Feeding troubles

Ch^4 · 10-31-10, 10:24 PM

Hello all! I have finally decided to post my question to the board and am seeking advice from your many years of experience (I have been keeping snakes ~15 years, but still consider myself a trained novice).

My 5 year old male ball python (~3.75 feet long, weight unknown but healthy) is very challenged when it comes to feeding (1 medium-ish rat per week). He has a very good feeding response, despite me changing over to F/T after 4 years of live prey (was on live because of a poor feeding response and the pet store was going to let him die). Husbandry is all in check; fully automated system, including mister, fresh and clean water 3-4 times per week, proper temps, hides, clean, etc. And he's not going into pseudo-hibernation.

Here is my problem: he has a lot of trouble figuring out where to start eating the rat. My 4 other snakes have no problems whatsoever and will occasionally eat tail-end first. However, my ball python will try to initiate ingestion at the midpoint of the body, from the tail-end, and from the head-end, it varies on a weekly basis. He just has problems figuring out how to get started, but once started, he swallows it down in a few short minutes.

*WARNING: GRUESOME* To assist with his eating endeavors, I remove the tail and legs from the F/T rat, so essentially he is eating a rat-snake or rat-sausage (pun intended on the rat-snake, but no reptilian cannibalism at my house!). Side note: they should somehow genetically alter feeder rats to be legless and tailless to simplify the feeding process for our snakes (or just for my snake if he's the only one with this type of problem).

Sorry for the long and drawn-out thread, but I know BPs can be picky eaters and I wanted to clearly explain that he's not picky, just kind of eating-impaired (I would never call any of my snakes unintelligent, but do understand they have small brains).

I do not want to give him smaller prey items, because I would have to feed him 2 or 3 and he'd have the same problems (I've tried). The whole process can take 2-4 hours and may involve reheating the prey 2-3 times. It's very tedious and I'd love a solution if anyone has one to offer, but will continue to put up with this behavior for the rest of his life if necessary (I love him to death and have already done it for 5 years!). THANKS EVERYONE!

Lankyrob · 11-01-10, 10:22 AM

I have an adult corn that will occassionally eat from the middle and kinda snap the mouse in half whilst eating - she often eats butt end first too - doesnt seem to bother her tho - the only time it takes longer than usual for her to eat is when she goes from the middle then it can take 30 mins or so for her to sort it out.

Is it possible that without a tail on the prey the snake is confused which end to start?

Ch^4 · 11-01-10, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

I have an adult corn that will occassionally eat from the middle and kinda snap the mouse in half whilst eating - she often eats butt end first too - doesnt seem to bother her tho - the only time it takes longer than usual for her to eat is when she goes from the middle then it can take 30 mins or so for her to sort it out.

Is it possible that without a tail on the prey the snake is confused which end to start?

My other snakes also do that and have no problems whatsoever. My BP though, will start working it from the middle, but then stops and realizes that he might not be able to get it down that way.

If I leave the tail intact, he usually tries to eat the tail, gets it stuck on his teeth, gets pissed off that the tail is stuck on his teeth, spends 20-40 minutes trying to get the tail out of his mouth, and then either goes for it head first or gets stuck on the tail again (sorry, long sentence).

yeroc1982 · 11-01-10, 06:07 PM

Im watching my guy eat a rat *** first and is having probs with the back legs hanging outside his mouth

infernalis · 11-01-10, 06:22 PM

some snakes are just weirdos.....

yeroc1982 · 11-01-10, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

some snakes are just weirdos.....

They really are!! My boa is totally a weirdo, licks it and rubs his face on it, pretty much makes love to the rat before he eats it.

Ch^4 · 11-01-10, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

some snakes are just weirdos.....

I certainly agree that some, if not all, snakes are just weird (and that's partly why we love them so much!).

But, the weirdness factor does not really help when it comes to getting my BP to eat in under 3 hours.

Does anyone else have a snake that exhibits similar behaviors come feeding time (similar behaviors as explained in original question)? If not, I'll just keep using my regular method, it's just sooo time consuming and somewhat frustrating!

Lankyrob · 11-02-10, 03:14 AM

Just an idea, when the bp strikes have you tried holding onto the mouse/rat slightly longer and keeping wiggling it? It may eat quicker, or more effectively if it thinks it is gonna get away?

My jcp one time took the prey and just hung of his branch for ages with it hanging from his mouth, i took the tail and gsve it a wiggle and he wolfed it down immediately.

percey39 · 11-02-10, 05:44 AM

All my guy's are now very aggrexive feeders, but i have dealt with my fair share of headaches. Mainly with younger snakes, but i have found if they are really slow at getting around to eating their meal even after being left alone and under cover. I do like Rob has suggested and wiggle the prey item after the snake has struck, as this should increase the feed response.

citysnakes · 11-02-10, 03:00 PM

if hes eating regularly then i dont see a problem even if it does take him 3 hours to swallow his meal. its not like you need to sit and supervise the entire process especially since you are feeding f/t.

i would think that if you were to offer smaller sized meals then this would make it easier for the snake to swallow the rat, removing the need to cut up your feeders and also reducing the amount of time that he needs.

mykee · 11-02-10, 03:03 PM

I concur with Julian 100%.
It could be a LOT worse.

Ch^4 · 11-02-10, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citysnakes

if hes eating regularly then i dont see a problem even if it does take him 3 hours to swallow his meal. its not like you need to sit and supervise the entire process especially since you are feeding f/t.

i would think that if you were to offer smaller sized meals then this would make it easier for the snake to swallow the rat, removing the need to cut up your feeders and also reducing the amount of time that he needs.

I do agree that it could be a lot worse! I just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this problem and what their solution was.

Again, for clarification, his feeding response is great! The second I place him in his feeding container, he knows food is on the way and gets into position. I feed on tongs and he strikes immediately and coils as if it was live prey. He just has trouble getting the ingestion process started. It doesn't matter if it's a little mouse or a good size rat; he just has problems figuring out how to start swallowing his meal.

I will continue with his normal feeding routine. Thanks everyone for you input and advice!

Serpantstrike · 11-02-10, 04:20 PM

just be happy he's eating lol but yes, all snakes have their very own way of gulping down their prey. my 10 year old corn munches all over the mouse until she finds the face...sometimes this takes a good 5 minutes for her to find it. my other corn will eat anything that moves as fast as he can. and my ball will ONLY eat live, small rats. he refuses to eat anything more or less.