Ball python trys to strike but wont go and get it??
31/2 ft ball python strikes towards the rat but wont get it its striked about 15 times and zilch what could be wrong?
Try pre-killing a rat and then and near some tongs, hold the rat and wiggle it in front of your snake. If you are trying to feed your snake while it is contained by shed, this could also cause it to miss the target.
If your bubble python has had no problems feeding beside this method before, then chances are your python is not hungry. The striking is to relay the rat to stay away and not necessarily that he wants to eat. My python did like peas in a pod thing the past 2 weeks. We put him with the rat, he stays surrounded by one corner, the rat in the other corner. If the rat comes near, he hits the rat but not bite and goes vertebrae to his corner. So we take the rat out and put him in the tank. Did impossible to tell apart thing the next week. Then 2 days ago, he finally ate again. No worries.
If your ball python is used to feed live and you switch him to dead (or vice versa), chances are he will refuse to devour it for a weeks before he finally gets hungry enough to drink it. Ball pythons can be picky eaters (unless you got a spider ball - they are good feeders). So, you might want to check first what is cause him to fast now (in my case, I've be battling with humidity issues for the past 2 weeks) and fix that problem since adding more stress by changing out his food.
maybe it has eye problems, does it have retained eye cap? they would be like a silver covering over the eye there are many ways to remove them, whether that is what it is just repost another question and it will bring back answered.
get a dead mouse or rat. perchance the thing has like seeing problems... possibly the rat like attacked it and hit it in the eye. try giving it something smaller or something dead. capture the things eyes checked out.
Answers: Maybe he's used to eating thawed dead rats. Your snake is going to get hold of MESSED up when that rat strikes back. Remove the rat, buy a frozen smaller prey, thaw and warm it, and present that to the snake. Much safer and much more humane to both the snake and rodent.
Even a mouse can kill a snake that size by inflicting a fatal wound, or it could irreversibly damage and infect an eye.
You definitely want to feed it a pre killed frozen rat.
