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  1. #11
    BPnet Veteran Malum Argenteum's Avatar
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    You've described the signs of a hungry BP well -- when they're in ambush mode. The cruising behavior is usually something different -- here, they're either looking for a mate or "uncomfortable" with something about the enclosure or about their whole situation.

    In the past 12 months mine accepted a meal 14 times. In the preceding 12 month period he accepted 21 meals, and during that period he took a four month break during April through July.

    I would recommend that all keepers of any snake(s) keep a record of at least feeding (what prey item offered and also whether they were accepted or rejected) and shedding; noting weights if you have them can be useful too. This objective data (rather than relying on memory that is tainted by some worry about the snake's current behavior) can really help troubleshoot and help a keeper understand their snake better. I use 3 x 5 cards (one for each snake) and just scribble the date and what the snake ate on that date; other keepers might like some electronic system.

    When I look at old feeding records I can see the "hunger strikes" as completely normal behavior for some snakes, and in a snake that has never taken such a long break from eating I can know whether to start looking for issues. I can look at patterns of refusal ("huh, never eats well for a month after I feed a medium rat"; "huh, never refused a pre-killed, ever"; "huh, stopped eating right after we got that new air conditioner") and figure out how to improve what I'm doing. And though this is more useful for younger snakes that keep to more regular patterns, knowing how often they shed and when the last shed was helps to give hints about whether I might not offer food right now because the snake is on schedule for a shed and it might go blue in a couple days.

  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Malum Argenteum For This Useful Post:

    Bogertophis (05-01-2024),GoingPostal (05-14-2024),Homebody (05-01-2024),Luvyna (05-02-2024)

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