Suddenly striking at feeding time?

[kiiarah]

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.

[EL Ziggy]

I say it's just a snake doing what a snake does, instinctively using the lethal hunting skills he was born with. They really are amazing predators. It is interesting that he would strike at prey that wasn't moving though. I've never seen that.

[CosmicOwl]

It's just instinct. My adult corn snake strikes every prey item I put in front of him. He doesn't constrict smaller mice, but he will constrict the larger mice and rats. My yearling corn snake hits everything like a demon. She'll strike so hard that it will pull the mouse out of my tongs, and then she'll wrap her entire body around it for several minutes. On the other hand, my grey rat snake rarely constricts. Sometimes he will strike a prey item, but he seems to realize that they are already dead.

[kiiarah]

Exactly Ziggy! I thought it was odd that he would strike at still prey. It really was quite amusing watching him spend 10 minutes in complete concentration suffocating his already very dead rat, bless his heart.
I read recently that snakes feel for their prey’s heartbeat to sense how much they need to constrict and when the prey is dead. It made me wonder why he didn’t release it sooner since there was no heartbeat.

Do you think it is safe to say that it isn’t a red flag though? I feel like if there were a problem he would be likely to be less interested in eating, or refuse outright, than to become a more aggressive hunter. Would you agree? I just wonder what got into him, I mean he has been so easy-going the whole time I have had him. I really didn’t think he would ever be one to strike, so it caught me off-guard. I am thrilled to see him engaging more confidently, but would love to know what might have prompted the change, even if for no other reason than the possible reassurance that he is settling in well and is comfortable.

Thanks for the feedback Cosmic, good to know it does indeed vary from snake to snake. It will be very interesting to see if this was an isolated occurrence or if it becomes a habit for him.

[Woody33259]

K your snake is growing up and wiggling it and allowing him to be the killer god created him to be is nothing but heathly and keeps him sharp he is using his muscles excercising and staying sharp until the one day he meets a live super. You have a great pet and he is just becoming a man

[kiiarah]

He is definitely less timid and seems to be getting into the feel of things. Since I posted this thread he has struck at every feeding. The most recent one he actually did try wiggling it a bit and he took it right off the tongs finally! He coiled so fast he flipped the paper cut out below him. Such a big boy, I am very happy with how he is settling in.