Little worried.. got a Q?

[LokiSnakeOwenr]

I have a Q for anyone that might be able to help. First off my snake which i got in the summer is maybe a yr old i think. i got it 6 months ago and i think it was about 6 months old when i got it but i could be wrong. Either way it has been a great pet so far.

Anway to my Q. I have slowly upgraded to medium rats and hes been eating them consistantly now ever 5-7 days for the past 2 months. Then all of a sudden 4 days ago i put a rat in the cage and he smelled it... looked at it.. and then went under his hide... after a day or so he didnt eat it so i threw it out. Then i waited two more days and gave him another one. But still nothing. He hasnt eaten.

I know im over reacting since its been maybe 11 days since he last ate. But im worried. He had a nice pattern going. I dont know why he isnt eating? can somone help me.... his temps, and his food has remained constant. no real strain on him he comes out and hangs out maybe twice a week for a half hour at a time but besides that just hangs out in his 40gallon tank.


please anyone who can help id really be greatful.

Jon

[Nate]

Hey Jon. The first thing that comes into my mind is overfeeding, way too much. A snake on medium rats after one year...well, is that even possible? that's a HUGE meal to consume once a week, and if that's the case, then it sounds like he's just had his fill, and he'll be off feed for a while. Overfeeding, or "power feeding" will make them go off feed from time to time because they're getting too much. there's a little more behind it, but that's my take on it.

go to rodentpro.com and view "rats". they have their rats next to a dollar bill for size comparison. look at how big a medium rat is. are you sure it's a medium rat?

Also, if he refuses a meal, there's no need to try again 2 days later. just wait till next week. Snakes go months at a time without feeding, so there's no need to worry about him starving.

[LokiSnakeOwenr]

i might be wrong about his age, i was told by petco when i bought him that he was 6-10 months old but they prolly dont know what they are talking about. ill post a pic, maybe you can take a better look at his size and tell me what you think.

And yah it looks like they are medium sized rats. Maybe i am over feeding.. hmm not sure... well please let me know when u look at the pic.

http://i11.tinypic.com/4hrnszb.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/485s47p.jpg

http://i12.tinypic.com/4ibgc37.jpg

SO if anyone can also guess on age that would be excellent too! ??


thanks
Jon

P.s. - I put the pics next to a dollar so... you can see how big he is.

[bigballs]

what is his weight??


personally i feed my bps small rats every 7 days and some of mine are longer and fatter than yours.

[kplunk]

If I used the snake measurer program correctly I measured his length to be 30.9 " and about 1.5" in Diameter... I don't know if that helps anyone get an idea of the size of the snake....

[kplunk]

I heard somewhere that you can feed your BP prey just smaller than his widest part.

Now I don't know how true that is or anything but taking that into consideration using the snake measurer program

the snake 1.48" diameter a medium size rat off of rodentpro.com 1.62" diameter so this could be a case of over feeding.

Anybody else got some insight to this theory?

[Nate]

Jon he should be fine on small rats.

[rabernet]

I agree, switch him to small/small rats, one a week, in the 40-50 gram range.


Medium is much too large for him, and that's most likely the reason he's now refusing, assuming that all his husbandry is correct (correct temps, measured by a digital thermometer, small enough enclosure, tight enough hides and not overhandled).

As for his age, you really can't tell ages, as they all grow at different rates.

[frankykeno]

I'd also say to move down to small rats, one every 7 days. Give the snake a couple of weeks then offer a nice small rat on the same day each week and see how it goes. Mediums are a pretty big meal for any BP. We don't even feed those to our full mature females. They get a small or occasionally 2 smalls once per week. Smaller meals once weekly tend to encourage consistent feeders. If you get a refusal just offer again one week later on the usual feeding day until the snake decides that it's time to eat again. As always of course, check that your husbandry is really bang on and confirm that your snake is healthy so you can rule those issues out. It's been said a number of times around here by very experienced breeders that refusing to eat isn't the problem, it's an indication of a problem likely related to husbandry, feeding routines or health.

[LokiSnakeOwenr]

Thanks for all the help.

Ill def switch to small rats!

im sure he will be alright!

thanks again all i appreciate it....



Jon