Hello all I recently purchased a adult male FWC. I have a few questions/concerns and was hoping someone with more info on this species can educate me. I have been researching these snakes for at least 3 months now before I purchased him.I know the hazards and precautions necessary. I handle him like a WARM snake,using snake hook for removal from cage. Careful when handling him. He does seem pretty docile but i am always trying to stay alert. Well onto my questions/concerns:



When i picked up my FWC from the reptile store they had fed it that day Which was Thursday 1/03/08..I could tell it had a big spot in its belly, they let me know they fed it a Medium Rat. Now this past tuesday 1/08/08( This is the normal day I feed all my other snakes/reptiles) I bought a Medium Rat for him. Well I took him out of his cage and put him into a tub then introduced the rat. He seemed scared and musked or pee'd inside the tub. He did not seem interested in feeding at that time. So I removed him and put him back into his cage. Later that day i put the rat inside of his cage to see if this would help, he struck at it then backed away. He did not wrap it or anything. Again I pulled the rat out and put it into a glass tank over night. Each day I have put the rat back in still with no luck. He may strike at it but won't eat. On friday I again put the rat inside, this time he struck at it and wrapped it up a bit. I heard the rat squealing and thought finally he is eating. About 15 minutes later I looked and he let the rat go and it was still alive.



My question is How Often should I feed him? ( I was told medium rats were a good size for him)



What size rat should I be feeding him? (He is about 5.5 Feet to almost 6 foot long and pretty thick. At least as thick as the rat was at his largest size)



What Temps should I be keeping the Hot and Cold sides of the cage at? And could this be the problem? (The hot spot of the cage was 96 degrees on friday and the cool side was about 80 degrees, the Night temp drops down a bit about 75 when i have checked after the lights were off.)



He has a Big water bowl he can fully submerge into. He cruises around the cage pretty often and other times bask in the spot heat bulb area. Well thanks for you time in advance..










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