Feeding Time at the Zoo

Tonight was our official "Feeding Time at the Zoo" so we figured we'd go ahead and try to feed Lucy and Scales. They both took their f/t juvenile ASFs (it's what they were eating at the breeder/ reptile store) and then I shut the tubs.

NOW I'm going bonkers, because I can't see what's going on. Lucy was under her hide so after she chomped and constricted on her ASF I gently set her hide back on her (stupid or smart? I don't know, but she was looking thin to me and holy cow I'm channeling my grandmother) and Scales was standing on his head last I saw.

Rambling. Sorry.

Soooo... how long should I wait to check on them? An hour? 90 minutes? Morning? If it's morning I may well lose my mind because Quarantine is my bedroom and they're less than 6 feet from our bed. I'm not good with suspense. I turn to the back of every book before I finish it. I'm trying to be good and give the babies (they're around 4 months old) their privacy, but I'm wondering how much of this is necessary and how much is me just sticking to details too much.

I'm not usually tense (okay, maybe a little), but we had a cheering section for our male sand boa this evening when he managed to get his pinkys down (he brings "picky eater" to a whole new level -- forty minutes it took to get him to eat!) so I'd say my levels are a wee bit heightened at the moment.

Any input (you're doing the right thing, you're not doing anything wrong, you can totally wait to look until morning, you don't have to wait until morning to look) is appreciated. I'll chill out after this -- it's just their first feeding here so I'm stressing. :oops:

A peek in their tubs/hides couldn't hurt. Occasionally you'll get an animal that can't quite figure out where the head is and will give up. You'll want to know if that happened so you can try again. Give them a quick peek and if they both have little bumps in their bellies, let them be. =)

I usually wont put their hides back down after they've struck and coiled. I'll usually wait until after and add the hide back in. I can't see any harm in it, but in a skittish snake, it could make them release the rodent. But that would be rare.

Whew -- they've eaten! I re-read my post and good grief, I sound like a freak. Sheesh. They're just so different from my decidedly non-skittish KSBs that I'm worried I'll do something wrong. At this point, though, all seems well.

Thanks much for answering! It's all good now :)

I think you have a reason to be concerned. I have a picky eater and I have to be very careful around her. I always worry she won't eat. But, it sounds like they did good! Congrats!

Thank you! I'm trying not to stress too much, but all my snakes are babies (literally) so I do worry about them. I swear, I was less concerned about my human children when they were babies! Then again, if something was wrong they were very good at letting me know. Loudly. And for an extended period of time.

Come to think of it, not much has changed... they just use words now :laughing:

Glad they ate without issues. My albino has a bad habit of hitting and coiling and then just letting the food rot under her hide. My point for that is it's better to check on them before too much time goes by. Rotten prey sitting on a heat source smells terrible and can mess up the hole house for a day or two. :)

The whole potential stench factor is another reason I was really hoping it would be okay to check last night -- their tubs are in my bedroom, and although I sleep just fine knowing there are snakes right by the bed, I don't think I would have slept a wink for worrying about the zombie ASFs!

There are few things more foul than the smell of decomp. Bleah.