Some feeding confusion

[RedRabbit]

Hey guys! I'm facing a bit of a quandary here and am not sure what to make of it. My 5-month-old BP Iggy had been feeding on frozen/thawed rat fuzzies every 7 days without issues ... until today, when he's doing something weird. He is readily striking and wrapping with no problem at all ... but then I come back to check on him roughly 30 minutes later, and he's ditched the rat and is roaming around, still in "hunting" mode, clear on the other side of the tub. He did this twice with the first rat I offered him, so, thinking there might be something off about the rat itself (too big and difficult to swallow? too squishy and not fresh enough?), I thawed out a smaller, cleaner-looking one and tried it instead. Same thing - seizes and wraps it promptly, but then drops and completely ignores it after that.

The second time I blow-dried and re-offered this rat, I stuck around to observe what he was doing. After several minutes of constricting the rat, he released it from his mouth, but kept the rest of himself coiled around it. He then just sat with it like that for a while, head lifted up a bit, not really paying attention to the rat he was holding (honestly, he just looked like he was going "did I leave the stove on?"). Then he yawned, presumably to reset his jaw after the strike bite, and sniffed around for a bit, both at the rat and just his general surroundings. However, he never opened his mouth onto the rat at any point, the way he usually would when searching for a starting point to swallow from. He eventually uncoiled completelyCurrently, he's cruising around his tub again, completely ignoring the rat sitting next to him that he just "hunted" down earlier.

What do you guys make of this? There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his ability to sense the rat's smell or temperature, since he's striking reasonably accurately. It doesn't seem like he's just not hungry, otherwise I don't think he would bother grabbing the rat in the first place. His movements don't look sluggish or abnormal, so he shouldn't be having any trouble orienting himself. I've given up on further feeding attempts for tonight, and will probably try again Monday or Tuesday night, but honestly I'm a little stumped right now.

[Bogertophis]

Might be going into shed cycle. Snakes know before we see any signs of it, fyi. I wouldn't lose sleep over it...watch & wait a few days, bet you see some
cloudiness. Don't offer food to snakes in shed. (some will eat anyway, many won't) Just wait until he's done shedding...he won't starve...& offer when he
again seems ready for food. (lying in wait in the evening hours, peeking out of his hide) Don't keep offering more than once per week in any event, as it
only stresses a snake & makes them less likely to eat.

[RedRabbit]

The shed cycle is a good thought, except that he JUST finished shedding earlier this week, around Monday. I offered today both because it was due according to his 7-day schedule, and because I was seeing those signs of readiness, namely sitting in wait with his head poking slightly raised out of his hide. You do make a good point about making a feeding attempt only once per week though, and that is what I intend to do.

[Bogertophis]

It's unusual but I've seen snakes do a quick turn into another shed shortly after completing one. Sometimes it's because they're trying to heal from something.
And maybe it's NOT that he's going into a shed at all.

How has his "output" been?

[RedRabbit]

It's unusual but I've seen snakes do a quick turn into another shed shortly after completing one. Sometimes it's because they're trying to heal from something.

That's certainly interesting! I didn't know that was possible. Iggy hasn't had any kind of injury to heal from, as far as I know. His very first shed with me was messy, but ultimately completed with some assistance (warm water soak and gently wiping off the stuck shed with a damp towel). The shed from last week was his second shed with me, coming a little over a month after his first shed. It went much better in that he got the majority of it off in one piece this time, but there was a patch under his neck and chin that he still needed help with, so that wipe-down took place 5 days ago.

[RedRabbit]

Oops, didn't see your additional question. He's usually been pooping every 1-2 weeks. The last time he pooped was 1/7/19, so 11 days ago. It is notable that his last meal 7 days ago was a bit on the larger size. Also, I have not yet seen any pee/urates from him this week.

[Bogertophis]

Well, if his most recent meal was somewhat larger than usual, that's probably "it" right there...he's simply still digesting it.

You won't necessarily see any "output" after every meal, but if you hadn't seen any for quite a few meals, that could have been another possible explanation.

[RedRabbit]

Well, if his most recent meal was somewhat larger than usual, that's probably "it" right there...he's simply still digesting it.

You won't necessarily see any "output" after every meal, but if you hadn't seen any for quite a few meals, that could have been another possible explanation.

I hope you're right, and it does make sense. I'm not seeing any "sausage butt" and it hasn't been that long, so I'm not too worried about constipation/obstruction just yet. Do you reckon I should step down a bit in prey size, in case it's currently too big for him to digest easily? He's on medium-sized rat fuzzies and they approximately match the width of the thickest part of his body, but I do notice that he has to "wrestle" a lot more to swallow them down compared to when he was on the smaller fuzzies.

Also, if constipation does end up being an issue, what would you recommend to help him out?

[Bogertophis]

He doesn't sound constipated to me, so don't worry about a problem you don't have. He's just not that hungry. You don't need to step down his prey size...
just give him a few more days to digest it. You probably need to offer food (of the current size) about every 10 days, no big deal.

Constipation in snakes can be the result of poor hydration (not drinking enough water & humidity too low), so you can offer f/t that are thawed in water &
not dried (if he'll take them that way) or inject water into them. To help a snake that is constipated can be a soak or preferably a swim in the bathtub, as
that combines water and motion. (totally supervised of course) Snakes don't usually get constipated, or if they do, it can also be the result of having formed
marble-sized urate stones (also called "cloacaliths") that literally get stuck blocking their cloaca, and once those are removed, you wanna duck. You'll
probably know if your snake has a urate stone...you can gently feel around the area just above their cloaca...they feel like a marble has lodged there. Best
to see a vet for help with this issue.

[bhsurf4]

I’ve got an albino female that will strike and constrict, and when they rat is dead, she will release it and cruise the tub for several minutes, every once in a while sniffing the rat then continuing to cruise around, only to start eating when I’ve just about figured she was the rare animal (besides humans) that kill for sport!