Am I stupid or what?

Hi everyone, tonight was feeding night and I called my local shop that I get my rats from and they were out frozen and live. I called another store and they said they had a large medium sized rat. I drove to the shop (30 min) and decided to go with it. I knew it looked a little bigger than what I was normally feeding but I thought ok. I wasn't until I got it home that I got a really good look @ the rat and realized it was pretty big. Being the dummy I am I fed it to him. Well he killed it and for the last half hour or so has been trying to eat it. He's having a pretty hard time he's only gotten 1/3 of the way. I'm concerned that he's going to hurt himself. What do I do now?!

Let him finish :)

I don't think I've explained it well enough. As I understand it the size of prey should equal snake @ widest point. I've heard even you can go as much as 1.5x This rat is probably close to 2x. I'm just scared my boy is going to rip his face off or something. BTW thanks for your quick reply. If this helps I'm noticing he keeps coiling around the rat, I don't know if its to try to compact it. I have seen him do that before. I did a search for past forums and I was reading how snakes will "size up" their potential meals and if they feel like they can't eat it they won't try. Monty had no problem taking down the rat and immediately began to try and eat it. I just need to know he's going to be ok even if I have to stay up half the night while he eats it.

Don't worry about it. He'll probably finish w/o a problem.

He should be ok. Snake's in general are not highly intelligent, say on the levels of primates, but they do know what they can or can't eat. Just keep an eye on him, and if he gives up on swallowing the rat and spits it out, remove it from his cage and throw it away. If he does end up swallowing the rat, just let him do his thing and don't pick him up for a day or two, let him digest. He'd be especally prone to a regurge at this time if it's as big as you say. He'll be ok ;)

Also, I've seen big burms and retics swallow HUGE meals and rip their skin while doing so, so they can handle big prey items. I'm not saying this is good, but it probably won't harm your snake.

I thought a picture would help. I hope I'm over reacting I'm not usually a spazz like this I just feel wicked guilty and hope I'm not doing him any harm. Thanks again guys.

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...er/Picture.jpg

Another question. As you'll see from the pic he's not in his enclosure I've fed him outside of his cage since day one so how should I proceed in moving him (if at all). Should I make that box his enclosure for at least 24 hours?

I seen a post a couple of days ago it looked like ol boy gave his BP a rabbit and he took it down. Not that its great to give em large pray items like that but they know what they can and can't eat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adamsmasher

I thought a picture would help. I hope I'm over reacting I'm not usually a spazz like this I just feel wicked guilty and hope I'm not doing him any harm. Thanks again guys.

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...er/Picture.jpg

Another question. As you'll see from the pic he's not in his enclosure I've fed him outside of his cage since day one so how should I proceed in moving him (if at all). Should I make that box his enclosure for at least 24 hours?

---

yes your overreacting a bit,but that shows you care.if he swallows the rat gently put him back in his cage,he will need the heat to digest the meal.have fun !

:O

He will probably get it, but I wouldn't make that a weekly meal - or even a monthly meal. Don't be surprised if he refuses his next few meals

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adamsmasher

I thought a picture would help. I hope I'm over reacting I'm not usually a spazz like this I just feel wicked guilty and hope I'm not doing him any harm. Thanks again guys.

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...er/Picture.jpg

---

He'll be fine. The rat is not that big.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adamsmasher

Another question. As you'll see from the pic he's not in his enclosure I've fed him outside of his cage since day one so how should I proceed in moving him (if at all). Should I make that box his enclosure for at least 24 hours?

---

Move the feeding bin as close as you can to the cage, then gently pick up the snake, fully supporting his body, and put him in his cage. It shouldn't last more than 5 seconds and it shouldn't evoke a regurgitation.

He regurged :soapbx: Thanks everyone

Did he regurge or just spit it back out? if he regurged, there will be bile and a horrible smell along with it. if he spit it out, then he probably realized that it was finally to big for him to eat. Leave him be for a few days, and wait until next week and feed him a smaller prey item.

Damn, he was so close:

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...er/Spitout.jpg


And finally:

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...r/Spitout2.jpg

I feel like an incompetant caretaker, but I'm just glad he wasn't hurt and I've learned a little more.

Looks tasty...

:O Thats one big rat!

So from what purr was saying that looks more like a spit up not a regurgitaion. I figure I'll wait a week and then feed him something smaller?

Definitely a hefty rat. Wow. O_o Hey, we live, we learn, and then we get a smaller rat. ^_^

Fairfax huh, well greetings from Sterling

Just get a smaller rat next week. :)

If it makes you feel any better . Theres a vid on youtube of someone feeding a live small rabbit to their BP.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adamsmasher

Fairfax huh, well greetings from Sterling

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Melicious

Definitely a hefty rat. Wow. O_o Hey, we live, we learn, and then we get a smaller rat. ^_^

---

not to get off topic or anything but its nice to know people are the area... falls church here

Yeah right on I love falls church, I love anything inside of the beltway, everything has some charm to it, out here in Loudoun everything is sterile and new.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adamsmasher

Yeah right on I love falls church, I love anything inside of the beltway, everything has some charm to it, out here in Loudoun everything is sterile and new.

---

In Fairfax, it's rich, snobby, and self-centered. -Grumbles.-

I'll probably get a notification for this but I like to call it something else. I got my first speeding ticket on 66 near the parkway exit where its really wide open and where loads of troopers hang out. The car next to me got clocked doing 83 and so he pulled me over too. I had +5 points and the judge still took my license for 6 mos.

I have a 04 ball that is only 500g, I fed him his first ever sm rat on fri. I was soooo worried like you are, his strike & kill were good, it took him awhile to finish it but he did it :)

An update, tonight I got a much smaller rat and to my delight monty ate no problem. I was worried that he might refuse but as always when its time to chow he just doesn't know how to say no.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nate

:O

He will probably get it, but I wouldn't make that a weekly meal - or even a monthly meal. Don't be surprised if he refuses his next few meals

---

Exactly. He should be fine, but will probably need extra time to digest this meal.