Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have several Hondos ranging from 20-30 inches in length. All are housed in the same type of rack setup under the same conditions, same substrate (newspaper), etc. Most of them eat four-nine pinkie rats at a time every three-five days. The exception is one female who will eat only one pinkie rat at a time. She will eat one every day, but will not eat more than one each day. She's as long as the ones who eat nine at a time, she appears healthy. It's just odd. I've tried feeding her hopper mice, peach fuzzy mice. She refuses both. Also tried small adult mice. She accepted them twice, but never again. She used to eat 3-5 pinkies at a time, but stopped. I can't for the life of me think of anything that changed, or any stressor.
Any ideas?

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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

Hello,

If she is eating one rat pinky twice a week, then I think she is doing fine. In my humble opinion 4 to 9 rat pinkys at a time is to much food. We are feeding our yearlings one fuzzy to hopper sized mouse twice per week and they are all approaching 24 inches in length. I know of at least one case of hepaptic lipidosis in Hondurans, which basically was an over abundance of fat that caused the snakes organs to fail. Just because they will eat that many, does not mean that it is good for them. Good luck.
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Thanks!

Joe Exposito
Thoroughbred Exotics, LLC
www.thoroughbredexotics.com

Thank you, Joe.
I've always been a fan of your snakes and hope to add some to my collection sometime. Most of mine are from Don Shores, Tom Stevens and Shannon Brown.
While I've kept snakes since I was a little boy, I am new to the breeding scene. I was wondering at what size (length) do you usually first breed your Hondurans? Do they usually reach this size by their third year? Mine are all 06s and 07s. These are the two I got from Tom last summer (They're alot bigger now).

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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

We do not use a set weight or length because just like people, they are all individuals. The vast majority of ours breed at three years of age. We have had a few go at two years and a few that have not gone until the fourth year. It would be quite a bit easier on a male to breed at two for obvious reasons. We had a two year old female that was not cooled ovulate late last summer and she produced a very nice clutch, but this is not something we expect to see very often. It sounds like you have started a nice collection. Good luck with them.
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Thanks!

Joe Exposito
Thoroughbred Exotics, LLC
www.thoroughbredexotics.com