Extra hungry lately?

[Lirenn]

Lately, Lucy always seems hungry! A few days after we feed her, she's pacing for food again.

Now, we are not currently on a set schedule. Due to a couple of problems (a minor infection and a stuck shed on the chin) she didn't eat for about a month. Her first meal after that was 3 small rats. 2 weeks later she had 3 more (because I accidentally bought 2 bags of 3), fed by our snake sitter while we were out of town. She actually struck at them for the first time since we got her!

She was fine for almost all the time between those two feedings, possibly because she was going into shed. Just before the second round of small rats she pooped and shed perfectly (yay!).

But when we came back three days after the second feeding she was acting hungry again. We gave her one more small rat and nearly lost the tongs. Three/four days later, however, and she's hungry AGAIN. This time I gave her a medium rat and she was so excited she body slammed it after snatching it from me.

Now it's 4-5 days after that feeding and she has been pacing for food once more. She sometimes tracks us when we walk past her tank. Last night when I was topping off her water she got into the pose she makes when she is considering a rat and slowly started rising up to my hand. Probably should have backed out at that point but I was curious to see what would happen and I'm not afraid of a wee bite. She gave my finger a few licks and decided I wasn't tasty after all.

Anyway, I am wondering how she could still be hungry and if I should feed her or hold off and try to get back on a schedule. She used to do a large rat every two weeks and was perfectly happy. I wonder if our sudden change in weather (from the low 60s to the low 80s practically overnight) may have something to do with her fired up appetite. I am happy she is so enthusiastic about eating, but I don't want to overfeed! She also hasn't pooped again and, as my husband puts it, currently has 4 corpses inside her.

Anyway, this newbie thanks you for any advice you may have.

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[Craiga 01453]

That is a LOT of food.

What does the snake weigh???

[Lirenn]

I actually just bought a kitchen scale but haven't weighed her yet. However, I think I found the culprit for this round of pacing - I'll have to keep an eye on her thermostat. Either I accidentally messed up the settings yesterday or it glitched out. Poor baby is cold!

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[Lirenn]

I will be weighing her today, but I want to give her a chance to warm up first.

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[Craiga 01453]

Get a weight on her and let us know.

That seems like a LOT of food to me

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If you feed small or medium rat that means she is an adult, which mean breeding season is creating this change in feeding habit.

During breeding season females will become voracious needing/wanting more food to build up and prepare for the gestational state.

Now that dies not mean that you need to feed her more especially if she is a pet, a medium rat weekly is more than enough and if you feed too much you will sooner or later encounter the opposite effect and have a BP that fasts to catch up.

If you want a BP that eats with consistency offer the appropriate size prey once a week (see chart in the BP husbandry forum)

[Lirenn]

Yes, she is an adult. I was planning on getting her onto a schedule of a medium rat weekly, as I think the previous owner might have been off with the large rat every two weeks.

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[Lirenn]

Baby girl comes in at 2360g.

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[Lirenn]

The small rats were approx. 40g each and the medium 80g.

Also she totally did poop, she just hid it in her hide. She likes to hide them from me.

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[dakski]

The small rats were approx. 40g each and the medium 80g.

Also she totally did poop, she just hid it in her hide. She likes to hide them from me.

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If she's 2360G, she can easily eat a medium rat, potentially every week, but probably better to offer every other week.

However, a small rat is usually about 50-90G and a medium rat about 90-140G, give or take.

She should be eating medium rats that are at least 90G. She can eat up to about 150G easily. Generally, people do not feed BP's more than medium rats, up to about twice her size, which is not that common.

Are you feeding live or F/T? If feeding live, I got see potentially wanting to feed a smaller meal to be safer for the snake (not 40G though unless you are offering several). However, if F/T, she should be fed a true medium rat.