Adult carpet feeding schedule.

[carlson]

Hey I'm still having problems with my new carpet in the last month she's ate one time and turned down three more frozen and one live rat. So my question is does anyone else have a adult carpet that only eats once a month or is this a problem that I best work harder at fixing I just don't want to drop in the live mouse every night. Wanna see what others with adults notice theirs doing

[EAC Reptiles]

I have one carpet that for the longest time would only eat mice. I got sick of going and buying mice for just him, and seeing that I breed rats and asf's I figured I would get him on rats. At first he refused to go anywhere near the rat, f/t or live. I tired again the next week and still wanted nothing to do with it. I decided to let him miss a few meals, after two months and a few other feeding attempts he should interest in a live rat. I let the rat stay in the tub for 30-40 min, watched, and he eventually took it. So now he is on rats and we are both happy.

You may want to try an sick a few meals and keep at it. They will eventually eat when they are hungry.

[The Serpent Merchant]

How often are you offering food currently? Offering too often can actually reduce the chances of a successful feeding. I would offer food once a week if he takes it or not.

A mature adult carpet should be eating every 2-3 weeks.

[carlson]

I've been offering her them every Sunday so once a week it's been three weeks since she ate last so hopeing this next feeding shell eat since it will have been a month since last rat by then

[The Serpent Merchant]

As long as you are:

Feeding rodents 1-1.5 times the girth of the snake

Have a cage with approximately 1 square foot of floor space per foot of snake

Have a hot side between 87-90 degrees

A cool side between 72-80 degrees

A place to perch

A good hide (preferably 2)

And you don't handle the snake all the time it's really just up to the snake. Maybe try offering every other week.

The most important thing is to regularly weigh your snake to track any weight loss due to not eating. If he loses a significant amount of weight, you might want to consider assist feeding.

[carlson]

Yep I got the temps and all that right she's in a temp tub right now cuz I got her a month ago with six weeks of frozen rats. She ate the first week and hasn't again so ill try again on Sunday with the live one i still have. I haven't had a chance to weigh her she's full grown adult tho about 6 an a half feet and im still working on getting her to be comfortable with me she just stopped striking at me two weeks ago its been a process but I've been taking it slow so as not to add on stress just so I can hold her.

[John1982]

Your working on handleability while simultaneously trying to set a regular feeding schedule could be the problem - pick one to do first, work on the other later. I wouldn't worry so much, most adult carpets I see are overweight anyway - you want to see good muscle tone in these animals and an appropriately sized meal every 2-4 weeks is more than adequate for an adult.

[carlson]

Ya I started handling cuz she ate right away then once she started showing me she wasn't a weekly eater I started doing less and less with her until nothing till she eats again. And thank you everyone eased my worry a bit

[reptileexperts]

Going 3-4 weeks without food for an adult carpet is not a big deal. . . but yeah, if you want to see an increase in it's feeding capabilities, you may want to decrease the amount of handling between meals. Sometimes they are just picky, but most do not NEED to eat that often because they are prone to becoming over weight. Just make sure there is no loose skin and you have nothing to worry about.

[carlson]

Nope no lose skin she's still looking fit haha I just have a tendency to worry bout my animals maybe a lil more then I should 😝 but thanks to everyone on here all of my questions get answered. It's nice to find a site full of helpful people