feeding problem- is this an emergency?

[daddy and son]

Hi all,
fed my babies today. It was the 2nd time I've fed them. 1st feeding went great, no problems. today, 2 of them ate their pinkies, took them straight down, no sweat. The 3rd, took about 30 minutes before he even grabbed his. He has the whole thing in him, but the mouse tail is still visible in his mouth. He doesn't seem to be making any effort to get it on down. Is this a problem or is he just being finicky? I feed them in a separate container from their habitat and everyone eats alone..

[infernalis]

Give it time, I'd say don't move it until the tail is gone.

[Snakefood]

can't say I've run into that. How long has it stayed without swallowing the pinkie all the way?

[daddy and son]

he's moved it a little farther. has the whole mouse in him, it's probably been over an hour since he first started on it. Just checked him, the "lump" is behind his head now. I may be over reacting, but since I'm new to this, thought I'd ask if that was normal or not. I'll keep an eye on him.

[Gungirl]

My corn on rare occasion will savor his meal..lol It has taken him up to 2 hrs to eat a proper sized mouse on 1 or 2 occasions. I see it as he is being to lazy to put work into it.

Do you have them all in their own enclosure yet?
( sorry if I missed this info in another thread)

[daddy and son]

Yeah, everyone has their own little box.
I'll keep watch on things, see how it's going.

ETA- if it's any consolation, I was the same with both my kids when they were born. First sign of trouble and I was on the phone to the pediatrician.
Update- the lump has moved to about an 1 1/4 in behind his snout.

[millertime89]

probably just being lazy, its usually a funny photoshoot if you feel inclined to poke a camera in his face.

[daddy and son]

Well, whatever the problem was, it was lethal. When I checked him again, he was dead. Not sure what happened yet.

[Gungirl]

Well, whatever the problem was, it was lethal. When I checked him again, he was dead. Not sure what happened yet.

Oh wow.. I'm so sorry! That's very odd.... I hope you figure out what went wrong and your other little snakes are ok.

[stephanbakir]

That was unexpected. Can you give us any info? maybe we can help narrow it down.

[daddy and son]

When I took a closer look inside it's mouth, it looked like there was a fresh scratch there. I also found what almost feels like a scab on the top of it's head. I'm going to try and get some up-close pics and post. Maybe we can all brainstorm it.

[millertime89]

That's horrible! I'm really sorry for your guy's loss. We're you feeding frozen/thawed?

[alessia55]

This is so sad! :( I'm sorry! I hope collectively we can figure out what happened.

[stephanbakir]

That's horrible! I'm really sorry for your guy's loss. We're you feeding frozen/thawed?
Even if they were live, I'm not sure if pinkies can do much damage if any.

[millertime89]

Even if they were live, I'm not sure if pinkies can do much damage if any.

ah, yeah, missed the pinkies part, could one that wasn't completely thawed cause death?

[stephanbakir]

Nah, I've fed some halffrozen animals before, as long as they have a hotspot they should be fine, I've got a video somewhere of a komodo dragon at the zoo playing with a giant chunk of ice the swallowing down about 3 volleyball sized chunks before going to sleep on his hotspot.

[millertime89]

ah, didn't know on a snake so small if it could be harmed because of it.

[daddy and son]

Doubtful. Thawed all 3 at the same time. 4 hours in warm water. The other 2 are fine. Only this one had a problem. Just started a new thread with some pics. Not real great, but might yield some clues

[millertime89]

posted in the other thread, once again, I'm really sorry for your loss.

[KORBIN5895]

So the scab is on top of the SNAKES head?

[daddy and son]

Thanks everyone. Yes, the scab/rough spot was on top of it's head. I posted pics in a new thread.