The need to feed.

One thing I have been enjoying about the species is the fact there is a consistency in feeding. The royal I keep has her very own feeding schedule. She basically regulates her food intake and I just go by what her urges tell me.

My carpet seems to like eating very large meals spread out over rather long periods. Usually a month of longer.

My boa constrictor will eat pretty much any time I offer, but he's an adult and boas have a very specialized way of eating that some people either don't understand or don't follow. Once adult they need to be fed properly for longevity and the overall health of the snake. In the wild, they do not eat year round, and this time of year is when minimizing food intake becomes important.

That's all just a setup for the excitement of feeding a baby, growing reticulated python.

Vital Exotics "Wallace" has waited out his week, and has had another crack at food.

Of course he was ready to go and I had the I-Phone close by. Always a feeling of satisfaction when they eat.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3676.jpg

He's been here for a little while now and I've switched out the paper towels in exchange for coco husk. Wallace is a bit of a slob at dinner and I have decided putting some paper down for the meal wouldn't be a bad idea.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3677.jpg

I'm quite pleased I saved the old glass tank and beefed up the insulation around the sides back and bottom. The little guy has several options on the ground and some perching areas as well. He looks stunning against the substrate.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3678.jpg

He's holding steady at his current length and girth. A very nice feature on the Vital Exotics web page is the Care Sheet. It has about everything you need to know on it and includes good advice for feeding SD and Dwarf cross retics. Practicing the procedures laid out on the sheet seems like a good way to keep size under control.

One change I have noticed is the improvement of coloring and pattern. He should be a handsome adult. This last photo turned out the best.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3679.jpg

That's why I love baby retics! Just a warning though, it's very frustrating when the males mature and you offer a nice warm 4-5# rabbit that took several days in the refrigerator to thaw and then most of the day to warm up - and they're more interested in finding a girlfriend. :taz:

Lol my little man took his weaned rat about 2 hours after he got put in his cage. And my guy loves to perch. He comes out at night and will sit stretched out on his shelf in the AP cage with just his head hanging over the edge looking around lol. He actually looks like he is thinking. I also feed mine on a sheet of paper too. He's not nearly as graceful of an eater as the boas or JCP. And yes I still need a camera lol. I got set back though as I had to go out and buy a Mr Heater Big Buddy along with a stack of UniHeats to brace for the storm tonight in case I lose power. I swear its a conspiracy for me to not get a dang camera :mad:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

That's why I love baby retics! Just a warning though, it's very frustrating when the males mature and you offer a nice warm 4-5# rabbit that took several days in the refrigerator to thaw and then most of the day to warm up - and they're more interested in finding a girlfriend. :taz:

---

I'm going through that with my 4 year old, male boa right now LOL!

In the last 2 weeks I've tossed a rabbit, a rat and a really nice quail.

The good news is I'm dropping temps shortly and he'll be off food for a few months coming up fairly soon. I do want him to eat at least 1 more large meal before we make the drop though.

Yes, the babies are always fun! Although out of my 4, the boa and the retic are the only ones who've been consistent from day 1.

I don't see this guy eating more than large rats, large quail, or max, 1 pound rabbits. My plan is a 7-9 foot male retic. He has plenty of SD and Dwarf in him to stay 11 feet or under. At least I hope.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sauzo

Lol my little man took his weaned rat about 2 hours after he got put in his cage. And my guy loves to perch. He comes out at night and will sit stretched out on his shelf in the AP cage with just his head hanging over the edge looking around lol. He actually looks like he is thinking. I also feed mine on a sheet of paper too. He's not nearly as graceful of an eater as the boas or JCP. And yes I still need a camera lol. I got set back though as I had to go out and buy a Mr Heater Big Buddy along with a stack of UniHeats to brace for the storm tonight in case I lose power. I swear its a conspiracy for me to not get a dang camera :mad:

---

Agreed!!! There is no grace in eating. It is like a medieval dining display. We start with the wrong end then drag things all over the place, like in the water bowl and through the substrate.

Then he zips all over the place looking for the snout of the rat he was just attached to.

All that said, the action is rather entertaining.

I forgot to add this picture, which is after he swallowed the rat. He has a bulge but I'm astounded that he is staying the same size after eat a few times here.

Look at the eyes. They reflected the flash here a bit. I don't usually this with other species.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3680.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

Agreed!!! There is no grace in eating. It is like a medieval dining display. We start with the wrong end then drag things all over the place, like in the water bowl and through the substrate.

Then he zips all over the place looking for the snout of the rat he was just attached to.

All that said, the action is rather entertaining.

I forgot to add this picture, which is after he swallowed the rat. He has a bulge but I'm astounded that he is staying the same size after eat a few times here.

Look at the eyes. They reflected the flash here a bit. I don't usually this with other species.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2FIMG_3680.jpg

---

Haha so true about the eating!! Mine spent a good 20 mins trying to eat the rear leg, then butt, then shoving it around magically thinking the head will appear I guess. Then doing the zip around thing, then lays there boggled for about 5 mins. He finally found the head and after that, it was gone in what it seemed like 30 secs lol. He was pretty full though as he didn't sit around, he went for the warm hide and curled up on top of the flexwatt. Hopefully tomorrow I can get him another rat to try and fatten him up a little before going to the weekly feeding. He is so lazy though lol. Today I lifted up the cool hide and he was curled up sleeping I guess. I touched him and he woke up and just kind of looked at me. Then I picked him up and he just curled up on my hand and went to sleep I think hahaha. I felt bad so after about 10 mins, I put him in his warm hide and he went in and went back to sleep I'm assuming lol. He's as mellow as my boas.

As for the boas, my god, Rosey has refused a meal once in her life and that was during shedding. Vicky has never refused a meal. She even ate a small mouse off tongs since she couldn't hold it with her body lol. If any of them refused food, I would start to worry. The JCP is pretty much a garbage can too. She got really pissed last night and wanted nothing to do with me. She wouldn't climb onto me so I tried picking her up. She got mad and head butted me. I kept at it. She got more mad and jumped off her perch to the floor of the cage and looked at me. I kept going and that was the last straw for her lol, she bit me...again. I kept at it and got her on me which wasn't a good idea. Instead of curling up on my shoulders and relaxing, she stretched out for her cage and launched like a coiled spring into her cage and went for the floor. I left her alone. I guess yesterday, she really didn't want to be social lol. So funny how much personality pythons seem to have. My boas both just take it and come out but that JCP, she don't want out and that's game over, she's not coming out lol. I think she might be getting ready to shed so maybe that's why she was so pissy.

I love my albino dwarf retic, she is so mellow and has never been aggressive at all. It does seem like her metabolism is much faster than other snakes, I can feed a huge meal and she will get a big bump in her, then a couple days later she will be skinny again. At least it was like that when she was younger, now that she is 2100+ grams (almost five pounds) she seems to keep her body condition a lot better.

One good thing about having multiple snakes is that if one doesn't eat the others will. My retic is on medium to large rats, I'm amazed she can pound them down. I usually try to feed them off to my larger ball pythons, right now they are breeding and won't eat so my retic is the clean up crew LOL. I'm pretty sure I can stick with medium to large rats and once my ball pythons all get to full adult size I'll have plenty of snakes to eat everything. In fact most people will rotate their feeding schedule so they feed only half of their snakes at one time. That way if they don't eat others can be the clean up crew instead of having to throw out rodents. My retic should get big enough to pound down several large rats, so I should never have to throw out any rodent after thawing (that's the idea anyway LOL).

I also do mainly fresh killed rodents with frozen thawed as a backup only. With fresh killed I can put down just a few at a time, they are immediately the right temp and immediately available and if they don't get eaten I can pop them in the freezer for a F/T later. Usually I'll just gas a few at a time so I don't have any left over, and I tend to feed a variety of sizes, usually I'll put down the larger rodents first and feed those to my female breeders. Then I'll put down smaller ones for my males and if one doesn't eat I'll double up on the others.

I'm not sure I'll ever do rabbits unless I get a bunch of them real cheap or free, generally they are just way more expensive than rats. Rats breed like crazy and grow up super fast.

What the hell?

I'll throw in a couple of stray and not very good extra pics here.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3674.jpg


These were actually the first two in the series but I wasn't totally digging the quality. Then I decided based on the fact I'm not even using my good camera why worry about quality at this point.

The guy is eating and the message is rather clear.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3675.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

I'm going through that with my 4 year old, male boa right now LOL!

In the last 2 weeks I've tossed a rabbit, a rat and a really nice quail.

---

Clearly, you all need more carnivores around. Wasted feeders are never a problem at my house. Although now the majority of mine are great feeders and leftovers aren't a common occurrence.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoingPostal

Clearly, you all need more carnivores around. Wasted feeders are never a problem at my house. Although now the majority of mine are great feeders and leftovers aren't a common occurrence.

---

Bet those bloods go anytime anywhere!

Males of all species get strange.

I'm a male and even though I'm a bit older and married, I remember when only one thing mattered and it wasn't food LOL!

Lol same here, no rat or mouse goes to waste here. Heck my 4-5' sunglow girl ate an adult mouse. Granted I had to hold it for her with tongs since it was too small for her to hold but she was more than happy to gulp it down in like 1 gulp lol. I got 5 girls though so even if the little man thinks of ladies and skips food, I got 5 more mouths that will be more than happy to take the rodent lol.

Very nice, some good shots of the snake as well.

lol And I thought my girl was food-oriented? You and Sauzo's boys really put her to shame. I think the most extreme reaction I got was when I gave her her first rabbit. I moved and she hit the glass with her mouth wide open. She likes her rats, but she'd never struck at me while eating a rat before. Rabbits make her nuts, though.

She's also really toned down on the feeding response, even for her. The 1 lb rabbit I gave her took a lot of convincing just to grab, she almost didn't even want to eat it, so now at 7'+ I've started toning down her meal sizes and may even space them out from 2 weeks to 3 weeks if she continues to be less interested in food. There was also a time I was feeding her multiple small and medium rats because I didn't have any of the next size up yet (she's been barreling up in sizes quickly), and although she would take the second rat, she was a lot less interested in it than the first.

After reading your guys' posts here, it seems my girl has an abnormally small feeding response, despite getting nothing more than a fuzzy mouse every 2 weeks the first 6 months of her life. lol

The only snake that consistently gives me troubles is my ball python, and he's been eating like a champ for a little over a year now. My eastern garter Demi refused his last two meals, but I think that's because the first one I gave him was on the onset of fall. He's refused one meal beginning of fall each fall I've had him. The second one was a mouse fuzzy, and he tried his hardest but didn't eat it. I actually found a mouse pink and I've got some earthworms so I'll try him again soon. The only other snake that has ever refused a meal was Cloud when I was feeding him rats 2-3 sizes too big but I stepped him down and since then never had a refusal. All my snakes are good eaters aside from that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

She's also really toned down on the feeding response, even for her. The 1 lb rabbit I gave her took a lot of convincing just to grab, she almost didn't even want to eat it, so now at 7'+ I've started toning down her meal sizes and may even space them out from 2 weeks to 3 weeks if she continues to be less interested in food.

---

My female adults that size are fed every four weeks, the males every five weeks. They get a one pound rabbit, except for one female who absolutely will not hit a rabbit so she gets a one pound jumbo rat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

My female adults that size are fed every four weeks, the males every five weeks. They get a one pound rabbit, except for one female who absolutely will not hit a rabbit so she gets a one pound jumbo rat.

---

My girl is a mainland not a dwarf, does that still hold true? I am pretty sure I want to space her feedings out though, just not sure about monthly quite yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good conversation here.

Keep it up.

I'm not sure this guy will ever seen anything larger than a large rat. I will mix in quail and very small rabbits but not until I'm fairly convinced he'll stay in has predicted small range.

Its nice to see various people chime in here as I don't want to feel isolated with this species. There are a lot of BP folks here,,,,,,,,obviously, and a lot of boa folks too. The giant pythons whether they be the true big ones or the smaller versions see to be a little more advanced and the number of keepers more select.

Keep the experiences and suggestions coming and I'll do the same!

Really looking forward to seeing your little one progress as he grows. So nice to have other SD keepers around to bounce ideas and suggestions off of. So much variation between different localities and bloodlines and morphs to keep conversations interesting and educationally informative for a long time to come. Thanks for sharing, Gio!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

My girl is a mainland not a dwarf, does that still hold true? I am pretty sure I want to space her feedings out though, just not sure about monthly quite yet.

---

DOH! Never mind, I thought you were talking about a boa not a retic. Every 14 days is fine, and you may find her skipping a meal when she goes into shed.

Kind of off topic but does anyone with retics have a heavy sleeper lol? My boy sleeps like a rock. Tonight I went to go feed him. I lifted his hide and he was curled up sleeping I'm assuming as he didn't even move. I hung the rat over his head and he still didn't move. I tapped his body with it about 5 times before he finally woke up I'm assuming. He lifted his head, looked around and then flicked his tongue on the rat. After that all hell broke loose lol. He grabbed it, coiled it. Then started eating it shoulder first, got worked up, dragged it off the paper and around the cage a little, wrapped it up some, worked his head to the rats head and then started swallowing. After he was all done, I put his hide back in and he went behind it and is relaxing now. I'm just surprised how heavy he was sleeping haha. He definitely has personality too like the JCP except the JCP seems to not be happy unless I'm donating blood every once in a while lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

DOH! Never mind, I thought you were talking about a boa not a retic. Every 14 days is fine, and you may find her skipping a meal when she goes into shed.

---

Lol nope none of my (current) boa girls are anywhere near that big yet.

I'm probably still going to go to 3 weeks though considering how chunky she's gotten and her lowered feeding response. I'll give her a month or two and see if things change first. She's getting half pound rats and rabbits holy crap that's a big mouse, 1 lb rabbits seemed to be too much for her.

As an adult I 100% intend to feed her monthly but she's not an adult yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

Lol nope none of my (current) boa girls are anywhere near that big yet.

I'm probably still going to go to 3 weeks though considering how chunky she's gotten and her lowered feeding response. I'll give her a month or two and see if things change first. She's getting half pound rats and mice, 1 lb rabbits seemed to be too much for her.

As an adult I 100% intend to feed her monthly but she's not an adult yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Also I don't feed in shed anyways so that's not a worry.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

lol And I thought my girl was food-oriented? You and Sauzo's boys really put her to shame. I think the most extreme reaction I got was when I gave her her first rabbit. I moved and she hit the glass with her mouth wide open. She likes her rats, but she'd never struck at me while eating a rat before. Rabbits make her nuts, though.

She's also really toned down on the feeding response, even for her. The 1 lb rabbit I gave her took a lot of convincing just to grab, she almost didn't even want to eat it, so now at 7'+ I've started toning down her meal sizes and may even space them out from 2 weeks to 3 weeks if she continues to be less interested in food. There was also a time I was feeding her multiple small and medium rats because I didn't have any of the next size up yet (she's been barreling up in sizes quickly), and although she would take the second rat, she was a lot less interested in it than the first.

After reading your guys' posts here, it seems my girl has an abnormally small feeding response, despite getting nothing more than a fuzzy mouse every 2 weeks the first 6 months of her life. lol

The only snake that consistently gives me troubles is my ball python, and he's been eating like a champ for a little over a year now. My eastern garter Demi refused his last two meals, but I think that's because the first one I gave him was on the onset of fall. He's refused one meal beginning of fall each fall I've had him. The second one was a mouse fuzzy, and he tried his hardest but didn't eat it. I actually found a mouse pink and I've got some earthworms so I'll try him again soon. The only other snake that has ever refused a meal was Cloud when I was feeding him rats 2-3 sizes too big but I stepped him down and since then never had a refusal. All my snakes are good eaters aside from that.

---

Well Kris also told me my guy will eat ANYTHING. He said, hes not picky and likes to eat. I heard females have a stronger feeding response than males. That's kind of weird. But as long as your girl is healthy, then everything is probably fine. You girl sounds like my BP. She eats but its not with gusto like everyone except the JCP. To get the JCP to eat, I generally have to tap her on the body with the mouse and then all hell breaks loose as she goes gung ho on the mouse lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sauzo

Well Kris also told me my guy will eat ANYTHING. He said, hes not picky and likes to eat. I heard females have a stronger feeding response than males. That's kind of weird. But as long as your girl is healthy, then everything is probably fine. You girl sounds like my BP. She eats but its not with gusto like everyone except the JCP. To get the JCP to eat, I generally have to tap her on the body with the mouse and then all hell breaks loose as she goes gung ho on the mouse lol.

---

Yeah that's just how she acts lately and I think it's because she's getting too much food. She's really chunky right now and I gave her a couple 1 lb rabbits. I'm putting that back down to 1/2 lb rats and rabbits and I'll see if anything changes. If it doesn't then 3 weeks it is.

She's always had a fairly low feeding response for a retic. Although her feeding response is way higher than all my snakes except the eastern garter, it's not as crazy as the SDs here. Lol. She never strikes without food in front of her (unless it's a rabbit), normally just strike and coil I have to drop the food, and she eats it slow and calmly. The eastern garter will strike at anything that moves and launch himself several feet in the air the latch onto my fingers if I'm not fast enough giving him his pinks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I need to clarify the size. I have been saying 2 feet or just over for my dude, but he is actually right at 3 feet.

Funny how the one I want to stay small I've underestimated the size and the ones I've wanted to reach bigger sizes have been overestimated at their younger ages until I grab the tape.

I measured Wallace today at a flighty, 3 feet long.

At 10 months our female royal python was 27" long.

At 9 months my male boa constrictor was 3 and a half feet long.

At 13 months the female carpet python was 3 feet long.

All are fairly similar sizes at the same age. I'm expecting Wallace to top out as the largest although the carpet is still getting long and staying lean so I'm wondering if she'll be near where her 10' mother is at when grown.