Eating ???

[kidsnakedad]

My snake just at his first meal at our house. How long does it take the visible bulge to move through the snake? How long before there is no longer a visibile bulge?

Thanks

[Smulkin]

Once it hits the stomach it will go pretty quickly as their digestive acids are much more powerful than our own - in a day or two depending on how large the meal was the bulge should dissipate appreciably.

[green_man]

good question, I'd say somewhere between 48-72 hours and the lump will be gone (depending on size) Try to leave him be for the next couple of days or he may get stressed and regurgitate. (not a sweet smelling thing!)

It will take a couple of weeks for the mouse to go all the way through.

[normballpython2]

i agree with green man on both accounts eeewww.

[Anonymous]

The "bulge" should disappear in about 48 hours ... it really depends on prey size and the girth of the snake.

[kidsnakedad]

How long does it take the bulge to work it's way south from the mouth? I fed a pretty small mouse, and am only kinda sorta maybe able to see the bulge, so I'm checking myself for visual hallucinations.

[msolorz]

I was told that the rat or mouse should about 1" larger in diameter than the largest section of the snake. True or False?

[green_man]

false, should be about the same size as the largest section

[Cody]

Yeah, it's best to gauge prey size to the thickest part of the snake, but it can be a bit larger than the widest part of your snake, but not near an inch larger. Something like 10% larger I think I heard somewhere. I'm just gonna play it safe and match the prey to the bp's tummy girth.

[mlededee]

How long does it take the bulge to work it's way south from the mouth? I fed a pretty small mouse, and am only kinda sorta maybe able to see the bulge, so I'm checking myself for visual hallucinations.

do you mean as they are eating/swallowing it? once they have the mouse swallowed just past their throat it goes down pretty quicky. just in a matter of minutes from what i have observed with my snake. if the prey item was too small then once it gets to their stomach you probably won't be able to see a bulge at all and you should upgrade to something larger for the next feeding.