Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, first understand that I am really happy that she is eating so well. My question is does anybody else have a snake that when offered F/T just swallow it. Mine doesn't even try to constrict she just very delicately lines it up and swallows it. She has been on mice and Just swapped onto rat fuzzies. she is 4 months old now and 102grms she was 88grms 3 weeks ago so is gaining weight well ( its the equivalent to me putting on 25 kilos ). Not worried, just curious.

It's something that some snakes, but not all, realize once they've been on F/T for a while. IT'S DEAD . They come to understand that dinner doesn't struggle so they simply don't waste their energy unnecessarily. Just my thoughts on this.

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

I have never seen any of my snakes do this. They ALL constrict their prey. I feed off of tongs and when they strike I tug at it and simulate struggling prey. They all constrict the dead rat or mouse for at least a few minutes. A couple of them constrict it for as long as 10 minutes. I place frozen thawed rats in a plastic bag and then place that into a zip lock bag. Then I heat up some water in the microwave and place the rats, head first into the water for about 10 minutes. Never put mice or rats into the microwave. The warm head and body and tugging with the tongs simulates live prey. This is one of the tricks I use to switch from live to frozen thawed.
Although I have never heard of or experienced egg binding with balls it is more common with colubrids and pituophis. Some breeders believe that it's better to feed live because it develops muscle tone. Snakes don't get as much exercise in a rack or cage as they do in the wild. Loss of muscle tone leads to egg binding. Rumor, hypothesis, or fact, I don't know for sure.

I tend to just heat the head on a bit of the heat pad. she pics up on it quite quickly. As for exercise she gets to swim once a week and is handled every few days. The last feed was the 5th feed she has taken from me. The first two where baby mice, next 2 small mice and the last was her first rat fuzzie. I feed her from forceps, she will hang onto the food and pull against you even if you wiggle it about. Knowing my luck she's just overconfident and is saying " it's dead, gimme! ". I've included a photo this time as well. Hope you like her as much as I do.

John, the fasct that you wiggle it a bit after the snake has snached it up is enough to get a constricting response, I'm sure. As for muscle tone and egg binding, I've only had one experience with egg binding. She was a BIG female, over 3000 grams, and always ate live. I think the problem in this situation, though, was a lack of enough belly heat.

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

I only offered the additional information as theory. As far as it being accurate or holding water, not my personal experience. Yet, I still wiggle and tug on the rat and get the constricting response. No harm, nothing to lose, no negatives.
As far as egg bindng and the various theories. I have never had a ball get egg bound. I have had the following get egg bound and each somewhat contradicts the theories. Although I'm sure that the individuals that came to these conclusions accurately reported their experience.
Tamaulipan ratsnake- not a first year breeder and only ate live.
Amel. Sonoran gopher- first year breeder and only ate frozen thawed.
Western hognose- not a first year breeder and ate both, live and frozen thawed.
Egg binding does not seem to be common with balls. At least it is not reported very often in this forum. If you go through the forums for corns, kings, milks, etc. and check the postings during the egg laying months it is reported every year. There's always somebody looking for help with this problem.