Greatly increased appetite in 20+-year old BP

[deenak987]

Hello,

I am new to this forum and am curious if anyone has any thoughts on a rather dramatic change in behavior in my BP. I was given the snake almost 16 years ago by someone who was not caring well for it. I was told that the snake is female (although I have never had it reliably sexed) and that the previous owner had gotten her from someone else. The person who gave her to me had her for about five years and she was already adult size. So although I do not know her exact age, she is at least 20 years old and probably a few years older than that. Up until last year, the snake (named Bonnie) was a delight. She was very mellow and quite personable. Although I did not handle her much other than to remove her from her enclosure for feedings, she was very tame and never aggressive. I would bring her into my college biology classroom once a semester and my students would handle her with no problems. I never hesitated to get her out of her enclosure or hand her to someone.

Then suddenly last summer, she underwent a personality change. She began striking at hands that reached in to pick her up. For all the years I had her, I fed her three frozen-thawed mice every two weeks. I had tried rats when I first got her, but she seemed to have trouble manipulating and swallowing them, so I switched to mice almost immediately. She has always had trouble finding the head of her prey and often swallows the mice butt-first, which makes it hard for her to eat bigger rats. In any case, this feeding schedule seemed to work just fine, and while she was usually plenty hungry at feeding time, she was not so hungry that she was actively searching the enclosure for prey or striking at hands.

When her behavior changed and I found that I could not trust her not to bite me when I attempted to take her out of her enclosure, I tried putting her on an every 10-day feeding schedule instead of every 2 weeks to see if this would help. The bites truly seemed to be feeding-oriented and not aggressive, as she would sometimes strike at me when she was in her feeding tub waiting for a mouse. I hoped more frequent feedings would solve the issue, but it did not help. So then I decided to try small rats again. For the past two months she has been eating three small rats every 10 days and still acts as though she is starving when I take her out of her enclosure and offer the first rat. When I open her enclosure she immediately stretches her neck up, sniffing, and isclearly ready to strike if she detects or thinks she detects food. I have taken to wearing leather gloves and long sleeves to protect myself. When I pick her up and put her in the feeding tub, I have to hurry to get the first rat because she is already slithering out of the tub toward me (or my movement) looking for food. When I offer the rat she strikes violently, as if she hasn't eaten in months. Although she clearly struggles to swallow the rats, she usually will consume all three and will be ready to eat again in 10 days.

She has been in the same enclosure for the past several years, with the same temperature gradient as before. The enclosure is heated with a CHE which keeps the warm side between 80-85F and the cool side between 70-75F. She stays on the warm side most of the time. She always has access to fresh water and is in a room with ambient light from a large bay window. Most winters she goes off-feed from late November through mid-March, and did so as usual last year.

I am just perplexed as to why she seems to be so hungry these past few years at such an old age. I can't seem to keep her satisfied, and the change happened so suddenly that I am at a loss to understand it. Her weight has not gone down and she does not appear at all sickly. She is shedding as usual and peeing/pooping frequently (more so now with the increased food intake). Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Is it normal for a large appetite increase to occur in an older snake like this? I miss my mellow snake. This new Bonnie is certainly difficult. I'd just like to understand what's up. Thanks in advance for any information!

[Albert Clark]

Welcome, and I am sorry to hear about the dilemma. What catches my attention is you have been feeding her in a separate enclosure and I think you should stop that immediately. I don't think there is a quick fix but that is a start. What size enclosure is she in? I also think she may need a bit more heat than a che bc pythons need belly heat. Are you using a thermostat or dimmer to regulate the heat source? Try to weigh her and get a sense of how much food you really need to get into her. Remember ,ball pythons do better with one appropriate sized meal instead of several smaller ones. Kudos to you for all you have done and given to her. She may have some senior citizen grumpiness but you can fix that if you tweak a few things. Good luck.

[deenak987]

Hello,

Her enclosure is 31"Lx19"Wx16"H. When I got my first snake back in 1996, I was told to feed it outside of its enclosure so it didn't associate an incoming hand with incoming food and would be less likely to show a feeding response when a person was just trying to pick it up. So that's why I have always fed Bonnie outside of her enclosure, although I suppose it doesn't make much difference now. I do worry about bedding sticking to the food if I feed her in the enclosure.

I have not used a heat pad but I certainly could. At your suggestion I successfully weighed her. She weighs 3.8 pounds right now. I fed her this morning, so she currently has two small rats in her belly (she rejected the third but I am planning on offering it again tomorrow). Do you have a suggestion for an appropriate feeding schedule? She just seems to be so hungry so soon after a feeding now, and she's eating more than she ever has before. Thanks for the help!

[Eric Alan]

At that size, a single medium rat (or two smallish small rats) once/week is definitely plenty. I wouldn't worry about offering again tomorrow at all.

She seems hungry because she's still in feeding mode. They're programmed to eat a bunch when it's available because they don't know when their next meal is coming - not necessarily because they're actually hungry. As long as you're feeding an appropriately sized meal, once per week is a good schedule to start out with. You may even find that every 10-14 days is better for her. They're all a little different and it's up to you to learn what she needs.

EDIT: There's nothing inherently wrong with feeding outside of the enclosure as long as you have good results doing so. Don't try to fix what's not broken.

[deenak987]

I appreciate the feedback - thanks. I'm glad to know that I'm not underfeeding her. I guess I'll just take her increased crankiness and appetite as signs of aging.

[Aztec4mia]

Hello,

Her enclosure is 31"Lx19"Wx16"H. When I got my first snake back in 1996, I was told to feed it outside of its enclosure so it didn't associate an incoming hand with incoming food and would be less likely to show a feeding response when a person was just trying to pick it up. So that's why I have always fed Bonnie outside of her enclosure, although I suppose it doesn't make much difference now. I do worry about bedding sticking to the food if I feed her in the enclosure.

I have not used a heat pad but I certainly could. At your suggestion I successfully weighed her. She weighs 3.8 pounds right now. I fed her this morning, so she currently has two small rats in her belly (she rejected the third but I am planning on offering it again tomorrow). Do you have a suggestion for an appropriate feeding schedule? She just seems to be so hungry so soon after a feeding now, and she's eating more than she ever has before. Thanks for the help!

Kudos on keeping her for such a long time.

If you don't mind me asking, I have a couple questions just to get a better idea of the set up. Not trying to be to intrusive.

- what are you currently monitoring the heat and humidity in her cage with?
- wattage of the CHE?
- average room temp where you keep her and school?
- what part of the year do you bring her to class? (I assume you take her in her current cage)
- has she/he been around any other snakes recently?
- any major changes the past summer?(new house, pets, family etc..)
- bedding you use/any recent change in it?
- Glass aquarium with screen top?

Maybe she has gotten use to a certain schedule and knows she is getting close to going off feed and she is getting it while she can?

[Albert Clark]

Ok , so 3.8 lbs is 1724 grams. She is a pretty healthy senior citizen, haha. I would cut back her meals to once every two weeks. And it is better to give one appropriate sized meal. Even if you go up to medium rats for her ( at that weight) is fine. Also make sure the meal is leaving a slight bulge in her but isn't very much wider than her girth at the widest point of her body. Good luck and don't over feed her.

[Reinz]

Deenak, I'm just curious, does she ever go on hunger strikes? Usually in the winter(?), and how long, if so?

[SamO]

16 years and you've had a year of trouble. Good job caring for her even with the difficulty of the last year. I'm a software engineer (and short term snake keeper compared to you) but when solving problems I suggest changing one variable at a time. Then you find exactly what the problem is.

Prey size
Number of prey
Feed frequency
Type of prey

Since her food comes in real world units you'll have to change multiple variables at once, but the principle still helps. You've already switched to rats, which is good because the number and size of prey is next.

Feed her one medium rat (and by that I mean 100 to 150 grams) at your current feeding schedule. It should just leave a slight bulge in her at her weight/size. Observe her behavior on that plan and if no improvement up schedule to weekly feedings.

Normally I don't like to feed any rats larger than 90 grams but she may need the extra size to calm her down.

[Aztec4mia]

Deenak, I'm just curious, does she ever go on hunger strikes? Usually in the winter(?), and how long, if so?

Most winters she goes off-feed from late November through mid-March, and did so as usual last year.