Do all BPs fast?

[Luvyna]

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like the key is proper husbandry and not overfeeding. It's also heartening to hear that amazingly there do seem to be some BPs out there that don't really fast.

Also its important to remember that fasting is not necessarily bad. Sure if it goes on for longer than a few weeks it might be your environment or stress, but if it is just a few weeks (personally the longest one of mine has gone is 4 weeks), and they are not losing a considerable amount of weight then it may just be them regulating their own diet.

4 weeks actually isn't bad and sounds like a regular interval to go without food for a snake, it's the strikes that last months that I dread. Good to hear that your BPs are good eaters

I feed on the conservative side and very rarely do my BPs refuse a meal. Since mine are both adults I let them dictate how often I feed. I observe their behavior and if I see "hunting behavior" on consecutive nights I offer on night three. So far, zero refusals using this technique.

Of my two BPs, one came to me as an adult less than a year ago, but no strikes from him so far.

My other I got as a juvenile and he took about 3 months off his first winter with me. Since then he eats like a champ.

I'm a firm believer that many BPs, and snakes in general, are over fed in captivity. Hence calling my feeding style "conservative". But my animals are all healthy and maintain great weights and body structures. They're solid muscle with no fat, feeding "conservatively".

In my experience, smaller meals lead to less food strikes.

I share the belief that many captive snakes are overfed, especially since they also probably don't get as much exercise as wild snakes. Your method of feeding sounds pretty good, I will likely adopt something similar when my BP is fully grown.