HELP!! Quick question about a feed happening right now..

[zookeeper]

I picked up my first F/T rat today. It is a little bit bigger than the fresh pre killed I gave last week. It is as fat as my BP is around , but it was longer than the last rat. I made sure it was thoroughly thawed. Squeezed around felt no hard or cold spots at all. She ate it half way , and then backed off of it. Now she is drinking water. The rat is slimed , but still intact. Do I leave it in there for a bit to see if tries again to eat it?

[zookeeper]

Also noteworthy , while she was coiled and quite far down on the rat , she fell in her water bowl , the whole shebang. Maybe her head went under water? And she released? She made it down to the hindquarters of the rat. Help! Should I leave it in there so she can try again?

[Zach Cedor]

Leave it in over night if she doesn't eat it toss it try again next week with a slightly smaller pretty item sounds like she startled herself and regurged

Sent From My Man-Cave

[zookeeper]

I put it in there at like 7:30..I get up at about 7. Will it be smelly like death by the a.m?

[bumblebee1028]

I've left f/t rats in overnight, and haven't really noticed a smell (not much more than they normally smell anyway). I've never had one back off the rat, but I have had them drag the rat through the water dish, and they usually eat it anyway. Was the rat really warm when you put it in, or just thawed? I use my temp gun and try to get the rat to about 90-100F using a hair dryer. Maybe it wasn't warm enough?

And just to clarify, I'm pretty sure it's not technically a "regurge" unless they've gotten it down all the way, and then it comes back up. For an actual regurgitation, you're supposed to not feed for 2 weeks, and then offer a smaller meal than normal. So since that wasn't the case for your girl, you should be fine to try again in 5-7 days whether or not she eats it tonight, but you may want to try the same size as the pre-killed that she took nicely.

Hope that helps!

[zookeeper]

Thanks , it does I moved her water bowl..she is in a cramped 26 Neodesha cage right now while her AP T8 comes up to proper environment. Cramped is nice and cozy for them , I know , but a bit too cozy to get a rat down without doing a triple lindig into your water bowl pool I put her bowl on top of her cool side hide so there is now some room in the middle. The rat is in the middle. Now she is poking out of her cool side hide that she retreated into and tongue flicking again. Fingers crossed! I am worried she is going to be one of those" hard to switch to f/t" snakes lol I dont mind prekilling , but we are getting a second snake at some point and at 11 bucks for a full size live rat I can see things getting A) not so economical B) a bit harder on my brain to prekill