Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys. fed both of my new baby balls today for the first time since i got them and i am pleased to say both devoured them very quickly. one grabbed it in the first 10 seconds of being in the cage whle it other one it took about a minute. both were plain white mice so no picky eaters ha. i have just one question....is it bad if one of the snakes swallowed the mouse butt first?? when he struck he grabbed it on the side towards the mouses butt and just moved his mouth over to the closest end. i was wondering if that can cause any damage. tahkns for the help

There's no difference if they swallow backwards. It's just easier and makes more sense for them to swallow head first because that's how the fur lays and all legs and everything fold nicely going down that way.

alright man cool thanks. i am just glad i dont have any picky eaters. and i was wondering if i should try to feed him 2 fuzzies sometime soon...he is about 3-4 months old

you previously said you were feeding "plain white mice"

so if you are feeding one mouse fuzzy, this is too small.

I feed rat pinks or mouse hoppers for thier first meal out of the egg.

as a "general rule", feed it a food item that is about the same thickness as your snake's midsection.

TomChambers

hey,
the mouse was about the same size as his midsection. i brought him into the reptile shop with me and they gave me the right size mouse. i have just read about other people feeding 2 mice at a time sometimes and i was wondering if i should try that. i mean he did eat the mouse in like 15 seconds haha

One "appropriate sized" item is always sufficient IMO.

I feed one rat per meal to all of my balls that will eat rats. (hatchling to adult)
Although, I breed my own rodents, so I always have rats/mice of every shape and size on hand. Thus I always have something of the right size available.

I only feed multiple mice if I can’t get a snake to eat rats.
Currently I have 3 in my collection that are dedicated mouse feeders. They won’t look twice at a rat.

I try to switch my snakes to rats as soon as possible; it makes feeding time easier on me.

How often are you feeding??

TomChambers

this was my first time feeding them. they have been fed before at the reptile stor but i was planning on feeding them every 5-6 days.

Sounds like a good feeding schedule.

Not to make implications about the store you purchased them from, but sometimes stores will give their snakes a maintenance diet.

By this I mean they feed smaller meals, or less frequently.

Enough to keep the animal healthy, but they try to slow the growth.
Smaller snakes usually sell better to the non-breeding customers.

They might still be hungry.

After a meal, they should stay in their hide, and barely move for a day or so while they digest.

If they were still active after eating, they may still be hungry.

TomChambers

i bought the snakes at the largest retail reptile store in the nation. now that could be a good thing because they have the experience but it could also be bad because they might not take care of their animals as well as they should. im not sure ha