Woma owners-- Advice ?? (the real Woma, not BP morph hah)

I have a nice young Woma I picked up from a breeder in Jan. He's doing quite nicely, and is about 20-24" long. He's a good eater on hoppers now.

When I feed him I've noticed that he seizes the prey (prekilled by me) with his mouth and doesn't bother to constrict. Now if I pull the tail a bit, he forms a coil and will constrict.

My concern is I gave him a hopper, that wasn't quite dead by accident, he did the above, and if I hadn't noticed would have swallowed it alive.

I never observed this my with ball python or Hog Island boa, they always constricted when they were as young.

Is there something different about this species, that they don't necessarily constrict that much? How concerned should I be that my snake may eat a live mouse? I'd like to think a mouse can't chew from the outside that it would die by then, but who knows?

I just can't figure out why he's reluctant to constrict. I've read they hunt in burrows in Australia perhaps they don't have room to do that.

Any ideas ?

That isn't uncommon at all with womas that are fed pre-killed prey...in fact, I've kept a few species that would stop constricting dead food items.
It isn't much of a problem at this size, but your snake could get injured by a larger pretty item. My suggestion would be to make up your mind about dead or live prey, and stick to it (and, if you decide dead, use f/t...or be sure you kill them all the way).

Originally Posted by hhmoore

That isn't uncommon at all with womas that are fed pre-killed prey...in fact, I've kept a few species that would stop constricting dead food items.
It isn't much of a problem at this size, but your snake could get injured by a larger pretty item. My suggestion would be to make up your mind about dead or live prey, and stick to it (and, if you decide dead, use f/t...or be sure you kill them all the way).

Interesting, I have never seen this with my BP or Hog, and my Hog is 13 yrs old, in fact her feeding response has only gotten stronger in the past few years! Thanks a lot for the info!

OH, I thought it was dead, but if I recall correctly from a friend of mine, young mice have a different sensitivity to oxygen levels than adults. The amount of CO2 I gave would definitely have killed an adult.

I tried frozen/thawed a few times. I hated it. The thawing out of the mice in a bag in warm water just smelled terrible, like horrible. I don't mind the smell of live mice however. So fresh killed it is, unless someone give me a better solution on the F/T.

If your f/t is smelling that much worse than your live, I would question the quality of the rodents.

I breed, euthanize and freeze my own rodents. When I thaw them they smell no worse than the live animal they once were. Sometimes less since they aren't peeing everywhere anymore.

I might try again with your CO2 euthenizing then throwing them immediately in the freezer in a freezer bag.

Originally Posted by Ophion

If your f/t is smelling that much worse than your live, I would question the quality of the rodents.

I breed, euthanize and freeze my own rodents. When I thaw them they smell no worse than the live animal they once were. Sometimes less since they aren't peeing everywhere anymore.

I might try again with your CO2 euthenizing then throwing them immediately in the freezer in a freezer bag.

Everyone's smell is subjective so hard to know. I just think it smells worse. No it's not the vendor, because I've tried 3 different vendors across the country (not due to the smell though hah) and they all smell the same.. Gross.

I think it's just f/t mice smell really bad.

Originally Posted by viper69

Everyone's smell is subjective so hard to know. I just think it smells worse. No it's not the vendor, because I've tried 3 different vendors across the country (not due to the smell though hah) and they all smell the same.. Gross.

I think it's just f/t mice smell really bad.

I agree with you. F/T does have a distinctive smell that I also find to be somewhat nasty. I too have purchased from numerous vendors, and they all have the same smell.

I have 2 ball pythons and a carpet python that don't constrict their prey because I've fed frozen thawed to them for so long. I think after a while some of them just realize they don't have to constrict and decide to not waste the energy and effort trying to kill something that's already dead.

Originally Posted by PlatinumRosePythons

I have 2 ball pythons and a carpet python that don't constrict their prey because I've fed frozen thawed to them for so long. I think after a while some of them just realize they don't have to constrict and decide to not waste the energy and effort trying to kill something that's already dead.

I agree. I notice when I pull the hopper's tail, then the Woma kicks into high gear. But I just wouldn't have expected non-constricting behavior so soon in his life. He's young.

Originally Posted by viper69

I agree. I notice when I pull the hopper's tail, then the Woma kicks into high gear. But I just wouldn't have expected non-constricting behavior so soon in his life. He's young.

One of the balls and the carpet are barely over a year and the ball hasn't constricted prey since he was 9 months old

I've solved the issue of thawing f/t rats ... I don't thaw in a bag, just dump them in warm water. My snakes don't mind wet food.
I have a few snakes that don't constrict any more, a few colubrids and an ETB.