Quick Feeding Question

[EthanMG]

Hey everyone, I have a quick question regarding BP feeding. I have only feed mine one time, and he struck and wrapped in 5 seconds. So I was wondering (when the day comes) when he takes a lot longer in deciding to eat or not, how long should you dangle the rat and wait for him to strike? Or is there some sort of sign or action that tells you they will definitely not eat. Like what’s the deciding factor that makes you guys just decide to close the tank/tub and walk away and try again in a few days?


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[arpowell]

That's a great question, and I wish I knew an easy answer! I'd say it mostly depends on your individual snake. My girl's like yours, if she doesn't strike and coil immediately I can be reasonably confident she's not going to eat. You generally get the hang of noticing what a snake looks like when they're hungry - alert posture, focusing on the rodent, frequent tongue flicks, etc. - and if you don't see those signs, don't be disappointed if they don't eat. Some snakes can take longer to strike; I have a friend who sometimes has to sit with her bp for about five minutes before he strikes.

As a general rule of thumb, I'd chalk it up to a refusal if the snake is showing obvious signs of disinterest - to people, this often looks like the snake is acting scared of the food. Watch for the snake shying away from it. When my girl's in shed and I dangle the rat, she'll literally move away from it. Even then, I usually leave it in her tank overnight just in case.

[EthanMG]

That's a great question, and I wish I knew an easy answer! I'd say it mostly depends on your individual snake. My girl's like yours, if she doesn't strike and coil immediately I can be reasonably confident she's not going to eat. You generally get the hang of noticing what a snake looks like when they're hungry - alert posture, focusing on the rodent, frequent tongue flicks, etc. - and if you don't see those signs, don't be disappointed if they don't eat. Some snakes can take longer to strike; I have a friend who sometimes has to sit with her bp for about five minutes before he strikes.

As a general rule of thumb, I'd chalk it up to a refusal if the snake is showing obvious signs of disinterest - to people, this often looks like the snake is acting scared of the food. Watch for the snake shying away from it. When my girl's in shed and I dangle the rat, she'll literally move away from it. Even then, I usually leave it in her tank overnight just in case.

Thanks so much, this is exactly the answer i was looking for


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[EL-Ziggy]

I feed most of my snakes from tongs. If they don’t strike I know they’re not interested in eating. If I drop feed the snakes I’ll take the food away if they don’t start eating within 30 minutes. For a young snake like yours I’d leave the prey item in overnight.

[Claire&snek]

I typically say that after a few tries of dangaling the rodent right in front of their face and them turning away from it, I call it quits. My blue-eyed-lucistic ball python will practiclly launch at anything above her head when it's feeding time so when she turns away from her food once I know she doesn't want it. Like others have said though, it depends on the individual...you will know after the first refusal what to look for.

[Zincubus]

My older Royals will only eat at night , dim light and from the safety of their hides ( I dangle a warm rat in front of the hide entrance and BOOM !)


That said my 4 young Albinos still eat at evening but they are happy to come out of their hides when they smell the rats warmed up by the hairdryer - they will then strike anywhere in the viv .


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[AutumnVanilla]

Our little one just refused eating for the first time last night, but she just finished shedding yesterday too. She has her own little quirks, little signs to let you know what she is doing or wanting. For instance, when she is sleeping/napping, she tucks her head in her body to hide her eyes. When she is hungry, she goes into “hunt” mode either on top of or just inside her cave, posed ready to strike at something.

We have only had her since 7/11/21, and the kid we got her from said he had her a month and had only fed her once. For her size (she was roughly ~16” long, and 75/85g), we found she should have been fed about every 4-6 days. We have fed her 4x, both live and f/t, every 4-5 days to get her caught up. We started with live to ensure she was eating (given the lack of info) and fed her a f/t right before she went into shed 7/31/21. Yesterday, she was about 17” and 90g, so we have made progress. We tried another f/t last night, and though she did strike, it was more of a “get away from me” than a “yay, food” strike, and then ducked to the back of her cave. We left it near the entrance for 30 mins, peeked at her through a camera I have set up so we don’t disturb her, she just poked around it a bit but didn’t seem interested, so we took it out and let her be, will try again a couple days.

[EthanMG]

My older Royals will only eat at night , dim light and from the safety of their hides ( I dangle a warm rat in front of the hide entrance and BOOM !)


That said my 4 young Albinos still eat at evening but they are happy to come out of their hides when they smell the rats warmed up by the hairdryer - they will then strike anywhere in the viv .


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So for your older Royals, do you just not feed if they are anywhere but their hide? I have fed mine twice now (first time him in his hide and second with him in the middle of the enclosure stretched out) the time when he was stretched out it did take him a while longer to strike and his strike was not a very quick exciting strike either. Should I just always feed him when he’s inside his hide too to ensure best results (if he’s not in hide wait as lone as I’m awake for him to go in a hide if he doesn’t then wait until next day) or does it not matter?


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[EthanMG]

Our little one just refused eating for the first time last night, but she just finished shedding yesterday too. She has her own little quirks, little signs to let you know what she is doing or wanting. For instance, when she is sleeping/napping, she tucks her head in her body to hide her eyes. When she is hungry, she goes into “hunt” mode either on top of or just inside her cave, posed ready to strike at something.

We have only had her since 7/11/21, and the kid we got her from said he had her a month and had only fed her once. For her size (she was roughly ~16” long, and 75/85g), we found she should have been fed about every 4-6 days. We have fed her 4x, both live and f/t, every 4-5 days to get her caught up. We started with live to ensure she was eating (given the lack of info) and fed her a f/t right before she went into shed 7/31/21. Yesterday, she was about 17” and 90g, so we have made progress. We tried another f/t last night, and though she did strike, it was more of a “get away from me” than a “yay, food” strike, and then ducked to the back of her cave. We left it near the entrance for 30 mins, peeked at her through a camera I have set up so we don’t disturb her, she just poked around it a bit but didn’t seem interested, so we took it out and let her be, will try again a couple days.

Thanks for your input, I always like to hear how it’s going for tot here who are at the same stage of snake keeping as I am. I hope she eats for you in a few days!


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[Zincubus]

So for your older Royals, do you just not feed if they are anywhere but their hide? I have fed mine twice now (first time him in his hide and second with him in the middle of the enclosure stretched out) the time when he was stretched out it did take him a while longer to strike and his strike was not a very quick exciting strike either. Should I just always feed him when he’s inside his hide too to ensure best results (if he’s not in hide wait as lone as I’m awake for him to go in a hide if he doesn’t then wait until next day) or does it not matter?


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Yep my older Royals ( for whatever reason) will ONLY strike from their hides so in the evening I thaw the mice/ rats in the snake room then wait until it’s getting dark - then as soon as I see they’re settled under a hide I give the rat a blast with a hairdryer then dangle it in front of the hide entrance.

100% success rate ( as long as they’re not in shed mode ) . I do feed the older ones every 10 to 14 days though


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