Over Eating?

[skmthompson1992]

I got a BP from the Reptile Rescue close to home. I was told he was a sometimes fussy eater. Turns his nose up at FT SA soft fur and even regular med rats sometimes. That all changed when I put 2 live med rats in the cage. Had nowhere else to put the second so I left it in the cage overnight. Suddenly he is quite aggressive. The first one went down in less than 3 minutes and the second one didnt last the night. He is actively hunting them into the little burrow I gave them and he has become a lot more active. All of the snakes I have had since I was a kid in the 50s would only eat when hungry. None of the species I have kept were ever overeaters so I figure he is eating because he is hungry. He ate 2 med rats a week ago and is hunting now. Nice to see. I figure he just needed a little stimulation. He was pretty much immobile when I got him. Not so much now. He is all over his 40gal cage. He is about 40in long now so not a tiny snake. He has filled out since I got him but he is greased lightning when there is live food in the cage. No problem feeding him now. Then again I have never known snakes to be eating dead things. It surprises me that he has eaten as many FT med rats as he did. He definitely prefers live.

I would be nervous leaving live food. I've had an issue with just a small feeder mouse before can't image a medium rat.. From what I understand Riley ( My BP ) has never had Frozen, but he took it like a champ and it was down in less then 2 minutes. However, I love to hear you adopted him, I love adopting my babies and showing them what real love is! (:

[skmthompson1992]

Riley, Is doing amazing! I want to assume he just felt he needed the extra food. He is definitely getting ready for a shed, He does look like a eye cap may be stuck from previous sheds! The previous owner used all kinds of chemicals on him during shed time, I've added a humidifier to his tank! So if that eye still doesn't change with this next shed VET here we come!!

Thank you everyone for your help!

[Homebody]

All of the snakes I have had since I was a kid in the 50s...

Wow! That's a lot of snake keeping experience. How would you say snake husbandry has changed in all that time?