Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 639

1 members and 638 guests
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,905
Threads: 249,106
Posts: 2,572,115
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, Pattyhud
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 25
  1. #11
    BPnet Veteran stangs13's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-01-2005
    Location
    Friendswood,Tx
    Posts
    5,617
    Thanks
    19
    Thanked 36 Times in 31 Posts
    Images: 3

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    Woh...you big female only needs to be fed 1 small rat a week, it will save you on money, and it could possibly save the snake.

  2. #12
    BPnet Veteran dmaricle's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-29-2006
    Location
    lousiana
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    87
    Thanked 91 Times in 82 Posts

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by stangs13 View Post
    Woh...you big female only needs to be fed 1 small rat a week, it will save you on money, and it could possibly save the snake.
    so you think im feeding her to much? i thought twice a week was normal.

  3. #13
    BPnet Royalty JLC's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-28-2004
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    31,651
    Thanks
    3,195
    Thanked 7,203 Times in 3,028 Posts
    Blog Entries
    37
    Images: 304

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by stangs13 View Post
    Woh...you big female only needs to be fed 1 small rat a week, it will save you on money, and it could possibly save the snake.
    Quote Originally Posted by dmaricle View Post
    so you think im feeding her to much? i thought twice a week was normal.
    Depends entirely on what species of "big female" she is. Two large rats a week might be fine for a really big boa or a growing burmese. But WAY too much food for any ball python. Regardless of species though...feeding more often than once a week for a mature snake is not usually recommended. Might be ok for babies and rapidly growing juvies...but for most commonly kept species, a mature snake never needs to eat more than every 7-10 days.
    -- Judy

  4. #14
    BPnet Veteran littleindiangirl's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-31-2007
    Posts
    8,193
    Thanks
    637
    Thanked 794 Times in 487 Posts
    Images: 25

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    Did you see her attacking herself?

    Rats do groom themselves when other rats are "grooming" them. (Where they hold down another rat and "bite" them in one particular spot.) Many times they will jump up and quickly groom themselves right where the other rat just had done it. It looks like they are biting their own backs or whereever, but they are in a sense scratching themselves and grooming. It's a part of the social heirarchy, and my guess is you saw that and thought they were fighting. They can screech and be loud during this, it's completely NORMAL.

    If not...

    My guess is you saw a rat fight. Female rats that are unfamiliar with each other and close to full grown will fight. It's not all fun and games with them.

    My guess is she is was in heat and the male attempted to mate, making her extremely stressed and defensive. Or, perhaps another female in heat was feeling bossy and decided to take after her. (The holding her down is a form of dominance)

    Rats can be very vocal (sometimes like they are killing each other), but if it was truly a fight, there would have been many injuries and blood.

    I would watch the others closely and monitor for any illness or parasties (mainly external).

    Always quarantine new additions for a minimum of 30 days away from the colony. Rats are susceptible to many diseases and parasites.
    Last edited by littleindiangirl; 08-18-2008 at 11:23 AM.

  5. #15
    BPnet Veteran
    Join Date
    09-24-2007
    Posts
    995
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 93 Times in 76 Posts

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    I'm curious what kind of snake you are talking about. JLC makes a very good point. NO BP should be eating two large rats a week. And, I could be wrong here, but I don't think anyone feeds large rats to a BP. Feeding multiple mice is fine. Certainly better than too large a prey item.

  6. #16
    BPnet Veteran dmaricle's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-29-2006
    Location
    lousiana
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    87
    Thanked 91 Times in 82 Posts

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    i put the rat back with the colony and it happened again. there is no blood when they fight just alot of nioise and rolling around and holding down. so i think i may just put her with a male all alone.

    i talked to brian at bhb and he said that its cool to feed my balls large rats but what i probably gonna do is gradually cross over to several mice a week. and the snake we have been talking about is a normal female ball python around 3000 grams.

    thanks for all the tips.

  7. #17
    BPnet Veteran littleindiangirl's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-31-2007
    Posts
    8,193
    Thanks
    637
    Thanked 794 Times in 487 Posts
    Images: 25

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by dmaricle View Post
    i put the rat back with the colony and it happened again. there is no blood when they fight just alot of nioise and rolling around and holding down. so i think i may just put her with a male all alone.

    i talked to brian at bhb and he said that its cool to feed my balls large rats but what i probably gonna do is gradually cross over to several mice a week. and the snake we have been talking about is a normal female ball python around 3000 grams.

    thanks for all the tips.
    What your describing is absolutely, no doubt about it, NORMAL.

    They have a social ladder that has to be worked out everytime you introduce a animal.

    It should be blatantly obvious who the culprit is. I like to remove the overly pushy ones away from rats I know they will not get along with. This sounds like the same scenario.

    If you find that SHE is the overly pushy girl, your right on the money she should be left alone with just the male. She's most likely in heat as well. Usually after their first litter they calm down.

  8. #18
    BPnet Veteran dmaricle's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-29-2006
    Location
    lousiana
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    87
    Thanked 91 Times in 82 Posts

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    thats prob it. the only part that freaked me out is the fact that they have been together in the same cage for over a month. and i bought them all together so they have been a group for a long time and then all of a sudden they changed. she must be in heat but the male seems to show no interest.

  9. #19
    BPnet Veteran SatanicIntention's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-14-2004
    Location
    Waco, Texas
    Posts
    4,332
    Thanks
    16
    Thanked 131 Times in 94 Posts
    Images: 24

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    No blood, no foul.
    --Becky--
    ?.? Normals, 1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle, 1.0 Yellow Hypo, 0.1 100% Het Butterscotch Hypo, 0.1 100% Het VPI Hypo, 0.1 100% Het Yellow Hypo, 1.0 Enchi, 1.1 Yellowbellies, 0.1 YB Granite, 1.0 Black Pastel, 1.0 Lemon Pastel, 0.1 50% Possible Het Banded Albino, 0.1 Spider, 1.0 Fire, 0.2 Granite

  10. #20
    BPnet Veteran dmaricle's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-29-2006
    Location
    lousiana
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    87
    Thanked 91 Times in 82 Posts

    Re: crazy rat!!!!!!!!!

    i am probably making another rat hut today because it seems that they just cant be together anymore lol

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1