Very first sucessful feed, 1st time!

[ntrent1]

I just got my new BP to feed, on my very first attempt!

I got him about 5 days ago, and fed him for the first time tonight. Fed him a F/T medium mouse. I just dangled it in front of him (not right in his face, like half way across the cage), and he came right over, smelled it, and took it! It's funny though, cause he spit it out the first time, maybe because he got caught in the water with it. But i dangled it a second time and he took it again! As far as i know he swallowed it...he had to, since it's not in his container.

I have one question though - does that mouse look way too small for him in the below pics? This is my first snake, and it seemed kind of small. There isn't even a noticable lump in him! Is that normal? and how fast does the prey go down through the snake? pretty fast?

Also, is it strange that he didn't even coil on it? he just held it in his mouth, then swallowed it.

[Nate]

congrats!

my snakes don't normally coil completely around...there's no need to. a good strike and constriction is normally about 1 or 2 coils that do the job very well.

I can't really tell the size of your snake to know if that prey item was too small. do you have full shots with size references available?

[markface]

congrats on the first feeding !

i dont think its unusual for a bp to not coil . some of my critters coil and constrict there already dead rats and some just eat it without so much as a strike .

[ntrent1]

Heres a pic of him on the floor.....lol i dont have any size references readily available......But my foot is in the pic, and its 4 inches across! lol i hope that helps!

[markface]

just as a guess i'd say a bit larger prey item would be better . a good general rule is to feed mice or rats that are about the same diameter as your snake at its thickest area .

[ntrent1]

by diameter you mean thickness and not length, right? like a mouse/rat as fat/round as the fattest part of my snake?

[markface]

that would be correct

[ntrent1]

Also...Since i fed him a small mouse, which looked like it wasn't even half of his size...should i feed him another in like 2 days to make up for the lack of size? if he takes it, anyway.

[Nate]

Once a week is sufficient, so you can save your money till next week good luck!

[Amy05]

Congrats! Even though my first BP has never refused a meal,it is still such a great feeling when they bite

Oh, and about him not coiling, i asked about this before,and it is probably because his meal is not big enough for him to think it is a danger to him. No, you shouldn't go up in size on the mouse, he just doesnt think it can hurt him so he doesn't coil. My RTB didnt coil, and i just started giving him bigger food, and he coils like crazy.



Congrats on the success!!!