Feeding and Shedding Questions

[CigarMan]

So I've had my pastel for a couple months now and have been feeding him every week with 1 mouse. Each night as I come home from work around 1am or later, he is out and about climbing around the cage. I thought I may need to feed him more than 1 mouse, so with instructions from my local reptile guy, I fed him 2 mice last week. Every night this week since the last feeding he has not be out of his hiding place. Honestly I don't know if he's been out of it all week (except for the one time I took him out). I don't know if it's because I fed him too much and he's still trying to get it all through his system, or because I fed him the right amount and he has no reason to go out and search for food because he's not hungry.

He also has not pooped all week. Since I've had him, he doesn't normally poop each week. No idea if this is weird or not, but it seems like every two weeks is when he let's it all out.

I also noticed that he was much darker last week, so I assumed he was in his pre shed mode. It's been a week now, and the shed hasn't happened, so I assume it's because of the big feeding from last week and his lack of movement.

So my main question is, should I feed him today, which is his normal feeding day or should I wait until he sheds and is out and about again? Thanks for your help!

[CigarMan]

Well he came out of his hide sometime today and shed all in one piece, which I think is awesome. His last shed was in a million pieces, but I've fixed the humidity issue since then. I guess I'll feed him 1 mouse tomorrow and see how the week goes...

[CptJack]

Hiding is likely related to the fact that he was shedding, not the size of his meal.

[CORBIN911]

A hiding ball is a happy ball

If he is young it'll be while before he does defecate as they make the most of their meals

[Saber402]

It doesn't hurt to see if your snake will eat while in pre-shed. I have some that eat before, during and just after being in blue, and the day of shedding. Others are predictable and don't get fed until the following feed day. You should move your BP up to adequately sized rats. All of mine start out on rats. They are more nutritious than mice. You don't say what your Pastel weighs but it should be taking at least 10%, upwards to 15%, of it's body weight. You should see a slight bulge after eating. I feed my little ones every 5 days until they get to about 250 grams then move them to every 7 days. If you don't have a digital scale you can get one from Walmart for under $20.00

As stated above a hiding ball python is a happy ball python. Most of mine disappear for a couple days after a meal. It's just a normal BP thing, just like being active at night.

[C2tcardin]

How soon after shedding is it ok to handle? And feed?

[Tbrown806]

How soon after shedding is it ok to handle? And feed?

My girl has no issues being handled same day post shed. She has only shed on a scheduled feeding day 1 time but shed early in the AM and did feed fine in the PM.