She's Never satisfied...

[swan91]

Hi, when i first got my bredli she was around 1year old, and she had a few feeds then decided she didnt want to eat anymore.. she refused rats and mice, scented rats.. and so on, so i got her onto small chicken necks, then mice, now rats.. after a 6month fast!.. now she is FOOD CRAZY!! I feed her an adult mouse followed by a hopper rat, and shes fine, she still wants more afterwards.. so i fed her a small/med rat the other day, and she managed it, it looked a little big but the lump was gone in a day.. and its only been a few days and she is hungry again! I dont think she is ever satisfied!? Ive been sorta feeding her a bit more often than once a week.. maybe more like once every 5 days.. im just happy she is eating now.. she has put on heaps of condition, not bony anymore, and added about 30cm since Nov.. im feeding her about 20% of her body weight.. but she still looks hungry afterwards.. my jungle is happy after his feed and will curl up somewhere warm.. but she just wants more! any help? is it bad to feed too often? i pretty much just feed her the day she poops..

 

[-Katana-]

I got a large yearling bredli female and she was taking large rats once a week before this cooler weather hit.
By large I'm talking about a rat with a body length (not including tail)of over 13 cms.

My guess is you need to up size her.

 

[swan91]

my bredli is only small because i dont think she was fed often as a hatchy.. she is 2 atm, but about 3 cm in diameter at her widest point and 1m 10 cm long... around 250grams.. so she is only small.. the small rat weighs 50 grams (around 13cm), which i thought was perfect for her, but im not sure if that is stretching it a bit.. but even after that big one, she was still prepared to go for another..

 

[-Katana-]

Has she got a hide to well...hide in after her meal?
I'm saying that because I know my girl is more than a touch defensive (which could be mistaken for hunger) if I'm slow to replace her hide after a feeding.

 

[swan91]

that's her hide in the picture..lol she does go to her hide, but she keeps her front end out in strike position ready for an unsuspecting rat to stumble by... she is in no way an aggressive or defensive snake, she is great to handle.. she is just hungry constantly.. she isnt cage defensive either, once she gets my scent she relaxes from hunting posture and lets me pick her up..

 

[Snakewise84]

they love their food, i feed mine a mid size rat and a two week old quail. she is two years old and a meter and a half long

 

[swan91]

hmm so maybe i should chuck an adult mice in after she has got the small/ medium rat down? im sure she would be happy after that! im just happy she is growing now.. after her period of deciding she didnt want to eat anymore..lol..she will eat anything now!

*mouse

really i guess the question is, can you ever overfeed a snake.. i know when it starts getting fat to cut back, but i mean in one sitting.. should i give her a lot to eat in one sitting, and hopefully that will last her a bit longer? as long as she keeps it down im assuming its ok right?

 

[Fantazmic]

i think if she has been underfed she is finally feeling really good and wanting to feed to catch up...so long as she keeps looking in proportion (not with a big body and itty bitty head indicating too much weight on) I would feed her...you want her to grow up inot a lovely big girl and i would say she is making up for lost time.

 

[-Katana-]

It's fine to power feed until she has a rectal prolapse...she will poop and her bowel will be evacuated along with the stool (poop).

Sometimes it takes a little tough love to feed what they need rather than what they want.
An eye on the bigger picture and the inherent dangers of over feeding verses what makes "US" feel better as owners and keepers.

 

[longqi]

If the bulge from food disappears after three [3] days you have hit the food amount on the head
We feed larger prey items less frequently
But in your case I would feed every week for a while as it does seem a bit small in size

 

[swan91]

i just fed her a medium rat and an adult mouse.. it was a decent bulge but it dissapears in about 2-3days.. and she is still hungry.. she is sorta toilet trained..lol.. when i take her outside on the grass i run her through my hands until she decides to poo.. i usually try to get her to poo when i can see a slight increase in size in front of her cloaca... as i wasnt to make sure she doesnt become impacted.. i feel aslong as she is pooping ok...i can feed her like i am.. her pooping sessions are almost always supervised...as i take her outside to poo when i think she needs it..

 

[swan91]

the bulge went down in 3 days after i fed her a medium/large rat... so im guessing that its the perfect size for her.. i just weighed her after her poop and she is now 600g!!! thats 4times heavier than what she was in January!! is she growing too fast? or is that ok? considering that she is 21/2 years old?

 

[user 25905]

hey AMS05, i have a 2 yr old male bredli, i feed him 1 large rat each week or until after he has pooed, as i understand if the food is there they will eat it as they can be greedy lol and wouldn't want them him bringing it back up if it doesn't fit...not nice to clean iv heard.

dont feel bad just think if you feed a kid too much their gonna get fat and/or sick.

just curious how does she look hungry? lol

when i first got my guy he wasn't very big (i dont think the guy fed him much as he had a fair few snakes) but after he started feeding he grew heaps quick.

heres a pic of the most recent i have...

 

[Torah]

nice bredli holden_man

and AMS05 my bredli would eat till they burst I think lol, never refused anything !

 

[user 25905]

nice bredli holden_man

and AMS05 my bredli would eat till they burst I think lol, never refused anything !

thanks Torah, btw how much trouble did you have getting yours off the clothesline? lol

exactly, their like a fat kid with cake

 

[Torah]

lol not much trouble , I just wait till their ready . Can make it afew hours but lol

 

[Tristan]

ah i find to get mine off lines and things like that i do a trick of getting letting the snake think its climbing onto another part but using my fingers to not let put it in a place where the snakes only option to move forward is to unwind its self.

and i think the satisfaction issue is self explanatory from the first word of your title .....do i need to add j/k? well better just to be safe ha

 

[swan91]

she is nowhere near the size of your bredli holdenman.. but she is getting there.. slowly.. ill try and get a pic of her on my clothes line..lol.. and see the comparison! i can tell she is hungry because she is always licking her lips!! lol.. nah just kidding.. well she is just in her little ambush pose on her stick.. waiting for a mouse to run by..lol.. she is in no way an agressive/defensive snake.... and once my hand is in her enclosure and she knows its not dinnertime she is fine to handle etc.. but if im rattling around in the kitchen etc.. she comes out of her hide and gets into strike position waiting for me to drop a mouse/rat in.. i just fed her a small/med rat, and two hopper rats, and she downed them in about 5 mins.. and im sure she could probably eat another few rats on top!! she just goes into a feeding frenzy..she never refuses anymore.. and i guess im just happy she is eating now.. i guess she is just playing catch up..

 

[user 25905]

i wouldnt worry about it, every one has their own ways and ideas about feeding although there is a general guideline, once every 10-14 days feed her the appropriate size rat/mouse and remember in the wild they can go weeks/months without food dont feel bad or slack about it, some people power feed and it is said that it reduces the life span.

but ofcourse it doesnt hurt to ask questions.

Josh.

 

[Cockney_Red]

My yearling Breds are on proper small rats, about 80 gms, 5ft long, and like all my morelia, they come down off the hoist, when they are ready....but only the Diamonds can climb up it...