Quote Originally Posted by rj1204 View Post
What do your girls do when they stop eating for breeding season? I know the obvious answer, they don't eat.

I am asking because I have a 3500g female (proven 2005 normal) that usually eats 1 small rat every 7 days. She usually eats with ferocity and has been great. I got her in early July and she had been a live eater her whole life.....the breeder I got her from said she was his "garbage disposal." She has been eating F/T from week 1 with no problem at all. Last week, she was in shed and did not eat, which she usually eats no matter what. Today, I pre-scented the room and she was pretty active at the front of her tub. I dangled the rat in the front of the tub and she struck, but did not coil it. Ten minutes later, I took the rat out and heated it with the blowdryer again. I offered it and she just looked at it.

I know BP's are picky eaters, but is this normal or should I be worried? I normally wouldn't be too worried but I had one of my girls come down with an RI about 3 weeks ago and immediately put her in QT. I have been monitoring all my other girls like a hawk and so far, they have all been normal. We had rain last week in Texas and temps cooled down from the upper 90's to the mid 80's all week. Am I being paranoid or is this fairly normal for BP's so close to breeding season? Thanks for any advice.
If she's that size and is showing no signs of RI, I wouldn't worry too much. I have a couple of girls over the 3,000 gram mark, and they tend to go off feed from time to time as well. During the winter, I'll often cut back to offering the girls a meal every other week if they are refusing them regularly. Most of my males are off feed altogether during breeding season (their choice, not mine) unless they're still a bit on the young side, and they get offered food once/month until they begin feeding again. The young males I still offer food to at least every other week, but usually every week.

The snakes tend to get especially active this time of the year, and especially if storms are moving through (periodic low pressure gets them geared for breeding). I'd say she's acting rather typically. Keep an eye on her for RI just in case, but I'd say she's fine.