feeding tail 1st...

[gruba10]

gday ppl.

I just fed my jungle 2 pinkie mice, she smashed the 1st one in no time then when i gave her the 2nd i noticed she was trying to eat it tail first.... and pretty much just wanna know is that ok???

i walked away and let her go for abour 2 mins and by the time i was back she gobbled it down so i didnt actually c if she finished it tail first, but in that time i doubt she found the head.

much appreciated

 

[JAS101]

yep its fine , my jungle yesterday ate its hopper rat yesterday tail first.

 

[Sock Puppet]

No probs, a couple of mine do this frequently, looks very awkward sometimes, & takes them a while to negotiate the back legs, but so long as they're eating, I couldn't give a rats bum how they get it down. Pun intended.

 

[gruba10]

yeh thanks guys. just was mainly concerned about her trouble she mightve had whilst tryin to get it down, but obviously 2 in 5 mins is pretty good.
also i had just learnt i should try feed it head first rather than dangling by the tail where she then strikes mid body, may help in the future

 

[J-A-X]

if your python is eating butt first, maybe try upsizing the food. one of mine likes to play with its food, it doesn't matter if i present food head first, the prey will be strangled, dangled , checked from all angles and then it will start at what ever end takes its fancy, i take it as my sign to upsize dinner. it is always taken head first when i upsize, maybe its just a quirk of my particular snake,

 

[gruba10]

yeah very good point, i only recently have had a discush with somebody about my mice because i thought i needed to feed bigger, but im just getting rid of my pinkys first

 

[Pythoninfinite]

It's not a problem at all. If you stop to think about a snake in the bush, which is the context you all should consider, snakes very often have no choice about how they subdue prey, and it is not at all unusual to see them swallowing back-end first.

When confronted by a live prey animal in their ambush place in the bush, they do not get a choice about whether it's presented front, back or side first - they just have to go for it or they may have another month or 6 before to wait before the next feed comes along.

Jamie

 

[J-A-X]

maybe mine is a bit spesh then, after the prey is killed it is held in her coils and totally checked from head to toe (and tail), then front to back and back again...... for 10 minutes, even if the rat had been live when it was grabbed, it would have been stone cold by the time she figures out which end to start at. there is certainly no rushing to get it down, i have presented head first and eveb just left it in the enclosure for a bit of stealth exercise, and she will normally (eventually)start at the nose, when i am already debating about upsizing, she starts to go for a rear attack,
maybe its their way of making sure that their jaws get the stretching exercise it needs ?

 

[ralliart3]

Our MD does this all the time and it is not a problem, sometimes he tries to swalllow it the wrong way and finds that it does nt fit and lets go and changes position and swallows it the right way.Most of the time it goes backwards without a hitch.

 

[townsvillepython]

LOL yeah its fine mate my coastal will do it now and again with a 200grm rat

 

[kkjkdt1]

maybe mine is a bit spesh then, after the prey is killed it is held in her coils and totally checked from head to toe (and tail), then front to back and back again...... for 10 minutes, even if the rat had been live when it was grabbed, it would have been stone cold by the time she figures out which end to start at. there is certainly no rushing to get it down, i have presented head first and eveb just left it in the enclosure for a bit of stealth exercise, and she will normally (eventually)start at the nose, when i am already debating about upsizing, she starts to go for a rear attack,
maybe its their way of making sure that their jaws get the stretching exercise it needs ?

One of my coastals is the same but i have to give her the food first, then she hits it straight up,strangles then drops it so i have to re-feed it as she wont eat it unless i do this(she wont eat it if i just leave it for her) and let her have another go at it. half the time she eats it tail first othertimes normal. i thought this was weird but i guess not, hahaha

 

[Serpentess]

Haha. Mine always feed backwards.
Here's a pic of my female spotted eating backwards when she was a hatchling.

 

[kkjkdt1]

LOL yeah its fine mate my coastal will do it now and again with a 200grm rat

How big/old is your coastal?
i have one very simular

 

[pythrulz]

head first or tail first makes no difference mine bite the middle then strangle it hold them while making there way to the head area then start swolowing them i have noticed as done and swolowing there tail they put there heads up in the air help there food go down quiker

 

[townsvillepython]

How big/old is your coastal?
i have one very simular

she's around 1.8m mark two year old

 

[zuesowns]

yeah usually if they go for tail first - food item could be to small, so they will try swallowing it from anywhere because it's easy to take down. larger food item they may try from the tail and figure out and look for the head.

 

[phoebe]

My diamond/coastal intergrade ate a 200g quail backwards the other day. Don't know how he managed it with the feathers and wings and legs sticking out at odd angles haha. Took him a good 3 hours. He's special.

 

[Bec137]

Our MD does this all the time and it is not a problem, sometimes he tries to swalllow it the wrong way and finds that it does nt fit and lets go and changes position and swallows it the right way.Most of the time it goes backwards without a hitch.

Mine too, maybe MD's are a little bit special lol. Mine gets stuck on the back legs as they hook on the corners of his mouth and he cant get around it. He just spits it back out and tries again.

Also he doesnt strike at it like hes ever starving, he goes right up to it, sniffs it (if thats what they do) then just opens his mouth n grabs on n slowly wraps around it. If he was wild, I think he would starve.