I have a question.

[Mighty Monty]

Every week i feed my BP a small rat ( live ) and he's always been a great eater, never any problems.

So this last thursday when i feed him, i noticed he was getting ready to shed, and in the past i have still fed him, and he takes it. This week he wasn't intersted, and i knew he was going into shed so i thought, alright maybe that was it, but still kind of weirded out about it. Next day i try feeding him and he seems interested and kind of follows the rat around with his head just watching it, kind of in strike position like he's going to get it, still nothing. Then again the next day i try and feed him, and he does the exact same thing, just watches it, and even kind of snaps at me when i'm putting the rat into the tank.

Now, i know it's a horrible thing to do, but i don't have the supplies to keep a rat for more than a couple of days and i noticed it starting to kind of just lay on it's side and what not, so i gave it some food i had and sent it on it's way outside because i just didn't know what else to do with it. I feel terrible and probably the wrong move, but such is life, i've never had to keep a rat alive after buying it because my BP eats right away.

So tonight, late morning i lift up one of his hides and see that he has shedded in full, and left a very large dropping ( normal ) also.

So my question is, do you think he just didn't eat and wasn't THAT intersted in it because he was going through a shed and trying to go to the bathroom at the same time?

I want to say he's 3 ft, but i could be wrong, i need to measure him, he could be a little less. Should i feed him every 2 weeks? Whenever i feed him once a week he always is interested and hungry and i'm thinking just could of been bad timing this time around?

Does of of this sound like that could be the problem or anything else i should do?

I do realize they go without eating sometimes, but mine has always done great, everything is fine in his tank etc.

Thought i'd ask, it's been awhile since i've needed some help!

Thanks!1

[Shelby]

Well, it is common for snakes to lose interest in food while in shed. If your snake refuses to eat, you should wait another week before offering food.. continually offering several days in a row can actually stress them out.

Now, I don't mean this to be mean, but it's quite inhumane to keep a rat for a day or more without proper food and water. I would highly suggest having a small cage with a water bottle and some food ready just in case this happens again. Letting a domestic animal loose in the wild is never a good idea either.. for many reasons.

For rat food you can use dog food in a pinch..

Since your snake is 3' or so.. I'd say it's perfectly safe to feed him every other week. Since this is the first time he's refused food on you (at least that's what I gathered from your post) you may not need to do that, but wait a week before offering food again.

[rabernet]

Your first mistake was offering food to your snake three days in a row - that only serves to stress them out. Best to wait a week.


In the future, get a 10 gallon tank to house any un-eaten rats, with a water bottle and just lab block (although cereals, dried pasta, even our left-overs are also good) and wait until the following week to feed again.

The rat, if it is any other color than the natural color of rats is likely not going to survive in the wild, as it's going to stand out to predators.

Please remember to also treat your prey items with respect as well. Sounds like the poor fella wasn't given any water either and was likely suffering from dehydration.

[frankykeno]

Offering food day after day is just causing your snake to reject it even more. Basically you're bugging it and that's not going to get a snake to eat. It's an adult snake, it won't be in any way harmed to miss the occasional meal. If it refuses again, wait a full week until it's next scheduled regular feeding and try again.

The bigger issue here is that you released a feeder rat into the wild. If you are going to feed live responsibly, you must be responsible to the prey animal. That does mean keeping a proper holding tank available to keep that prey in. It's as simple as a used ten gallon tank, a water bottle and a bit of bedding plus something for it to eat. Since rats can do well enough on a bit of dog food and some decent scraps from your dinner, there's no excuse for dumping one out the back door. Not only does this leave a living creature used to captivity to suddenly deal with being "wild", it encourages rodent problems in your neighbourhood. Rats breed prolifically and it's never fair or responsible to expose your neighbours to this just because you didn't plan ahead.

[Mighty Monty]

Yeah, i feel terrible about the whole rat thing, i use to have rats as pets so it wasn't easy, i had a water bottle for him in this little tank i had for him but he just wasn't even taking it, through some cereal in, but i think my snake might have tagged him/her first time around when feeding, so i'm not entirely sure.

I will keep everything you have said in mind, i never knew that continuely trying to feed was stressful so i'm glad to know that! Thank you, and i'll get some supplies for the prey item as well.

thank you.