# Ball Python ate the mouse tailend first



## zacattack (Oct 15, 2007)

could this hurt him in any way? He's acting fine now, but he seemed to have trouble getting it down..i walked in with the rat halfway down his throat head still sticking out....he'll be ok right?


thanks


----------



## REAL (Oct 15, 2007)

All I can say is its not good for them to swallow their prey like that, can potentially harm them, or in some cases be fatal.

If you want a more precise answer to ur question I believe there's a pretty big forum thats concentrated on reptiles etc. If you want your answer answered by ppl that have a much wider knowledge in this area I suggest you go there

Here's one that I use to be in that is very big, however, I'm not comfortable with their format. There was another forum but I'll leave the searching for you as my searching is as good as yours.

FORUM


----------



## zacattack (Oct 15, 2007)

i figured plenty of people on this forum would know, since i see threads everyday regarding ball pythons :?



oh well, i'll check the other link thanks


----------



## REAL (Oct 15, 2007)

zacattack said:


> i figured plenty of people on this forum would know, since i see threads everyday regarding ball pythons :?
> 
> 
> 
> oh well, i'll check the other link thanks



Well I think there are some knowledgable ppl here, however, if you want a electronic game, than you should go to an electronic game store, not one that sells board games.

Basically I'm saying (i give lame examples) if u want answers to a specific topic, its better to go somewhere that deals with that specific topic. In this case you want answers to ur question on python. Arachnoboards mainly deals with bugs etc. So best go to a reptile forum for a reptile question, there are more ppl over there that can/will help you out.


----------



## ZooRex (Oct 15, 2007)

> All I can say is its not good for them to swallow their prey like that, can potentially harm them, or in some cases be fatal.


I'm not saying this isn't true, but its very rare. If a snake has a problem while eating, 99% of the time it'll regurge. Its also surprising what snakes can handle; I've personally seen both my carpet and ball pythons swallow a large prey item from the middle on down, sandwiching the head to the back legs. This was when they both were young and still had to figure out the best way of eating, both are doing fine now and swallowing everything headfirst. ~ Rex


----------



## Mushroom Spore (Oct 15, 2007)

REAL said:


> All I can say is its not good for them to swallow their prey like that, can potentially harm them, or in some cases be fatal.


That's the first I've heard of it.

OP, your snake is fine, just a little dumb.  Mine has occasionally tried to eat his tail-end first, but he'd always get the backwards-pointing hind legs caught on his jaws, and then spend 20 minutes going "why won't it go down? " I'd usually reach in there with tongs and try to turn it around for him during his brief moments of letting go before trying again.

For the sake of easier eating, you may want to start feeding yours with tongs, or at least position the prey with them so he hits the face instead.


----------



## beetleman (Oct 15, 2007)

exactly your snake will be fine,ive seen many not just ball pythons do that,one of my greentree pythons does that here and there,no biggie


----------



## zacattack (Oct 16, 2007)

yeah, he's fine now


i think he was just having a bad day, he seemed confused on both miice i feed him (i watched more closely after the backwards incident) 

He's never had any problems at all with feeding, but today just wasn't his day or something..i would have attempted to get the mouse out of his mouth but he was bound and determined to get him down and he wasn't going to give it up...so i let him eat it 


but he's all good now..thanks for all the responses


----------



## Mina (Oct 17, 2007)

Its not a big deal, I have 5 snakes and they eat the mouse or rat by whatever end they grab first.  The only one who has ever had problems is my BP and that is because he doesn't understand that if you are going to start at the rear end, you need to get both hind feet in the mouth, just one doesn't work.
I've never had any ill effects from any of my snakes eating the prey rear first, it doesn't matter, it all ends up in the same place.


----------



## Jmugleston (Oct 19, 2007)

I've been keeping snakes for over 12 years and I can assure you that in most cases your snake will be fine. A rodent doesn't slip down as easily backwards, but keepers don't typically feed snakes the biggest meal they can handle so there is a bit of room literally for error. I've had snakes swallow rabbits, chickens, mice, and rats backwards with no problem. If they have too much trouble, they typically will regurgitate the item and try again. If you tong feed, the way you hand the prey item to the snake can affect how they grab it. Just hand the food to the snake head first. 
If your snake got the food down don't worry. They are more familiar with this swallowing whole prey item than we humans are so if they get it down without injury I  wouldn't worry.

Joey


----------



## mindlessvw (Oct 19, 2007)

I have seen many a snake do this...really! they will be fine...do you think they always have it down perfect in the wild?


----------



## arrowhd (Oct 19, 2007)

Should be fine.  Snakes will do this on occasion for some reason.  Just makes it harder for them to swallow.


----------

