feeding females right after they lay eggs.

[Ginevive]

I wanted to share a practice of mine. I like to feed my females a rat just prior to removing the eggs from their tubs. Well actually here is how I do it. I remove the eggs, set the female aside in a holding tub, and completely strip the tub. New bedding, no more smells of eggs. I then replace her, let her settle for a half hour or so.. and then I offer a rat. (I use medium-sized ones.. nothing huge.) Last year, all of my egglayers immediately grabbed and ate the rats offered this soon. I figure, it is my way of getting the ladies back to pre-breeding condition as soon as possible. And, if they want the prey item, and are willing to grab it, then they know what is best. IMO this also gets her out of Mommy Mode, where she is so defensive and thinks that the eggs are still with her.
My one female that laid so far this year, immediately took the offered rat and is now well on her way back to normal. Your thoughts?

[LadyOhh]

I've not done it like that before.

Do you palpate before you offer a rat to make sure she is done?

[Freakie_frog]

I offerd mine a rat the next day after making sure she was done. She is a better feeder now than she was before being bred

[MarkS]

I generally offer mine food a day or two after laying eggs. I give them a nice clean tub and a day or two to recuperate then feed a smaller then usual rat. Once I see that they can handle that OK they go back on their weekly feeding. They usually jump right on the food voraciously as soon as I offer it and they keep eating well too. I've had a few mousers now that I've been able to switch to rats after they laid their first eggs.

[Ginevive]

I've not done it like that before.

Do you palpate before you offer a rat to make sure she is done?

Yes; I should have added that in.

[ama1997]

Most of mine I clean the tubs like everyone else does. Then I give them a day off after laying. Then I try feeding. If she eats great if not I wait until the upcoming feeding day to try again. Most of mine eat the 2nd day after laying. I do have a few that take a bit longer but not more than a week. I have had one female go almost a year. Without eating after breeding. She was off by one day from being a year. She laid for me this year her eggs are due to hatch June 1st. She ate for me the next day after laying.

[kellysballs]

I have had a total of 4 clutches so far and two of them were laid on Wed the 21st.

That being said, I remove the eggs, check the female, clean the cage and the female, replace the female into her enclosure and feed her the second day after laying. That way she gets to rest before she eats.

But I see nothing wrong with the way you do it.

[SatanicIntention]

What I've done with the clutches laid here is I take the female off of the eggs, palpate her and place her in a secured snakebag or pillowcase. I then tend to the eggs and put them in their eggbox. After, I clean the tub and water bowl thoroughly, with Dawn soap and water, and replace the newspaper. Then I fill a 32qt tub up with a few drops of Dawn and lukewarm water and wash the snake. She gets rinsed off, dried and put back into her tub with fresh water available. I don't feed her for another day or two so she can rest and get out of "nesting" mode.

Seems to work for me