Snake Not Using Whole Body During Constriction

[Footman DCXLV]

I'm new to the forum and have a question that likely doesn't mean much of anything, but I'm curious.

I have a young ball python, likely somewhere between 3-5 months. She's feeding on live adult mice, and she's been a great eater so far, with no issues or hesitation to take her food. However, the last few times she's eaten, she only uses the top half of her body to constrict the mouse. She's getting large enough that if mice aren't too small now, they will be soon, so I thought maybe it just wasn't necessary to cover the whole mouse's body. However, the last two times she hasn't even bother wrapping around the bottom half of the mouse, basically just constricting from halfway between the front and back legs to the head.

Again, this could very likely be inconsequential, as it hasn't prevented her from quickly killing and eating the mouse and as far as I can tell she hasn't been bitten anywhere in the process. But, it strikes me as odd, as none of the three other snakes I've owned have ever done this. So, my question is whether or not this is normal, something to be concerned about, or simply a quirk.

Any and all feedback based on your own experiences will be appreciated.

[reptiledude987]

Theres nothing wrong with the way shes doing it. as you said shes taking them down.

However I (and likely many others here) HIGHLY recommend switching to pre killed / frozen thawed ASAP. Right now shes taking mice down with no issue however when shes ready to go bigger and switch to rats they are much stronger and put up alot more of a fight. With feeding live you run the risk of your snake being seriously injured.

[bigsnakegirl785]

They only use their whole body if they have to. Usually it's when the meal is too large, and they have to use all their strength to kill it, or when a snake feeding on f/t really gets into the whole "kill the dead rat" thing.

I agree with switching to f/t. Even a mouse could kill your snake if given the chance, and although most instances don't get to that extreme, they can and will injure your snake.

[Footman DCXLV]

Thanks for the responses.

In regard to the suggestion, as a pet owner, I find dealing with frozen mice/rats to be particularly gross in comparison to live prey. That said, I will likely switch to frozen when the time comes that she needs rats.