My coastal is always hungry? ...

[montysrainbow]

quick question, my coastal is around 15 mths old and has 2 weaner rats each week on the same day however he hunts every night for more! his routine is i place the rats on a small dish on the bottom of the enclosure and he climbs down and feeds, but he comes down every night after that and hangs in his s bend strike mode lol is he waiting for more? or do they just do this out of habbit? im worried im not feeding him enough but in saying that he is a good size for his age.View attachment 283875 View attachment 283874or isnt he? heres 2 photos i took a couple a weeks ago.

 

[ArgentinoAussie]

Hey montysrainbow, I can't speak for other owners but my coastal loves her food, she is onto rabbits and is constantly looking for more, she gets one medium bunny fortnightly. I think most people make the mistake of feeding their snakes as if they were mammals and fat deposits build up and can decrease the life of the animal. Maybe try bumping up the size of prey and decrease frequency, also depends on time of year blah blah blah- long story short most coastals are pigs and will eat until they explode, probably best you not let that happen!

 

[montysrainbow]

hmm will upsize to one larger rat each wk but def wont be offering more lol i would hate for him to pop!

 

[Hamalicious]

nice mate, thats a stunner. Pretty big for 15 months, they will always be hungry, but it's easy to over feed them. Better to keep them lean and hungry than full and unhealthy.

 

[montysrainbow]

Thanks, he certainly has thrived....i know he doesnt look skinny lol i just wondered why he is on the look for more every night! He has been a pig from day dot lol but by the sounds of it most coastals are!

 

[Wombok]

Okay so I'm no expert but maybe it's because you feed him in his cage...
Do you keep the dish in there? If so try taking that out. Or maybe next time feed him in something else.

 

[Cougar2007]

Get used to it mate, my 10ft female eats 1.8kg rabbits. Coastals love their food

 

[disintegratus]

I agree, my big coastal is an absolute garbage disposal. He's fully grown, but I once gave him a pinky that one of the bubs didn't want. It was hilarious watching him strike it and eat it, I reckon it almost got stuck between his teeth

 

[Cougar2007]

Ha ha, that's the best description for my full grown girl....garbage disposal. My boy on the other hand eats his one rat and won't do it anywhere except his hide lol. My diamonds are garbage guts also

 

[montysrainbow]

Okay so I'm no expert but maybe it's because you feed him in his cage...
Do you keep the dish in there? If so try taking that out. Or maybe next time feed him in something else.

i always remove the dish but maybe he can smell them from where they rubbed on the newspaper as he ate em? ive tried doing feeds outside and in a tub but it didnt feel right lol this has become a routine for the both of us.

Get used to it mate, my 10ft female eats 1.8kg rabbits. Coastals love their food

holy dooly :shock: lol i cant wait to see gorgoo eat a bunny. speaking of do they eat rabbits fortnightly instead of weekly? i reckon i mite hav 2 alternate bunny 1 week rat the next or he will try n eat me in the mean time lol

I agree, my big coastal is an absolute garbage disposal. He's fully grown, but I once gave him a pinky that one of the bubs didn't want. It was hilarious watching him strike it and eat it, I reckon it almost got stuck between his teeth

lol thats funny it would have looked hillarious

 

[Cougar2007]

I feed a 1.8kg rabbit one fortnight then and then 2 XL rats the following fortnight leading up to cool down like now she will soon start to get a bit extra, maybe an extra xl rat every now and then. She's a big girl.

Im 6ft tall, Thats her stretched out in front of me. The other one is the one time she tagged me. thats just her top jaw, bottom jaw got hung up in my collar. Also my Albino Coastal x and other bits and peices. Coastals rock. You have some great times to look forward to

 

[montysrainbow]

omg cougar lol im not looking forward to that 2nd pic! lol ouch. did u see that coming? im waiting for Gorgoo 2 have a taste of me....he is a jumpy little fella. Lovely snakes

Im starting to think they would eat every day if allowed. speaking of how do we know how much they eat in the wild? if they saw a rat every night i can imagine they would eat it ?

 

[Snowman]

omg cougar lol im not looking forward to that 2nd pic! lol ouch. did u see that coming? im waiting for Gorgoo 2 have a taste of me....he is a jumpy little fella. Lovely snakes

Im starting to think they would eat every day if allowed. speaking of how do we know how much they eat in the wild? if they saw a rat every night i can imagine they would eat it ?

They dont behave the same in the wild. If they make it to adulthood they know there are predators out there that will eat them. Nightjars, owls, other birds of prey, foxes etc.... They tend to get a meal and hide away to digest it somewhere safe. If they can move somewhere safe that is...
They move alot more too so are burning a lot more energy on their nightly outings than sitting in captive environment.
Ambush predators they tend to sit on a scent trail and wait for something to come by. This can take a few days. Unless there is plague probortions I doubt they would find a rat everynight.
My personal observations when looking for carpet pythons in the wild is that on a full moon there is nothing to be found. Not even the thousands of gecko's I usually see on the roads. I guess this cuts down the number of nights a month they they are out hunting. I'm not saying they wont come out on a full moon, but I've found it to make a massive difference.

 

[JenKathleen]

I feed a 1.8kg rabbit one fortnight then and then 2 XL rats the following fortnight leading up to cool down like now she will soon start to get a bit extra, maybe an extra xl rat every now and then. She's a big girl.

Im 6ft tall, Thats her stretched out in front of me. The other one is the one time she tagged me. thats just her top jaw, bottom jaw got hung up in my collar. Also my Albino Coastal x and other bits and peices. Coastals rock. You have some great times to look forward to

Gorgeous Albino, wouldn't be selling him/her anytime soon would you?

And my 6 month old is a guts, she would eat until she popped I think. She always waits after I feed her to see if there's anything else on the menu.

 

[Gruni]

I didn't read all of the posts so sorry if I missed it but the ones I skimmed forgot the basic rule of thumb... Weigh your snake and work out what 20% of his body weight is. If you are giving him between 15-25% roughly every fortnight he is getting plenty.

Feeding him in the enclosure has nothing to do with it, lots of us do it and my girl certainly knows the difference between feed time and me doing stuff and she likes her food but isn't constantly on the hunt. Some snakes are just like that, or it's just a position they like. I seem to be able to tell when my girl is active and moving as opposed to hungry and hunting although I can't put a finger on the difference to be able to describe it.

 

[Cougar2007]

Gorgeous Albino, wouldn't be selling him/her anytime soon would you?

Thanks JenKathleen, he is a stunner alright but I won't be parting with him in the near future. I only got him a few months ago.

I got him from a member on here actually. I have some big plans for him down the track I hope