So Shesha's been doing very well so far. We have had four successful feedings in a row and I am finally starting to learn his preferences when it comes to feeding routines. I have a question I wanted to run by everyone here though. Up until last night Shesha has never struck at his rat. He gets F/T and all of the times that he has eaten successfully I have thawed and warmed his food and just set it in front of the hide while the room is dark and quiet. He has always just cautiously slithered up to it, sniffed it a bit, and then put his mouth around it and dragged it back into his hide to swallow. He is somewhat timid and any "dancing" the rat around seems to make him turn tail and run. I have had him for a little over a month and have never seen him constrict his prey. Now, I did do some reading and found that in the case of feeding F/T or very small prey items this is not uncommon because the snake knows it isn't necessary. I have never even seen him ball, for the most part he is just a very gentle, relaxed snake.
Last night I set his rat in front of his hide as usual and he stuck his head out and seemed interested. When he got about an inch away from the rat he struck and immediately constricted. I actually gasped, I have never seen him move that fast. Keep in mind, the rat was not moving, I wasn't dangling it with tongs or anything. I feel like this is a sign that he is settling in, since he this was a much bolder feeding response than I have seen from him in the past. It seems as though an insecure snake would eat more cautiously so I am hoping this is indication that he is getting comfortable with the routine and his enclosure. What do you think? He is only three months so it did occur to me that he may just be getting older and getting the hang of things more, but I feel like I have seen and read about hatchlings constricting prey. I am not concerned since if anything this is more normal snake behavior than before. It was just strange that he would suddenly start behaving like a "proper" snake when he had been so passive before.
I would love some insight into what may have brought about the change. So has anyone experienced this, it is just a normal snake development thing and do you think now that he has done it once he will have a more enthusiastic feeding response in the future? Thanks for the insight, he is just fascinating and I love learning what his behaviors mean.
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