Quote Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum View Post
I feed my adult male BP (16 years old, came to me as a hatchling; 2450 grams recently) when he's apparently hungry. I think feeding schedules for snakes are for keeper convenience (and ingrained habit from the way modern humans eat, which is often when the clock tells us to rather than when we're actually hungry); often best for the snake if the keeper learns how to read when they're hungry and use that as a guideline to when to offer food. Fortunately, this is a lot easier to do with BPs than with other snake species (much harder with colubrids).

With my male BP, sometimes he acts hungry every couple weeks and so that's how often I offer a meal. Sometimes he stays holed up and I tend to just leave him be; sometimes he cruises the enclosure for weeks and I double check the temp and moisture levels and if that's all fine I let him do his thing. If he goes a couple months without signaling that he's hungry, I might offer a meal just to confirm. I usually offer small FT rats; sometimes XL mice (I breed my own, and sometimes breeders get retired; I prefer rats for snakes that will take them).
Thanks for sharing this process, I agree that reading the signs of hunger is a good system! What do these "hunger signals" usually look like for your BP?

When mine was still growing, he would very clearly be waiting for food when he'd stick his head out of his hide a bit with his neck in an "s" shape in ambush position, however I rarely see him doing that now. He's usually out cruising around his enclosure or basking under his CHE at night, or he just stays in his hide.

Does your 16 year old BP also eat roughly just under 10 times per year?