BP Extra hungry

My older female normal has been excessively hungry this summer and on the aggressive side when shes out prowling. Normally i feed her 3 mice every 10 days (she's had issues with rats in the past and I've managed a mush higher success rate with mice) She is at the point where if she is out I can't change her water without avoiding a strike. Now i just wait untill she holes up and I do enclosure maintenance then. Should I increase the amount or frequency I feed her or is she just getting crotchety in her older age. As far as I can figure she is somewhere between 20ish years old. I am her third owner and it makes it hard to pin down.

Has she been maintaining weight? Are her poops normal?


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Her weight has been consistent and deification has been about the same as it always has. She just seems hungrier and a bit snappy.

Okay good.

What are temps and humidity and all that like? Can you describe her setup?




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In addition to what alittleFree asked, how much does she weigh and how old is she?

Has anything else changed around the tank? Lighting, other animals, etc?

I had a BP when I was younger who got snappy all of a sudden and after a week of aggression, I realized my male dogs were marking the stand she was on. The urine smell was driving her nuts! Anything you can think of can alter her mood?

Mice average about 25g each. If you are offering 75G every ten days to an adult female, that might not be enough. For perspective, my adult female, about 1650G, eats a medium rat (110-130G on average) every 14 days. Adult females up to 4000G should eat a medium rat every 7-14 days. Shayna, my BP refuses often when I offer weekly. She eats pretty regularly on an every two weeks schedule.

Here is a good BP feeding chart.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ding_chart.jpg


Finally, if you are feeding appropriate sized meals, and she has gotten a little snappy, you can always hook train her to get her out of food response mode.

Here is a link to a thread with video I made on hook training: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ead-with-Video

Keep us in the loop and let us know what changes you make and if she calms down.

She has been I. A 55 long tank for a number of years her hot side is normally around 85-90 and the cold raely dips below 75 especially now in the summer it's closer to 80ish. She has 2 identical hides on either side of the enclosure as well as a large water dish in the center. I try to keep her humidity up around 60-70. And I run standard lights for roughly daytime hours and reprogram it perioticly throughout the year.

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Nothing has really changed except for a major heat wave here in the northeast. That may have something to do with it. Other than that it's been the exact same for the past 5-6 years. She just seams off this season.

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She weighs in around 1800 or so and has been steadily around that since I fixed her up after her second owner. She's somewhere around 20 maybe 25 years old can't really peg it down due to her past. She got the name Scarlett from the burn marks from her first owner and an unregulated heat rock. ( no I don't use one) but she's has a tough go. I've had her for about 10 or so years and she has thrived from the scrawny dehydrated shape I originally got her in.

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Originally Posted by Maverick67

She weighs in around 1800 or so and has been steadily around that since I fixed her up after her second owner. She's somewhere around 20 maybe 25 years old can't really peg it down due to her past. She got the name Scarlett from the burn marks from her first owner and an unregulated heat rock. ( no I don't use one) but she's has a tough go. I've had her for about 10 or so years and she has thrived from the scrawny dehydrated shape I originally got her in.
That's is VERY low weight for a snake that age !.
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That is very small BP for that age !?!

I would feed her a bit more AND get her next (fresh!) stool to the vet A.S.A.P for a parasite check. A snake that is uncomfortable, in any sort of internal pain
or that is sharing their food with intestinal worms cannot tell you that...they just act out as cranky. Intestinal parasites would explain both her mood, her hunger
and her size if she is somewhat underweight.

Nothing against hook training, that can be helpful, but an older snake should not suddenly need that. If you had a kid that was suddenly acting this way, you
would not "train" them to be quiet & sit still...you'd look for the medical reason for their behavior. Snakes are no different, they just cannot talk.

Fair points. She has always been on the smaller side. I kind of attributed that to her lack of care from previous owners. It could also be my lack of handling her so she just expects food when I'm around.

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Originally Posted by Maverick67

She weighs in around 1800 or so and has been steadily around that since I fixed her up after her second owner. She's somewhere around 20 maybe 25 years old can't really peg it down due to her past. She got the name Scarlett from the burn marks from her first owner and an unregulated heat rock. ( no I don't use one) but she's has a tough go. I've had her for about 10 or so years and she has thrived from the scrawny dehydrated shape I originally got her in.

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Good you've given her a good life.

At 1800G I would try 4 mice at each feeding instead of 3 and see if that makes a difference.

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Originally Posted by Droptine10

That is very small BP for that age !?!

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There are smaller females out there.

My Albino BP female is 6 and weighs 1650G and is happy and healthy. She's barely 4FT.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I would feed her a bit more AND get her next (fresh!) stool to the vet A.S.A.P for a parasite check. A snake that is uncomfortable, in any sort of internal pain
or that is sharing their food with intestinal worms cannot tell you that...they just act out as cranky. Intestinal parasites would explain both her mood, her hunger
and her size if she is somewhat underweight.

Nothing against hook training, that can be helpful, but an older snake should not suddenly need that. If you had a kid that was suddenly acting this way, you
would not "train" them to be quiet & sit still...you'd look for the medical reason for their behavior. Snakes are no different, they just cannot talk.

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Cannot hurt to get her checked out. Especially if she's up there in age and her behavior changed quickly.

I will at least get a stool sample checked and up her feeding amount and see where thing go. Perhaps I will see if she ill start taking rats again but she has always been skiddish about large prey and only eats live.

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Originally Posted by Maverick67

I will at least get a stool sample checked and up her feeding amount and see where thing go. Perhaps I will see if she ill start taking rats again but she has always been skiddish about large prey and only eats live.

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Great idea on the stool sample, but large live rats? :O Please DON'T! She's likely to be injured & then what?

No not large rats. Holy crap. I've never had success above small. Even then she gets spooked of them. I meant rats (small) are large prey compared to mice that's all.

Whew...(you had said she's always been skittish about large prey so I thought that's where you were going) but still, any rats big enough to have eyes
open WILL bite back. For her sake, please work on getting her to f/k (fresh killed) or f/t...it's so worth it. Vet bills are hard on the budget too.

believe i have tries to get her on frozen thawed or fresh kills that i have bought live and dispatched myself directly before feeding. She will not have it. I can dance them with tongs for an hour and she wont take it. So I feed her live but I always have eyes on her when feeding. I understand the risk but its better than her not eating at all and I am not willing to attempt force feeding her. I doubt that would go over well.

No, force-feeding is a lousy thing to do, best avoided altogether. Have you tried giving the preferred food first (very small though, as an appetizer) and
then offering a small f/t rat, right away, as soon as the "appetizer" is swallowed & while snake is still in "feeding mode"? (the 2nd item must be ready
immediately or it may not work)

As far as "eyes on her while feeding", even if you could see & move with the speed of lightning, you'll never be faster than a rat or mouse bite.

Have you tried leaving food overnight in total darkness? I'd try leaving an eyes-closed fuzzy mouse in a flat-bottom crock bowl in her
cage...bowl must be deep enough that mouse can't jump or climb out of...maybe try leaving a small f/t rat in bowl too...it will pick up
the scent of the fuzzy mouse & be right there...if she takes the small mouse, she just might keep going. Also, if you can get some used
mouse litter from pet store to help scent the f/t rat before you leave overnight, even better.

Its worth a shot. But i doubt she'll take it. Ive had her to the point where she will strike fresh killed but after she just leaves them on the spot and wont eat them.

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Originally Posted by Maverick67

Its worth a shot. But i doubt she'll take it. Ive had her to the point where she will strike fresh killed but after she just leaves them on the spot and wont eat them.

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Did you leave the dead rodent in cage overnight after she struck it? Some snakes are just way to shy to eat with lights on and/or big scary humans watching them.

Yup. cleaned up in the morning. She just wanted nothing to do with it. Like I said I have the best success rate with live mice. On rare occasion I will give her a small rat but she wont always take it. I understand where you are coming from with the not feeding live thing but that isn't going to change. I do it safely and intervene in anything starts looking sketchy. But that's not what this post was about in the first place. Don't get me wrong I appreciate your input but there is plenty other threads where this debate has raged for ages.

No problem, just trying to help. It's very hard to change the "tastes" of an older snake too.

Understandable. Not trying to start crap. that's all. Like I said I thank you for the input.