Ate on his own for the first time, but a huge meal..

[CoolioTiffany]

My Spider BP is the trouble child in my collection. He's completely healthy and everything, just has a little attitude and doesn't like eating the rodents on his own. In fact, yesterday I got him out of the tub and he decided to bite me. It was not really a bite, more like his mouth was still open when he hit my hand. I assisted him twice (first two weeks he was with me) and then he refused (third week I had him). I waited a week to feed him after he refused so he would be hungry again.

My mom forgot a couple of orders (didn't get a hopper, and got two small rats instead of one medium rat and one small rat) and so I was stuck feeding the Spider either a few pinkie mice that were too large for my baby Hognose, or feeding it a rat pup. The rat pup was as large as the middle part of his body, so I just threw it in with the other mice & rats defrosting.

I took him out of his hide and handed over the rat pup. I saw the look on his face like he was most definitely interested in it, and then he took it. LOL that made my day because two other snakes refused their food. My Kingsnake refused his small rat (he never refuses, I think he may be going into brumation) so Candice (that I feed Med. Rats to) got two small rats, and I actually have no idea what I did with the pinkie I was trying to feed to my Hognose.. he kept musking and hissing and hooding out, but he always eat.. I guess it was because the meal size was pretty big so he felt intimidated?

So, after that lengthy post, here's my question. The Spider's belly was about 2x as thick as it was before when I gave him that rat pup, so for such a large meal, should I keep on feeding that or should I try something smaller? The rat pup is actually exactly the same as the largest part on his body, but even though he digested it no problem, he just looked, well, bloated LOL.

[Elise.m]

I would think that since the rat pup is so big, and baby BPs absorb so much of their meals, a few rat pups wouldn't hurt. He'll probly be up to size in no time.

[ballmom]

If he will eat a rat pup by himself keep it going why mess with a good thing.

[J.Vandegrift]

I took him out of his hide and handed over the rat pup.

Why do you move him from his hide before feeding him? Seems like that could be what was causing him not to eat on his own.

[Mike Schultz]

How big is your spider? Ball pythons can take bigger meals than you might expect!

[Bruceweb]

My Spider BP is the trouble child in my collection. He's completely healthy and everything, just has a little attitude and doesn't like eating the rodents on his own. In fact, yesterday I got him out of the tub and he decided to bite me. It was not really a bite, more like his mouth was still open when he hit my hand. I assisted him twice (first two weeks he was with me) and then he refused (third week I had him). I waited a week to feed him after he refused so he would be hungry again.

My mom forgot a couple of orders (didn't get a hopper, and got two small rats instead of one medium rat and one small rat) and so I was stuck feeding the Spider either a few pinkie mice that were too large for my baby Hognose, or feeding it a rat pup. The rat pup was as large as the middle part of his body, so I just threw it in with the other mice & rats defrosting.

I took him out of his hide and handed over the rat pup. I saw the look on his face like he was most definitely interested in it, and then he took it. LOL that made my day because two other snakes refused their food. My Kingsnake refused his small rat (he never refuses, I think he may be going into brumation) so Candice (that I feed Med. Rats to) got two small rats, and I actually have no idea what I did with the pinkie I was trying to feed to my Hognose.. he kept musking and hissing and hooding out, but he always eat.. I guess it was because the meal size was pretty big so he felt intimidated?

So, after that lengthy post, here's my question. The Spider's belly was about 2x as thick as it was before when I gave him that rat pup, so for such a large meal, should I keep on feeding that or should I try something smaller? The rat pup is actually exactly the same as the largest part on his body, but even though he digested it no problem, he just looked, well, bloated LOL.

My 100g babies easily eat exbreeder mice, every 5 days with out fail, one takes two if offered..they can manage large meals easily
Needless to say their not 100g any more lol!

[771subliminal]

I assisted him twice (first two weeks he was with me) and then he refused (third week I had him). I waited a week to feed him after he refused so he would be hungry again.

assisted feeding should be put off till you see a weight loss b4 you try it, causes alot of stress on them trying it the 1st 2 weeks you had him was a little quick.

[CoolioTiffany]

Why do you move him from his hide before feeding him? Seems like that could be what was causing him not to eat on his own.

I've always moved my snakes out of their hides because they will sometimes have their heads underneath their bodies when they sleep, and when I have the rodent near them they don't wanna come out to get it.. though that's never the case with my largest Ball LOL.

How big is your spider? Ball pythons can take bigger meals than you might expect!

My spider is very little, only a couple months old or so. He's around 70-80g, so he's a pretty small guy. I still can't really believe a little guy for his size took down a rat pup LOL.. snakes amaze me too much.

assisted feeding should be put off till you see a weight loss b4 you try it, causes alot of stress on them trying it the 1st 2 weeks you had him was a little quick.

My Spider seems too little to be refusing food, and for his size I definitely do not want him losing weight. He's going to be my breeder next year for my first breeding season so I need these meals in him.

He did take the rodent the first two times which I'm glad about. When I put the first one in his mouth he just sat there, then a minute later he began to swallow it (I left the room so he would feel comfortable enough to swallow it without me being there). The second time I assisted I put it in his mouth and after maybe 3-5 seconds he realized it was the rodent and once I let go he wrapped around it.

[Big Gunns]

If he ate and digested that one, he should be fine eating another one the same size. You should buy some tongs(large tweezers) and wave the f/t in front of his hide to see if he takes it. They'll usually smell/see it and come out and take it.

[psycho]

If he ate and digested that one, he should be fine eating another one the same size. You should buy some tongs(large tweezers) and wave the f/t in front of his hide to see if he takes it. They'll usually smell/see it and come out and take it.

The same thing happen with mine... they didnt had her regular meal which is a small rat, so I bought her a medium rat and took it but she was huge so i taught she was going to regurgitate it but she didnt