A second helping?

[The Letch]

We've had great luck feeding Bhodi since we brought her home. She's never refused a meal. We fed her last friday evening and she did great. Wednesday morning when I got up for work at 2:30 she was out and about in her tank and when I got out of the shower she'd gone into her hide with her head poking out. As I walked by she pulled her head in rather quickly. Wednesday evening when my wife went to get her out she was acting hungry. After a while I went ahead and went to the pet store and got her a mouse. When I got back the wife had put her back in her tank. I sat our plastic mouse cage on top of the tank and within two minutes she was climbing the side of the tank to get the mouse. We fed her and she hit great like always. I think she's getting big enough (don't have a weight on her at this time) to want two mice at a time as she's not really big enough to handle a rat yet. If I'm gonna offer two mice at one feeding how much time should I give her between offerings?

[2kdime]

Let her strike and eat the first one. Then give them 5 minutes or so, or if your nearby, wait until she realigns her jaw.

Then offer the second one.

HTH

[stratus_020202]

probably 5 to 10 min. Just give her enough time to get the first one in her belly. That's what I do when my pet store has only too little or too large.

[Spaniard]

I usually give them like 5-10 mintutes after they've swallowed the first mouse.

[The Letch]

Thanks, folks. I've really been paying attention to her body language and even though we'd just fed her 4 or 5 days earlier she just acted really hungry and wasted no time at all hitting that mouse. She's snuggled in her hide right now doing a little digesting.

I did a search the other day on how often BPs will defecate and the general response is that they'll go when they need to. It's been two weeks and three mice but still nothing. Does that rule still hold here? She's certainly not acting stressed so I'm not worried yet but am curious.

[2kdime]

Depending on how big she is, if she's not getting enough food, she could just be using it all up.

Again, all animals are different, and as long as the environmental conditions are right, I'd just let the animal do it's thing.

[stratus_020202]

I feed mine every five days, and they are right at 200 g's. I would give her some more time to do her bathroom duties. I think some people have soaked them in warm water, and that helps them go. I haven't tried it. Usually you can see backed up darkness if they are a little constipated. I can see it on my pastel male. If her tail gets too swollen, you might have to consult a vet? I'm not sure if it can become a serious health issue.

[Spaniard]

Its definitely something I wouldn't worry about, but also something that you want to keep an eye on. You just want to make sure you check on her, sometimes they hold it in until their next shed. Make sure you keep record of when she defecates, eventually you'll see the pattern and will know a little better if she's gone longer than normal. Typically they know what they're doing when it comes to that department. You can run into impaction issues but if you start to notice the tail swelling you can soak in warm water for a bit. Usually the warm water and then running through your hands a bit afterwards helps get them going.

[The Letch]

Thanks. I did take into account the difference in human and snake metabolism. Man, If I went a few WEEKS I'd be the grumpiest man on the planet. As yet, her tail isn't swollen any more than her abdomen... is there really a cut off point? And, as I said, she's acting fine. I saw another "multiple mouse" thread pop up here a moment ago. I think I'll go link this thread in that one.

[stratus_020202]

Just be careful. My boy was really backed up, and I was massaging his belly last night, put him back, and he still didn't go after 3 hrs. So, I got him back out and had him sitting on my lap when................. he went, ALL OVER ME!! lol, and boy did he have to go. I have pics I'll have to post later. He went #1 & #2. I was so worried I was trying hard not to jump off the couch, so Jason grabbed me a towel, and I slipped it underneath him. UGH!!!