Soaking after a feed?

[che]

Hey Guys.

So my 2 year old male, who I have never seen spend more then 10 minutes in his water bowl in his whole life, has been soaking a lot recently.

He is +-1KG. Cage hasn't changed at all. Temp and humidity is as it always has been, 27 degrees to 32 on warm side. Humidity about 65%. searched high and low and no sign of mites.

Now the only thing I can think of is, he fed on Monday afternoon. A rat of 143grams. This is about 30grams larger then usual. He's been in there about 5 hours yesterday and just got back in now.

Any ideas on why he would be soaking? And just to confirm, does anyone think the meal would have been too big?

Thanks in advance

[ballpythonluvr]

It sounds like the rat may have been a little to big for your snake. I had this same thing happen to me quite a while back and I had asked this same question. My snake had eaten a rat that was a little bigger then normal and then proceeded to soak in the water bowl for two days. Perhaps offer a smaller sized rat the next time you feed your snake.

[che]

Thanks for your input..

Yeah i figured the meal was a bit big.. Do you think he will keep it down though?

[ballpythonluvr]

Thanks for your input..

Yeah i figured the meal was a bit big.. Do you think he will keep it down though?

If you fed the snake on Monday and it has kept the food down then I have to say it will be fine. Just give the snake some extra time to digest before handling.

[Jessica Loesch]

Hopefully since its been a day and a half ... crossing my fingers for ya! May want to wait a couple extra days this feeding interval to give him a break


Honestly the meal doesn't sound ALL that big, at least not for health concern, as it is 14% of his body weight, but he may be the long skinny type. Should be fine though!

[che]

@ Jessica - I also didnt think the meal was too big but it was certainly larger than usual. He was a fussy eater when he was younger but eats well now and is by no means skinny.

Does the 15% rule of thumb hold for adults BP's as well?

Thanks again to both of you.

[Jessica Loesch]

It's a good growth size feed, but I would feed closer to 10% or less, especially with a male.
However that being said, it still shouldn't be too large of a meal for them to handle, but as you have experienced it probably isn't preferred

[MikeM75]

I had the same thing happen, I fed a larger than usual rat and I saw her soaking that night. The next day I checked on her and she was starting to shed, so it could be just starting to shed.

[theJuju]

Quick question since it relates to this topic - is it okay to put a BP in a soaking tub to get off loose skin from a poor shed one day after eating? I was going to wait 48 hours, but seeing this thread made me think that it wouldn't hurt?