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Weird/Concerning Feeding Behavior

Jace91

Jace91

New member
So last night was Wyatt's feed night, I got him out weighed him popped him in his feeding tub and heated up his mouse all normal. He was his usual cantankerous self. I heat my mice in a small cup of hot water pat them dry with paper towel and deliver with tongs. Occasionally Wyatt strikes and constricts like I assume he would a live mouse holding on for several minutes until he's sure it's dead. Last night during his constricting he actually caused the mouse to bust open, belly or brain not sure, he wound up with pink "mush" on himself. If that was all I'd find it funny but whilst he was waiting for the mouse to "die" he sniffed out the mush and actually opened his mouth like he was going to eat himself. He sort of gently bit down and then released a couple of times, he stopped I think once he realized that he was chewing on himself. Now I've heard horror stories of ouroboros and was wondering if this could be a warning sign. Any advise or reassurance is greatly welcome.
 
Nope, not unusual. He was going for what he thought was a whole mouse because it had texture and blood and guts so he went for it. Like you said, he stopped after a minute because he realized he was eating himself! Just like when a dog chases and actually catches their own tail, it's like "doh, that hurt!".

Don't stress, just give him a little bath in a few days if he still has gore on him. This is also why we stress to wash your hands between each snake, I have an order I feed them in and if I haven't washed my hands right before I get to Bootsie (975g behemoth) he may mistake my fingers for mice. This is a boy who lets me stroke his head or kiss him on the head, he is the mellowest beastie I have but if he's hungry and I smell like dinner, I'm fair game.
 
smigon said:
Nope, not unusual. He was going for what he thought was a whole mouse because it had texture and blood and guts so he went for it. Like you said, he stopped after a minute because he realized he was eating himself! Just like when a dog chases and actually catches their own tail, it's like "doh, that hurt!".

Don't stress, just give him a little bath in a few days if he still has gore on him. This is also why we stress to wash your hands between each snake, I have an order I feed them in and if I haven't washed my hands right before I get to Bootsie (975g behemoth) he may mistake my fingers for mice. This is a boy who lets me stroke his head or kiss him on the head, he is the mellowest beastie I have but if he's hungry and I smell like dinner, I'm fair game.
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Thanks so much! I'm something of a worry-wart when it comes to my animals so I'm happy to hear that in this case there's really no need.
 
Wyatt still hasn't grown out of his hateling phase. He's nailed me a few times, even drawn blood. Surprising given he's only just coming 34 weeks.
 
Jace91 said:
Wyatt still hasn't grown out of his hateling phase. He's nailed me a few times, even drawn blood. Surprising given he's only just coming 34 weeks.
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I totally know where you are coming from. So many questions about their behavior, is this right, is that right, etc. But that is what this site is about: asking questions and getting advice from the experts in the field of corn snakes!

Yeah, sometimes they are hatelings for longer than expected. What is your thermostat set to, and is the probe thermometer in the right place? Corns get really pissy when they are too hot or too cold.
 
Stat is set to 87F (my house stays pretty cool in winter) and the probes for both the stat and a digital thermometer are secured right smack in the middle of the glass above the mat which is right under his hot hide. I have a second thermometer on the cool end and it holds steady at about 70-75F, He has three hides Hot, Cool, and a moss filled Warm that I dampen when he goes blue.
 
Perfect. Then just a hateling, he should grow out of it with a lot of handling.
 
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