my floor the rubbermaid bottom) mabey its cause I feed f/t?
Thanks
Matt
ps she seems to have bad aim. It took her four tries to actually latch on is that normal?

[thunder]

it is normal for a young snake to miss the prey several times, as they are inexperienced. and it is also normal for your snake not to constrict if you are feeding dead prey items. some individuals will constrict dead prey while others seem to "realize" that it is dead.

[seann]

I have had baby corns eat live prey with out constricting too, It is all in their personality I feed my adults Ft and they are quick to grab and wrap around, But i have seen the lazy ones its nothing unusual.

[vanderkm]

Ours virtually never constrict when they are being fed pinkies - but once they move up in size to hoppers or adults, virtually all our corns (and jungle corns) constrict a lot. We feed frozen thawed and with the older snakes we usually pull a bit on the tail of the mouse when the snake graps it to give them a bit of a 'battle' before they feed - gives the snake some exercise and keeps them keen on food.

mary v.

[jjnnbns]

Mine never constricted when I just laid the prey item in. One I got a pair of hemostats, I started dangling the prey items, and the constriction began!!!

I also slightly pull on the tails sometimes to get a tighter constriction and be sure that my snake gets a good hold of his meal!

Try dangling prey! It rocks!

[gonesnakee]

Glad to hear she fed right away for you, as she should have, Mark

[stevesemerko]

All my babies on pinks did the 'Grab & Swallow' but as the food got bigger they started constricting, same thing with my kings and milks.

[duroo]

my ball always constricts its f/t prey, but it only wraps one coil around, doesnt hardly seem enough to kill anything. my boa only constricts if i wiggle the rat a bunch.

[Matt.B]

But a corn and a ball are completely two different snakes lol

[duroo]

oh lol, sorry, i think i was having one of those ADD moments again...

[Pitviper]

Hi @all,

my corns never constricted baby mice, living or pre-killed. They started constricting as soon as the prey got furry. My adult corns do exactly the same way, swallowing pinkies, constricting others no matter if alive or dead. Oh, my tiger-rats never constrict anything. They just aim, hit and swallow in no time, that´s it. The techniques always depend on the sort of snake, maybe even on the individual.

Happy herping,
Carsten

[concept3]

my corn snake doesnt even strike at the pray, it just takes its time to find its head and casually starts swallowing it? lol
*edit* it wont even strike at it if i dangle it it just waights for me to put it in the hide with it