Strange Striking Issues

[Dracorex5]

My five year old normal ball python has been having trouble striking for food as of late. He has never had issues feeding before, as I always basically hand him the mice on tongs. But lately, the past two or three feedings, he's been striking with full force with his whole body at the food, missing six or seven times and often hitting against the glass of his tank. He then curls up disoreiented, and usually does it again and again until he finally gets his food. He also has a slight bob when he arches his neck. Otherwise his behavior is fine, and he has since has a shed since this problem started. Should I be worried? What could this been?

[jaleely]

Could be that he's over-excited to eat, since he's a baby....or it could be something serious like an over-heating neurological issue, or a sickness called IBD (you can google it) that is fatal to snakes.

I want to lean towards he's a silly little baby who's excited, but you can always take him to the vet for a test.
First, flip him upside down...like, lay him on his back. If he can flip over properly he's probably okay. If he has trouble righting himself, you should take him to the vet.

Edit: I'm sorry i thought you write five month old snake...five year old...has he shown anything like this before? Maybe a trip to the vet =/

[iBaman]

my ball does this sometimes...scared me at first, but he doesn't seem to have any other issues. I do feel a little bad when he hits the glass, though xD

[SnakeyJay]

Ive had 3 of my 4 snakes do this before.. They seem to get over excited but I noticed its when I defrost the rats in the snake room. Maybe the smell winds them up all day.

[Lankyrob]

Just one question - why is a five year old Royal eating mice?? How many do you feed at each feeding session?

[Dracorex5]

Ive been trying to move him to rats, but he looks at them like they have the plague! I usually feed him two decently sized ones once a week, or a third if he downs the second one in less time than usual. Ive tried a lot of tricks to try and get him on rats, but we're still working on that! Ill try some flipping-over this afternoon, im hopeful its just excitement. I just finally got him to start eating frozen a couple of months ago, but ive always dangled his food for him, so i just dont understand why te stationary food is harder for him to grab.

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Just one question - why is a five year old Royal eating mice?? How many do you feed at each feeding session?

^^^^^
that was the first thing i thought of after reading it Rob

if your snakes hungry,it will go into a feeding frenzy,it gets so excited,that it misses the prey

that said,i have a few carpets that act like that,even though they get fed large prey,imo some snakes are more excitable than others,come feeding time

imo its nothing to worry about mate

cheers shaun