Feeding Question

I have changed my substrate from carpet to aspen and have a question about feeding in the enclosure. Both of my bp's have always eaten in the enclosure. When I attempted to feed outside they would not eat. I am feeding f/t and even though I feed on a small clay plate they still get some aspen chips on the rat. Will this cause a problem with impactation?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killbee

I have changed my substrate from carpet to aspen and have a question about feeding in the enclosure. Both of my bp's have always eaten in the enclosure. When I attempted to feed outside they would not eat. I am feeding f/t and even though I feed on a small clay plate they still get some aspen chips on the rat. Will this cause a problem with impactation?

---

dont worry about it i feed mine and little bits of aspen go there but it wont do any harm at all, and feeding in a different enclosure will just cause them stress.. just zombie dance the rat till they take it and let them be :P

just think in the wild the type of things they would swallow with food.

If they can digest bone they can digest a bit of plant matter. Always have used aspen and never have had an issue.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killbee

I have changed my substrate from carpet to aspen and have a question about feeding in the enclosure. Both of my bp's have always eaten in the enclosure. When I attempted to feed outside they would not eat. I am feeding f/t and even though I feed on a small clay plate they still get some aspen chips on the rat. Will this cause a problem with impactation?

---

This is the reason I changed to newspaper, which I dont particularly like because of its lack of absorbancy.
I hated when the chips would stick to the rodents. Yes this CAN cause an impaction. Depends on how much of these chips shes taking in. Takes a little longer but I've even gone as far as to sit there with a tongs and pick off the aspen as they eat it lol.
You can either switch your substrate if your worried, or risk it. I think they would for the most part pass it but theres no guarantee. Yes they may take in substrate in the wild but thats the beauty of captivity is we have the power to eliminate these risks. And a wild bp probably doesnt take in wood chips with its meal :P

Maybe switch to cypress mulch? I've had better experience with feeding on that than aspen. They maybe get small debris on the rat but nothing as large as an aspen chip. And cypress mulch holds humidity very well which is handy for shedding time. Just make sure to keep an eye on it for a chance at molding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

If they can digest bone they can digest a bit of plant matter.

---

That's technically not true. Their stomachs are designed to digest bone, not wood fiber. Digesting the cellulose and fiber in plants takes special anatomy that snakes don't have, although they do have ridiculous-strong stomach acid.

However, a little bit of aspen will likely get broken down by the stomach enough to pass in the feces unnoticed. A lot could cause an acute impaction, which would be an immediate problem, or a chronic impaction, which would be a slowly developing problem over time.

Aspen, for the most part, is safe. Is it as safe as paper towels or carpet? No. Is more absorbent, convenient, and more aesthetic? Yes. Will it likely kill a snake? No. Just keep an eye on it when feeding. If the rat is particularly wet then you will have to get some aspen off. If there is some other health issue with the snake, some aspen in the digestive tract could cause an issue that wouldn't have surfaced in a healthy snake. It's not guaranteed to be safe, but in all likelihood it will be. Just use good judgement.

Yeah, ball pythons always eat better in their enclosures. I have been keeping mine on aspen shavings for years, feeding inside the enclosures and have never had any issues with impaction. I have found aspen shavings hanging out of their mouths after eating, which makes it look like they were just scraped off as the rat went down. I just pull those off with feeding tongs if I see them. I have never seen any kind of wood fibers in their stools at all. I really don't think there is much to worry about.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mues155

This is the reason I changed to newspaper, which I dont particularly like because of its lack of absorbancy.
I hated when the chips would stick to the rodents. Yes this CAN cause an impaction. Depends on how much of these chips shes taking in. Takes a little longer but I've even gone as far as to sit there with a tongs and pick off the aspen as they eat it lol.
You can either switch your substrate if your worried, or risk it. I think they would for the most part pass it but theres no guarantee. Yes they may take in substrate in the wild but thats the beauty of captivity is we have the power to eliminate these risks. And a wild bp probably doesnt take in wood chips with its meal :P

Maybe switch to cypress mulch? I've had better experience with feeding on that than aspen. They maybe get small debris on the rat but nothing as large as an aspen chip. And cypress mulch holds humidity very well which is handy for shedding time. Just make sure to keep an eye on it for a chance at molding.

---

Newspaper is the best, cleanest, and doesn't allow you to get lazy with cleaning chores. Also easiest to clean, and certainly the cheapest alternative.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by killbee

I have changed my substrate from carpet to aspen and have a question about feeding in the enclosure. Both of my bp's have always eaten in the enclosure. When I attempted to feed outside they would not eat. I am feeding f/t and even though I feed on a small clay plate they still get some aspen chips on the rat. Will this cause a problem with impactation?

---

Your BPs will be fine. I've seen hundreds of posts on this forum talking about how impaction "can happen" from aspen ingestion, but no one who has said it actually happened to them. On the other hand, people have witnessed the accidental eating of stuck paper towels (that killed them) on more than one occasion.

If they ingest a little aspen here an there they should be fine. In the wild they will ingest things there an there. I seen in one of the Sloan brothers videos of them putting sandi chips down and a paper towel down as well to stop them from ingesting the sandi chips. This would work as well for you if you dont want yours ingesting the aspen. I personally have never seen or heard of a snake ingesting paper towel or newspaper during feeding but it is very well possible they could but the likely hood of it is rare.

Thanks for the replies, its better to ask than just assume. I have only see small peices on the rats so I guess they should be fine.