BP hasn't came out of hide after eating??? Is something wrong?

[chloe1110]

Hi!! So I just got my little boy 2 weeks ago and this past Thursday was his first time eating with me. His previous owner was feeding him live but I wanted to get him on F/T while hes still a baby. I tried to feed him after the first week that I got him but he wouldn't take so I left him alone for another week and tried and he took it! i was so happy. I'm pretty sure I got the right size for him, the mouse was a little bigger than the widest part of his body. After eating, he was kind of shaking? or wobbling a little bit? He doesn't have any spider genes in him as far as I'm aware so I was a little worried that he might've been having issues with the size of it even though it seemed like a good size to me. He then went inside of his hide and I haven't seen him since :(. He usually comes out at night and roams around his enclosure but it's currently been 3 days since I've fed him and he hasn't came out once. Should I be worried or is this normal behavior? I'm a new snake owner so I'm not really sure. Any help is appreciated

[indygunnerguy]

Hi!! So I just got my little boy 2 weeks ago and this past Thursday was his first time eating with me. His previous owner was feeding him live but I wanted to get him on F/T while hes still a baby. I tried to feed him after the first week that I got him but he wouldn't take so I left him alone for another week and tried and he took it! i was so happy. I'm pretty sure I got the right size for him, the mouse was a little bigger than the widest part of his body. After eating, he was kind of shaking? or wobbling a little bit? He doesn't have any spider genes in him as far as I'm aware so I was a little worried that he might've been having issues with the size of it even though it seemed like a good size to me. He then went inside of his hide and I haven't seen him since . He usually comes out at night and roams around his enclosure but it's currently been 3 days since I've fed him and he hasn't came out once. Should I be worried or is this normal behavior? I'm a new snake owner so I'm not really sure. Any help is appreciated

Hey-o! I don't think you have anything to worry about. Is the hide on the warm side of the enclosure? The heat is used to aid in digestion. Mine likes to go in there for a couple of days after he eats as well. His height is on top of the UTH heat pad.

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[chloe1110]

Hey-o! I don't think you have anything to worry about. Is the hide on the warm side of the enclosure? The heat is used to aid in digestion. Mine likes to go in there for a couple of days after he eats as well. His height is on top of the UTH heat pad.

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Yes! He went into the hide on the warm side and I'm pretty sure he's been in that one ever since. But I didn't know they used heat to help with digestion. I guess that's why hes been cooped up in there so long lmao thank you!

[scobro]

He usually comes out at night and roams around his enclosure but it's currently been 3 days since I've fed him and he hasn't came out once.

More than likely he came out roaming for food and since he now has a full belly there is no reason to roam.

[indygunnerguy]

Yes! He went into the hide on the warm side and I'm pretty sure he's been in that one ever since. But I didn't know they used heat to help with digestion. I guess that's why hes been cooped up in there so long lmao thank you!

Np! Also BPs typically spend a lot of time in their hides so it is quite normal.

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[Luvyna]

Absolutely nothing to worry about, as others have mentioned Good on you for working to get your snake onto F/T too.

My BP mostly roams when he's hungry, and every time he eats I don't see him for about 2-3 days. 4th day and onward, his head will be poking out in the evening waiting hopefully for another rat lol!

[Bogertophis]

For best results, you want to feed rodents that are NO bigger than their mid-body...so my guess is that your snake will take longer to digest this meal, & all snakes
need warmth & a quiet hiding place (no activity or handling) while digesting...so this is normal. Also, your snake may continue to hide after this meal if he goes
into a shed cycle right after this...so be patient. Snakes do need to hide a lot, it's normal. Many snakes (including BPs) are primarily nocturnal too, so they may be
active when we aren't awake to see them.

[chloe1110]

For best results, you want to feed rodents that are NO bigger than their mid-body...so my guess is that your snake will take longer to digest this meal, & all snakes
need warmth & a quiet hiding place (no activity or handling) while digesting...so this is normal. Also, your snake may continue to hide after this meal if he goes
into a shed cycle right after this...so be patient. Snakes do need to hide a lot, it's normal. Many snakes (including BPs) are primarily nocturnal too, so they may be
active when we aren't awake to see them.

I've seen so many different answers when it comes to what size to feed them so I wasn't really sure. I saw a post where someone said the same as you, it should be the same size as their mid body, and then someone said it should be a little bigger so that when they swallow you can see a little lump in their belly. I even saw a post that said it should be double the width of them. I got my F/T from petsmart and the next size down was way too small for him so I went with the bigger size. Would you recommend me getting the smaller one and just feeding him multiple of them?

[Bogertophis]

...and then someone said it should be a little bigger so that when they swallow you can see a little lump in their belly. I even saw a post that said it should be double the width of them. I got my F/T from petsmart and the next size down was way too small for him so I went with the bigger size. Would you recommend me getting the smaller one and just feeding him multiple of them?

That's only partly correct: you should see only a slight swelling in their tummy, but that's what happens if you feed something a bit smaller than their mid-body, not bigger.

If you actually feed something as big or bigger than their mid-body, you'll be seeing more than just a little swelling, & you might also find that your snake regurgitates.
That's best avoided...it's hard on the snake, & sets them back (you have to wait a while for them to replenish their digestive enzymes, otherwise if fed too soon after a regurge, you'll have another...& if it continues, the snake can even die from dehydration. So it's a scenario that's best avoided. It also smells really gross!

Now snakes in the wild certainly don't have the luxury of correctly-sized meals...they take what they can get & do the best they can, but we can & should do better for pets.

If all you can get is this same size again (?) I'd suggest waiting to see how he does this time first. If he can handle this one, he should have no trouble with the next one,
but you'll want to allow a little longer between meals too. If you have to size-down to smaller than optimal size for him, you could always feed just one of the small ones
at a time, & then just feed his next meal a little sooner than the normal interval. It's better to slightly under-feed than to over-feed, & again, in nature, plenty of meals are smaller than they might prefer. It's no big deal. The main thing is to avoid regurges with "super-sized" rodents.