Angry noodle?

[Venoshock]

Hi everyone! Carl has seemed to have adopted an attitude as of Monday and I'm a bit confused.

I fed her on Monday without any issues and she absolutely inhaled her hopper mouse. Just after that she began striking at me until I was able to get her back in her enclosure. Although she had never done that before, I didn't think much of it because the smell of food was still very much there. But yesterday I went to check in on her like I always do and she whipped her head around and snapped at me a few times even through I never reached in. Today I actually managed to get her out to take a look at her but there's nothing I can deduce wrong. She seemed to calm down after she was in my hands for a while but she was still a bit testy. The only thing I've been keeping an eye on is the poop she's holding in. There's a noticeable bulge above her anal vent but I haven't thought too too much about it. But that's been going on for a bit.

Nothing has changed at all in terms of feeding schedule, enclosure, and handling. I don't understand what the heck happened but if any of you have an idea that would be cool!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Feeding mode can last up to several hours after feed so striking is not unusual and of course the best way to get tag is to feed outside the enclosure and having to move an animal in feeding mode. Feed in the enclosure.


I wonder however is why is your BP eating hopper mice, did she just come out of her egg? How big is he?

Keep in mind that BP get started on hopper and quickly move to small adult and adult mice so depending on your animal's size you may be under feeding him.

If your BP is the Spider male that is 180 grams you need to feed the appropriate size prey.

[Venoshock]

Hi Deborah! Thank you for your response.

Feed day was Monday and the strikes on that day were no doubt food motivated, but it has been 2 days.

I actually feed every 4-5 days depending on how big the meal was. I moved her up to hopper mice just a little while ago and plan to again move her up as soon as possible! Ever since I had moved her up she had a lot of difficulty eating and would often take 20+ minutes to actually get the mouse down her throat, so I wanted to make sure she could take this size before another switch. She has proved to me that she can so I am 100% moving her up on Friday! :)

[bcr229]

I fed her on Monday without any issues and she absolutely inhaled her hopper mouse. Just after that she began striking at me until I was able to get her back in her enclosure.

Feed in the enclosure. If you remove the snake to feed it, it learns that leaving the enclosure = getting fed.

I also found the pic of Carl. I'm guessing he's just hungry, a hopper is a meal for a hatchling as Deborah pointed out. I would transition to rat pups.

[Venoshock]

Like I said, I will be 100% moving her up tomorrow.

When I got her she was underweight to begin with. She was fed one fuzzy mouse every 7 days at the store, and to try to get her back up to a healthy weight I fed her the same sized meal every 3-4 days. When I moved her up after 2 weeks of having her, I fed every 4-5 days. I thought this was a better method than just throwing a large meal at her. If it wasn't, either way she will be getting the appropriate sized meal tomorrow.

[jasonmcgilvrey83]

I know the feeling. My first bp was fed pinkie mice every week as well when I first got her. I think I got a pic of her when I first got her. What I did is feed her a meal the size of the thickest part of her body. If she still was acting hungry I would give her one more. Carl will plump up quicker if u move him to rats.









My chunky little girl now. Lol



Keep at it. He will plump up. Also feed in his enclosure. They don't get cage aggression like other snakes.

[Venoshock]

I believe Carl was pretty much the same size as yours when I picked her up. She has grown in girth since then (about 2 months).

in the store:



Today:



The only reason I didn't feed in the enclosure was because I feared she would ingest her substrate. I'll try feeding her in her cage tomorrow and keep an eye on her.

Unfortunately, my only option is mice right now. Mainly because my mother is grossed out by the idea of keeping a bulk order of f/ts in the house, and my local pet store only stocks f/t mice.

[Marrissa]

Get yourself a mini freezer. It's only about 50 bucks and you can pack a lot of rats/mice in there.

[alan12013]

I wouldn't worry about impaction all that much. Even if you have Aspen bedding and it sticks to the food it's not that big of a deal. I try to avoid it happening a lot but if it did I wouldn't be concerned. As Brian on Snakebytes pointed out it happens in the wild and isn't going to harm the snake. Their stomach acid is pretty serious. That sucks you can't get rats. Maybe post an add on craigslist looking to buy some rats for snake food? That being said I have a 3 year old female that lived most of her life with only eating 2 mice every other week. I now feed her 3 mice every week and am trying to get her over to rats but it's a job.

[Venoshock]

Get yourself a mini freezer. It's only about 50 bucks and you can pack a lot of rats/mice in there.

My mother doesn't want them kept in our house in general, separate freezer or not. :/ It's unfortunate but I have to deal with it for a while.

I wouldn't worry about impaction all that much. Even if you have Aspen bedding and it sticks to the food it's not that big of a deal. I try to avoid it happening a lot but if it did I wouldn't be concerned. As Brian on Snakebytes pointed out it happens in the wild and isn't going to harm the snake. Their stomach acid is pretty serious. That sucks you can't get rats. Maybe post an add on craigslist looking to buy some rats for snake food? That being said I have a 3 year old female that lived most of her life with only eating 2 mice every other week. I now feed her 3 mice every week and am trying to get her over to rats but it's a job.

I'll probably just keep feeding her on mice until I can find a pet store that sells f/t rats. There's a few around that I have yet to check but going to our local Petco is easier and more convenient. I'm not in any rush to switch her to rats just yet. Good luck with switching your girl, though!