My boa is wierd.

MalevolentScorp

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
150
My boa constrictor keeps swallowing his prey ass first. Everytime and I cant get him to swallow it properly. What should i do???
 

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
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Sep 14, 2009
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1,659
My boa constrictor keeps swallowing his prey ass first. Everytime and I cant get him to swallow it properly. What should i do???
As long as your Boa is getting his prey down alright, it's ok. Our Ball's occasionally do this, actually for the first 2mths we had our female, she always did (was eating on a weekly basis.) One day she took it head first, and most of the time now she does, but on occasion she will still take it "backwards."

It is awkward to watch though, I always wonder how they can manage it but they always do lol
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 1, 2004
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2,290
I've had snakes that do this. This is definitely NOT a snake to feed live prey to, since they will inevitably wind up getting mauled. I had a Canebrake once who would just start swallowing wherever his mouth came into contact with a feeder rodent-no biting and waiting for it to die of envenomation, just grab and swallow. If he happened to grab a rat mid-body, or butt-first, that's where he started swallowing. Fortunately, he didn't care if it was alive or dead or if it had lain in another snake's cage, uneaten, overnight. He was a crawling garbage disposal unit. He'd spend two hours trying to swallow a rat sideways, foldking it in two like a kid trying to scarf down a slice of pizza. As long as a snake will eat, and eat on a regular basis, and isn't too picky, I'm happy.

pitbulllady
 

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
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1,659
This is definitely NOT a snake to feed live prey to, since they will inevitably wind up getting mauled.
+1 to that :) I forgot to mention that when I posted lol
 

aracnophiliac

Arachnoangel
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Dec 16, 2008
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861
I feed frozen to all except my corn snakes which I fed live pinky mive to..And not so much as eating it the wrong way just that fact that I have one that doesnt constricts them at all..All she does is swallow them....Alive..She doesnt even encircle them she sticks her head out of her rock hide and just starts swallowing them...So now she gets fed frozen..it is very hard to get her to take frozen but I cant live with knowing that the pinkys are being swallowed alive.
 

ShawnH

Arachnoknight
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Joined
Sep 23, 2007
Messages
241
I had an Irian Jaya for 7 years that would swallow his rats rear-first only , it was something else. He was about 8' long when I sold him to make room for other projects. I never could figure why he ate them backwards.
 
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