Feeding during shed/stress

Picked up Nutella a 2013 normal female from Ben Siegel about 4 weeks ago. She was fed live every Thursday so I let her chill in her new enclosure for a week and the following week she POUNDED a f/t small rat. Last week I tried to feed her and she approached it and then just went about her business. Today I went to feed her and I noticed she's in the milky eye stage. I tried anyways and she did the same as last week but this time she started giving deep breaths. Can this be due to stress? Should I try feeding her again next week or till shes done with her shed? I have her in a 32 quart tub hides are fine she loves them temps are always on point i have them controlled by a thermostat and I have the humidity at 60 now.

Nutella pounding a f/t small rat first feeding on her 2nd week home
http://i42.tinypic.com/30lh3zd.jpg

The deep breaths can absolutely be due to stress...I would probably just wait til she sheds to offer again.

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Originally Posted by Pimpzwearpurple

Picked up Nutella a 2013 normal female from Ben Siegel about 4 weeks ago. She was fed live every Thursday so I let her chill in her new enclosure for a week and the following week she POUNDED a f/t small rat. Last week I tried to feed her and she approached it and then just went about her business. Today I went to feed her and I noticed she's in the milky eye stage. I tried anyways and she did the same as last week but this time she started giving deep breaths. Can this be due to stress? Should I try feeding her again next week or till shes done with her shed? I have her in a 32 quart tub hides are fine she loves them temps are always on point i have them controlled by a thermostat and I have the humidity at 60 now.

Nutella pounding a f/t small rat first feeding on her 2nd week home
http://i42.tinypic.com/30lh3zd.jpg

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First of all, that rat looks a little bit big for a 2013 baby. I would drop down a side or feed her less often until she gains a bit of weight. How much does she weigh?

That heavy breathing was probably her way of hissing and telling you to back off. I don't offer my snakes food while they are in shed because 90% of the time they won't eat it anyway. I will give them a meal after they have shed (NOT after they have gone clear but not yet shed). Usually shedding helps them to work up an appetite. Now, I do have one normal that eats EVERYTHING. She'll eat in shed and I'll offer her a rat while she's in blue but not if she's gone blue and then gone clear (sometimes that new skin can constrict and kill them if they are shedding and it dries around a full belly). It's also good to note that I feed live and most of my animals have a better feeding response on live. It wont' hurt to offer food, but if she's hissing, I wouldn't offer and just leave her alone until she sheds, then offer her food.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

First of all, that rat looks a little bit big for a 2013 baby.

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^this IMO. She may have pounded the first rat down out of sheer hunger, juvenile balls are pretty consistent for the most part once acclimated, in scheduled feedings IME. You may get the occasional picky eater but once they get on schedule they seem to eat pretty well for the first year/1000grams?? Seigel may have held off on feeding her the week of shipping and then you said you let her sit another week so I could imagine a juvenile ball pretty hungry by then with their relatively quick metabolism at this age.

If you are really worried about getting her on feed then I would suggest leaving her alone completely besides husbandry upkeep until your next scheduled feeding day(today?) then trying again with a prey about half the size of the one in the picture. If she's hungry she will probably take it, that's my guess. Then you can kind of go into next weeks feeding with more confidence she'll eat, even if the one you just gave her now is on the smaller side the peace of mind it gives when she swallows it is worth it.

Good luck.

[QUOTE=BHReptiles;2077108]First of all, that rat looks a little bit big for a 2013 baby/QUOTE] thank guy's for the responses but although i don't have an exact birth record she isn't small, no weight but is around 22". The rat is definitely fitting for her girth.Siegel told me she was feeding on small rat's and she was fed the week prior to me picking her up so she wasn't simply hungry I picked her up in store so no shipping times etc. I'll try once shes out of shed once again thanks for the responses guys.=)

UPDATE: a few day ago she had a perfect shed so I tried offering her a f/t small rat today and she stayed in strike position staring at it for awhile but didn't do anything moved on and began to shy away from it.. what should I do now when should I start to worry? Should I give her a week with zero handling then try smaller prey? I'm going to buy a scale tomorrow and shes a little over a foot. this was her yesterday http://i43.tinypic.com/98f1g4.jpg

I have a late 2012 female. Born September 2012, just weighed her tonight at 404 grams (she ate on Monday so that isn't an empty weight). She is around 34" long, and I still feed her weaned rats. Not trying to say I know what I am doing (first snake and only had her since November), but she has yet to refuse a meal yet so I must be doing something right.

I would bump her prey size down a step. Maybe the stress of a big meal has put her off food.

Without a scale you can't really weigh her to see if she is maintaining weight or not. I wouldn't worry too much about a refusal until it has been a couple months and/or she starts to lose weight.

I am just going to add that feeding during a shed is not risk free. There is a slight chance of a shed becomming stuck at the stomach where the rat is (especially a large meal) and the snake not being able to monuver it over the rat in its belly. The shed can become dry and shrink and force intervention it can result in a serious health risk. It is very rare but has happend in fact a member here had this happen. I mention it so you can weigh the risks involved yourself. For me there is no gain so any risk is not worth it.