This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you! That definitely does make sense, especially since she wouldn't be used to digesting rats AND why she's probably not wanting to feed right now as well. I'll space out her feedings more and see how she adjusts to that instead!

They are such amazing creatures and never cease to surprise me! She definitely likes to freak me out with her odd behaviors and I swear she gloats when I look confusedShe's a silly one. I will keep an eye on her and do my best to make sure the cool side is warm enough to keep her comfy, but just let her be other than that!

Thanks for all your ideas, really appreciate it!


Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
Rats are harder to digest than mice (even 2 mice), so yes, you need to give her more time to digest them. I think that will help a lot.

It makes sense now (to me) that she's staying in her cold hide...she is deliberately slowing down her digestion...if she was warmer, it would overwhelm her digestive
tract. Think of it as a traffic jam... I know it seems counter-intuitive, but I can remember giving a large rat to an adult BCI (boa) when she was only used to consuming
mediums at the most. She was more than big enough to take that size, but instead of staying warm, she went to the cool side to "slow it down": warmer temperatures
cause the excess still-undigested food to "spoil" & swell up in their stomach, so somehow they know to slow it down. This is exactly why it's so important that our snakes
have temperature choices when kept in captivity...it's not like a dog that can whine at the door to be let out. Just be observant, patient & support her choices...she
knows what she's doing. If we pay close enough attention, they manage to teach us.