Is it possible my snake is not nocturnal

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Ok so I will go to rat pups every 5days instead of mice hoppers every 5 days and see what happens

Actually as this point I would offer an adult mice and feed him adult mice for a few feedings then than attempt to switch.

Offering a different prey time as well as something much larger could be intimidating and lead to refusal.

[Hydrolicious]

You people may be advising larger meals, say rat pups, but regardless of his age... he only said his BP was 17 inches. Wouldn't that be far too stressful on him? I agree with upping the food size, but it seems like people have ignored that fact and jumped straight to ridiculously larger meals for his size.

Personally, I think the underfeeding is what lead to this size... My male BP is only 5 months old but he's around 26-27 inches and 385 grams, measured today. Really full & healthy. He can take a small rat because of his length, but going by the 10% standard, he can take 38.5 grams of food. Weaned rats for him... If you push it and do the 15%, then its somewhere around 45 grams thus the small rat. Not saying everyone follows this, but if you compare these numbers to something like a rat pup for a 17 incher, it just seems like way too much food. He said he hasn't weighed, but I'm guessing he's considerably less than my big guy.

based on this chart http://iansvivarium.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=75#p248
Rat fuzzies sound like the better choice with the standard 5-7 day feeding schedule.

I'm no expert but it just seems like obvious stuff people are disregarding here.

[Bert Specht]

So I was wrong he is about 24 inches I grabbed a ruler I guesstamated the 17 Inchs but still no weight. today is feeding day And based on the chart above I was thinking aboUt rat fuzzYs since they are a lil bigger and I will scent it with a rat. How does that sound

[pingure]

So I was wrong he is about 24 inches I grabbed a ruler I guesstamated the 17 Inchs but still no weight. today is feeding day And based on the chart above I was thinking aboUt rat fuzzYs since they are a lil bigger and I will scent it with a rat. How does that sound

do you mean scent it with a mouse. And my babies from 5 and 6 month olds both eat small adult mice and are about as big as yours ( if it is indeed 24 inches) so a rat pup should be fine.

I too am switching to rats for the nutritional value just had to find the rats first.

[Bert Specht]

do you mean scent it with a mouse. And my babies from 5 and 6 month olds both eat small adult mice and are about as big as yours ( if it is indeed 24 inches) so a rat pup should be fine.

I too am switching to rats for the nutritional value just had to find the rats first.

Yes scent with mouse. And he is not very wide though so when I go get the food a little later I will see what they look like I'n person and decide. Is it true your can't feed the snake food that is fatter then it?

[Egapal]

Yes scent with mouse. And he is not very wide though so when I go get the food a little later I will see what they look like I'n person and decide. Is it true your can't feed the snake food that is fatter then it?

The reason he is not very wide is because you are underfeeding. You CAN feed the snake food that is fatter than it! You should attempt to feed food that is AS fat. If you think that's what you were doing before you really need to get a scale and weigh the snake then weigh the prey. At this age rodents that are 10% to 15% as much as your snake is a good goal.

[pingure]

The reason he is not very wide is because you are underfeeding. You CAN feed the snake food that is fatter than it! You should attempt to feed food that is AS fat. If you think that's what you were doing before you really need to get a scale and weigh the snake then weigh the prey. At this age rodents that are 10% to 15% as much as your snake is a good goal.

Dido