Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just witnessed something for the first time. My JCP was given his 3rd live rat today and she constricted it without biting it first. I've had Ball Pythons for years and never witnessed this before. Has anyone else seen this before. Actually it was pretty cool. I thought he wasn't going to eat it since she just had 2 rats. She just sniffed around on it and tongued the rats ears for a little while and the rat was kinda relaxing and the JCP just rubbed it's head along the rats body real slowly and then slipped under it's head, and then tighened down. I still wasn't sure she was going to eat it, thought maybe she was just killing it to keep it from bothering her, but she just swallowed it down as I'm typing. I thought it was cool, I always thought snakes always bit the rat and then wrapped a coil or two around it in one quick motion. Has anyone seen this before, I thought it was cool?

I've also seen "accidental constriction" on a number of my aninals where a rabbit tried to snuggle under a snake while it was eating something else. Kind of a shock to the rabbit when it realises it can no longer move. Sort of funny, but not to the rabbit.