Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

[CloudtheBoa]

I love Behira!

She ate tonight. Hadn't eaten in two weeks, which is her schedule now that she is on small rats and weighs 690G empty.

So I put the defrosted and warm F/T rat on tongs, dangle in front of her for a little, and nothing. She looked interested, but didn't strike right away.

So, I did what I have done in the past, put it down in front of her.

She spent 1/2 an hour watching me feed everyone else, looking out the front of her tank, sniffing the air and even the rat, etc.

Finally, she bit into the rat, got really excited, half struck while biting it, bit harder, and coiled it! This time she didn't coil for, seemingly, ever, and started chowing down quickly.

She's a goof, but I love her. Nice to have another snake who happily eats even when I don't shake it for a while to elicit a strike.

My BP, Shayna is so shy, she almost never strikes, and wants the rat put down, and me to walk away. Figment, my corn snake, could care less. If I shake for 1 second, he strikes, if I drop it in, he strikes, etc. He eats anything anytime!

Anyway, very happy she is eating regularly (which she always has) and seems happy. She is really settled in now.

It doesn't surprise me she wants to eat every 2 weeks, all my boas on smalls eat every 3 weeks (though they'd eat more often if I let them).

Okay, quick question, for the BCI/snake behavior experts out there.

I have been hook training Behira for about 3 weeks now, and that is going great.

I feed her at night with tank lights, and most room lights, off, so it's pretty dark.

During the day/lights on is when I handle. Her lights are on from 9AM-9PM, give or take a few minutes.

Lately, when I walk by the tank at night, she looks ready to strike/in hunt mode. She hasn't struck the front of the tank yet, but I wouldn't put it past her.

I don't want her to get hurt, and I may be making a mountain out of a molehill, but should I be doing something differently?

I always feed my snakes in near darkness/at night so they associate light with being handled. However, I have never had as aggressive a feeder as Behira. Even Figment, my corn snake, looks for food at night, but isn't ready to strike until he smells mouse. He does go completely APE once he is sure it's feeding time though.

A couple other things.

I only go by the tanks at night if I need to feed the geckos or it's snake feeding day. Otherwise everyone is left alone in the 5 tank stack (the tanks in the corner of my finished basement in a little nook so they do not get bothered unless I need to do something with them/the animals). Last night I fed the Gecko's and as soon as I walked by, she was out of her hide and in S/strike mode.

Behira eats every 2 weeks, on Sunday, a small rat. She was 690G empty before last feeding (this past Sunday).

She is a total puppy dog once stroked with the soft end of the hook, and completely mellow once picked up! Total sweetheart.

Thank you for any and all thoughts!

So long as she isn't actually striking, I likely wouldn't worry. My boas sometimes go through periods like this, I assume it's just them needing a little extra food. Depending on their body tone, I either increase feeding frequency by a week until the behavior stops, or I just wait them out. If they're of good body tone, and I'm not breeding, they eventually snap out of the mood after a few weeks or a couple of months.

I also don't feed my snakes at any set time of the day, so I'm able to reach in whenever I want without a feeding response, though I'm not sure how much it would affect them if I did feed them at the same time every feeding day, as I've never been able to stick to such strict schedules with anything in my life. lmao

Her weight, feeder size, and frequency seems pretty good, so it's doubtful she's starving, I'd probably just wait and see if she stops. If she begins striking at the glass, or her weight gain plateaus over 2-3 months time, then I'd try feeding her weekly for a short period to see if that helps. I wouldn't make it her regular schedule, though, snakes just seem to go through periods of heightened or lowered feed response.