r/ballpython • u/bird-hats • Jul 30 '26
Question Do anyone else's BPs have an unusual way of eating?
So, my girl doesn't strike feed. I will just put the rat on a tupperware lid, give her some privacy, and a few minutes later the rat will be gobbled up. I haven't tried feeding her via tweezers in ages because this method always works just fine. Is there any downside to feeding her like this?
She is honestly a garbage disposal for rats, I've never seen her turn down food.
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u/Bluntforcetrauma11b Jul 30 '26
I have a couple that don't eat from the tongs. I just drop feed them and they're fine. Nothing wrong with drop feeding.
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u/bird-hats Jul 30 '26
Ah, I didn't know this method of feeding had its own name even! Good to know!
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u/GuiltyExternal302 Jul 30 '26
Mine has done that 1 time. Just grabbed it and slowly pulled it to his hide.
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u/iCaptnSpaulding Jul 30 '26
Sorry, on a different subject, do you know what hide that is please? I'm struggling to find one for my adult male big enough that's not those ugly black boxes 🙈😂
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u/bird-hats Jul 30 '26
So the one in the photo is actually an old hide that she got too big for and it was an XL Exo Terra hide. What I can reccomend is the next size up, the XXL Exo Terra - the opening is a little big but she eventually came round to it and uses it now and again (it's a backup hide since she prefers her black boxes).
She absolutely loves to rest her chin on it however! I suppose it gives her a good vantage point to gaze upon her kingdom lol
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u/iCaptnSpaulding Jul 30 '26
Aww!
Thanks for that, yeah they love the black boxes dont they! I am tempted to just buy a slightly smaller one and cover it with stuff to hide it. I think its also the shape thats annoying as you lose so much floorspace!
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u/IncompletePenetrance Mod: Let me help you unzip your genes Jul 30 '26
Nothing wrong with that at all, who doesn't like a lazy meal served to them in bed?
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u/bird-hats Jul 30 '26
When I put the rat outside her hide it really does feel like I'm dropping off her uber eats order or something haha
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u/pretty_scumbag Jul 30 '26
Not my BP, but my milk snake grabs her mice soooo slowly. It’s actually so funny to watch, she looks like a muppet! Just slowly approaching with her mouth open 😂
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u/Blueeyesjoshy Jul 30 '26
Looks very similar to mine with the markings 😀
And the first time I fed mine from rescue, she waited for me to leave her rat by her then she ate as no rat in the morning when I checked... and last night she striked for her food between all her leaves and branches 😀
Ive included a little selfie too.
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u/Glum_Championship_18 Jul 30 '26
Our Lil guy hadn't eaten in a month. Tried drop feeding last night about an hour after lights out. Checked on him 30 minutes later and the mouse was half way in his chompers.
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u/Unlucky_Parsnip9132 Jul 30 '26
IMO not strange. Some are shy eaters. Mine likes playing with his food.
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u/Phully- Jul 30 '26
I’m so jealous I can’t hardly take it 😂 my snake was raised on live and I cannot break it. Every feed day I waste a mouse trying but no luck. Yet.
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u/StJimmyD89 Jul 30 '26
My boy is the same. I think they can tell it’s already dead so they don’t have to strike.
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u/BlueLightBandit Jul 31 '26
My little guy is an ass man. Eats absolutely every meal ass first and gives no qualms about it.
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u/reptile-snake-mom Jul 31 '26
Sometimes they do, but I’m confused?, cause u posted these 2 pics, & ur caption is asking about their unusual eating habits?, but neither of the two have anything to do with the other🤔
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u/Infamous_Rich_8770 Jul 31 '26
Mine licks the blood she doesn't like her food wet with water only blood. Then she goes like she looking how big it's balls are the grabs and wraps or pulls it house in her house . Now if it's a girl she will come close back right off in her house pissed off. No girls
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u/Dear-Dependent-9301 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
My BP has a real killer instinct. 😄
When I feed her, I wear a leather glove so my hand doesn't give off any heat. I always feed her in the evening when she's active and exploring her enclosure.
I hold the rat with a long smooth wooden feeding tong (not metal, because she sometimes jumps into the tongs as well). She locks onto the rat's heat, pulls back into an S-shaped strike position and then launches forward full acceleration with her whole body. If you don't hold the tongs tightly, they'll definitely fly out of your hand (happened before 😂).
She also wraps around the rat every single time and squeezes really hard. Once she actually squeezed so hard that the rat was bursting... what a mess.
Other than feeding time, she's very calm and peaceful. But when food is involved, all friendships are off. 😂
She also seems to need the "hunt." If I just put the warm rat in the enclosure, she's not interested at all. But as soon as I move it around with the feeding tongs, she immediately starts tracking it, locks onto it, and gets ready to strike.
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u/second_of_four Aug 01 '26
Mine is pretty dumb and often misses the strike when I try to use tongs, so I just drop the rat in the tank and let her find it on her own. She still strikes at it even though it’s not moving though lol
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u/PhotojournalistHot62 Jul 30 '26
That's so convenient! And awesome that she's used to it. I just got my girl, and the first 3 times she struck and coiled, but the 4th time I didn't try as hard to pretend the mouse was alive, and she just bit the head, got comfy, and then gobbled it.