Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just fed my yearling ball python a live rat pup. he did end up constricting it before he swallowed it. but would it harm him if he swallowed a live pup? just wondering...
p.s. i know rat pup is a little small for him. im only feeding him them to him because my rat had them a few days ago.

I don't think I've ever heard of a constricting snake eating anything that's still moving. At any rate, I imagine that a rat pup kicking, biting, etc., inside the snake, would do some damage.

Out of couriosity, does anyone even have a snake that'll eat dead prey without a little constriction prior? I've never seen a snake that didn't at least constrict for 30 seconds or so just in case.

I've seen constricting snakes eat prey that was still alive. The snake ought to be ok.

I've seen both happen a lot with colubrids (rat snakes, milks, kings, etc.) Technically constrictors. I have a milksnake that will sometimes swallow pinkies without constricting them first. I've seen my corns do that too. But they do constrict larger live prey. Most of the ones I have do not constrict dead prey, though it still happens sometimes.

My brazilian rainbow boa doesn't constrict her dead prey all the time, either. But my BCI, amazon tree boa, and ball python all strike, at least the vast majority of the time.
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-audri
Webpage/Pics

I had a female that had not eaten in months. She was probably just off feed, but I was getting worried and put a pre-killed gerbil in her cage. She immediately smelled it, opened her mouth and started swallowing. She never once constricted on it.

My bp took dead mice like that a few times, but I started moving it around and pulling on it after she bit it, so she would start to constrict it. Since that is what they do in the wild, I want mine to do it. Besides, I dont want my snake to be lazy.... I also make her "hunt" the f/t mice I give her. I move it around the cage, and it only passes by her every once in a while, and she has gotten where she strikes it a lot faster now. I dunno, maybe it is just me, but I want my snake to strike, and constrice before it eats, even though she is on f/t.

I have corns that eat live pinkies without constricting. I also have a large female BP that will eat live mice without constricting. It's very disturbing to see the lower half of the mouse sticking out of its mouth kicking its legs. She does quite often.
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Jay A. Martin

My Balls and Boas have never done this but my colubrids do it quite often. It's always been with smaller food items not an adult mouse. Several of them have taken fuzzies, crawlers, and hoppers, and just swallowed them still kicking and squealing. I feed mostly frozen thawed but I also have a small colony of mice and rats that I breed. When I feed live it is only these smaller sizes that are not stunned or pre-killed and I watch them. I have two adult colubrids that will not feed on frozen thawed. I stun or pre-kill there adult mice and they always constrict.