Bredli feeding question

[Rushie]

My friend recently purchased a female bredli 18months old. She is the appropriate size for her age and was purchased apparently feeding on adult mice. I have had bredlis at this age and size and fed them med rats by this stage so we offered her a med rat last week and she took it strongly.... well here's the catch... she seemed to fall asleep with it In her mouth. Nearly an hour past and she still had it in her grasp before beginning to "try" and eat it bum first. Two hours past and, with coaching, she finally ate it. Feeding time was again today and exactly the same problems. Took it great, but now she has been holding it for the past hour but not looking like she will eat it in a hurry. Has anyone else had this happen to them. Id like to know if so..

Regards Troy


Update.. 1 hour 40min later she has eaten it..

 

[Bart70]

I have an 18 month old male Bredli who is a little small (not a lot though) for his age. He is on medium to large rats (150 - 190gram)

Once or twice he has taken a long time to eat.....Once he was an hour of which 40 minutes was holding the rat. My MD took an hour to eat her last rat.

I am no expert but if the snake is otherwise healthy then I don't see a problem with it taking its time to eat. Maybe it is just getting used to the change from mice to rats? Has it had rats at all in the past? The scent is quite different and some snakes take a bit of changing over....Maybe she is just being cautious because it smells different to normal? Are you heating it up first?

My way of thinking - If she is otherwise healthy and ends up eating.....then all is good.

 

[Rushie]

Yeah thanks bart. I assumed that it may of been the smell difference. But from my experience its the take that they stuggle with when changing food items not the consuming part of it.. The rat was warm... but not when she swallowed it.

 

[Bart70]

Hard to say exactly.... the scent may be the thing or she might be just taking her time to contemplate the larger meal. My Intergrade Juvie gets all funny with smell and will 'play' with food for ages before dropping it if he thinks it does not smell right. Give him a 'strong' smelly mouse and he will rip his tub apart to strike coil and consume it!

Keep an eye on her and see how she goes.....The important thing is that she is eating.

I asked the temp thing as there was a post here a while ago about a feeding problem and it turned out it was being fed cold so thought it might be worth covering off on....

...and I hope your friend enjoys the Bredli - I love mine!

 

[Tobe404]

I agree with Bart on this... As long as they evetually get it down and digest it fine. I don't see a problem at all. At least yours is still eating.

Before Winter hit my Jungle and bigger MD were taking Regular (185-250g) to Large (250-320g) Rats without a problem. As Winter approached I had to down to feed size. Now they're not eating at all.

Earlier tonight I offered my smaller MD (the one still eating) a 5 Day Old Chick. First time he coiled it and tried getting it down but ended up leaving it. I reheated it and it was gone within about 10 minutes, if that.
I've given him the same meal a number of times before. Sometimes it is gone real quick. Other times he takes his sweet time trying to find the right end/get the prey eaten. Or... loses interest completely.

They can be very hit and miss at times when feeding. Even if the initial interest/coil is there.