Reptile & Amphibian Forums

early this summer i caught an eastern milk ~9in long in northen maryland. it has been eating great all summer taking a pinky ~6 days. so far i have only fed it 3 live pinkys, all of which were eaten promptly and normaly. the weird thing is that when ever i offer a thawed pinky, it promptly accepts, and starts eating from the butt, then spends almost an hour fighting to get the legs in its mouth.

i have never had a snake eat backwards, so i was wondering if it is ok for it eat like this. it strugles to get it down, then the legs point up making extra buldgues after the pinky has been swallowed, it is disturbing

That's what's most important. Alot of my snakes take extra time to smell it's rear area (I assume more smell there). As long as it's eating them down, don't worry about it. Maybe eventually he'll be able to figure out it's easier to eat it from the other end. Good job getting a juvie e. milk eating, it's not always the easiest task. Good luck with it, Scott.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws.
But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
—Martin Luther King Jr

Since it was WC and probably use to eating live prey, it took the pinkies (live ones) normally (headfirst). Frozen/Thawed is new to this snake, so i guess it is going for where the scent of mouse is strongest, its raer end. As long as it eats, its fine
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Zach Lim
Carnivorous Plant Grower and Herper
http://www.geocities.com/sf_snakes/index.html