Looked like a murder site!

[Lolo76]

I just fed Mona a medium rat, and I swear it looked like a murder site after she was done! She hadn't eaten in about 3 weeks, due mostly to being in shed & rejecting a F/T meal... I guess she was really hungry tonight, because she was striking at the tub (and nearly my hand) before I could even get the rat inside.

She doesn't like being watched, so I left the room and immediately heard that awful SCREECH from the rat being killed. When I went to check on her a little later, she was still cruising around the tub (hungry?), and there was quite a scene on the newspaper... a puddle of blood, and some unidentifiable matter of various colors. Nothing was actually left of the rat, so I assume she took it down without a problem. But is this kind of thing normal? Was it just because of her extreme hunger and excitement? This is one reason I'd love to get her on F/T, but unfortunately she is being stubborn about that.

[Lolo76]

P.S. She has eaten live rats for me before (3 times since I got her), and never left so much blood/guts behind.

[mrshawt]

Did you dust for prints? You may need to get a blacklight in there.

I'm guessing she was just hungry...or the rat was a hemophiliac. You never know.

Btw, try alternating between f/t and live, or scenting a f/t rat with a live one. People may think you're weird for rubbing down a rat with a corpse, but you do what you gotta do.

[Lolo76]

Did you dust for prints? You may need to get a blacklight in there.

LOL... seriously, it looked like something from CSI.

I'm guessing she was just hungry...or the rat was a hemophiliac. You never know.

Btw, try alternating between f/t and live, or scenting a f/t rat with a live one. People may think you're weird for rubbing down a rat with a corpse, but you do what you gotta do.

Yup, we do strange things for our snakes! Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll try that next time...

[Danounet]

Sometimes when I feed the young BPs smaller mice/rats than they should be eating because is the closest I can find for their size. The mice/rats seem to be realy overpowered by the BPs. Blood usualy comes out of their mouth and nose.... and even sometimes their eyes will pop out a bit... It is not something you would want young children to see.

By the way, how big is a Medium Rat? Weight?

[Lolo76]

Btw, do you think that was a big enough meal for her? It was a medium-sized rat, but kind of on the smaller side... and she's a big girl at 4ft and ~2000g. It seemed like she was looking for more, so I wonder if I should have offered a large rat - or two small?

[Lolo76]

Sometimes when I feed the young BPs smaller mice/rats than they should be eating because is the closest I can find for their size. The mice/rats seem to be realy overpowered by the BPs. Blood usualy comes out of their mouth and nose.... and even sometimes their eyes will pop out a bit... It is not something you would want young children to see.

My roommate was just talking about the eye thing... blech. I'm actually glad she's a shy eater, because I have no interest in seeing all of that!

By the way, how big is a Medium Rat? Weight?

I was just cross-posting with you, and wondering if it was in fact too small for her. I don't know the measurements/weight of the "medium rat," but it looked like a standard pet rat you'd see in a store... I'd almost say it was closer to a small one. Should I go for large next time? They look so huge!!

[Danounet]

I dont have any experience with a full grown BP, I cant wait till mine are adults =), So Im just trying to help.

Here is a link for sizes
http://rodentpro.com/catalog.asp?pro...el=frozen_rats

Going by the 10-15% Weight to feed Rule, at 15% x 2000 = 300.

So I would say at least 2 medium per feeding. I dont know about Large rats, Im sure they have big Teeth! But again I dont know much a full grown BPs. I guess someone will chip in this

[Lolo76]

Wow, I was way off... for some reason, I thought a medium rat weighed more like 200g. Should I get her another one tomorrow, or wait until next week?

[mrshawt]

Woah, hold up. Medium rats are usually around 150g apiece. However, once the bp gets big enough for them, you shouldn't need to feed anything larger since they don't require as much nutrients when their growth slows.

Don't quote me on that, but I think rabernet or Deborah said something similar a little while ago.

The largest rat that I feed, regardless of the size of my snake, is a small medium (about 140-150 grams).