To Feed or not to Feed that is the question: Acclimation

Hey Guys!

Cleo is settling in fine! She stays in one of her 4 hides 95% of the day and at night travels around cause I wake up to her in different hides sometimes. She seems extremely relaxed and not stressed at all. Her movements when out of the hide are very slow and calm.

My question is when should I feed her first. I know the generally accepted acclimation period is 1 week, but the past two morning/ night she has been s-curved just sticking out of her hides as to strike. I have read on here that this is a good idea of a hunting pose. Should I wait the full week or feed tonight??

glad to hear that she is thermal regulating and exploring.

anyway i try to follow the breeder/previous owner's feeding schedule for a few weeks or the first month. for example, if she was fed every Wednesday night, i will feed her every Wednesday night. after she has been established eating, i correct her schedule to feed her the same day as my other snakes to make the schedule easier. (i.e. Move her to Thursday)

Awesome! Thanks Ax. She was being fed every saturday. I picked her up this past saturday and wasn't going to feed her cause it was her first day home. So I should just wait until this saturday? I didn't know if she should be feed sooner cause that will be two weeks without being offered food.

I always try to feed on my scheduled feeding days, otherwise it just gets confusing. My feeding days are Wednesday for ball pythons larger then 500g and every 5 days for ball pythons under 500g. If I bought a 800g snake on Tuesday, I would attempt to feed it on Wednesday (Unless the snake was fed three days before Wednesday by the previous owner/breeder. In that case they would wait till next Wednesday). Sounds confusing but we are talking about a collection of snakes, not just one or two.

If you only have one ball python, I suggest you wait a full week or feed her on the breeders schedule.

That distinct S shape is more of a "ready" position to snap at you... not a feeding or hunger response. They would not make that shape for food unless food was in front of them. You are not food and they know that but you are a danger (in their minds) so that is them ready to defend themselves.

I typically wait 48 hours before attempting to feed new arrivals. Usually the breeders haven't fed them in a week or so prior to shipping so the snakes arrive a little hungry. If you have a scheduled feeding day it won't hurt to wait a few days either.

Interesting about the s shape because when I noticed her in that position, there is no way she knows Im looking at her (using binoculars from a distance). Good to know and thanks a lot for sharing that, I did not know that. Maybe she is more stressed then I thought??!

This right here is my problem. I know that last time she was fed by the breeder was not this past saturday, last saturday. I picked her up a week later this pasted saturday. So Im wondering if shell eat now because I want my feeding days to be Wednesdays.

Ahhhh!!!! SHE ATE!!!! [emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji1]

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Nice! You will get to know your snakes signs when she is ready to eat. Most of mine all do the same thing. Instead of our cruising at night or being just curled up, they'll have their head poking out the hide, lifted slightly off the ground and very aware of everything around them. This to me is their ambush pose. They have always had a quick strike and good eat when I've introduced a rodent at that point. The head in the S-shape thing is only right before they strike or if they are fearful or cautious.

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Originally Posted by treaux

Nice! You will get to know your snakes signs when she is ready to eat. Most of mine all do the same thing. Instead of our cruising at night or being just curled up, they'll have their head poking out the hide, lifted slightly off the ground and very aware of everything around them. This to me is their ambush pose. They have always had a quick strike and good eat when I've introduced a rodent at that point. The head in the S-shape thing is only right before they strike or if they are fearful or cautious.

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What you just typed is exactly the same thing Cleo just did...had her head poking out a little elevated and boom quick strike!

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