Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our ball has been eating regularly like clock work. A small rat every week unless he's getting ready to shed. How can you tell weather to offer another rat or do i just try and see if he will take it? thanks

How big is your snake? How big is the rat? Does he/she behave as if he/she is still hungry. You could try another rat and see.
-----
Jay A. Martin

He is about 460gms. Giving him small rats. How do you know if he is still hungry. Should I just offer another rat right after the first one or wait a couple of days and feed him twice a week instead of once? Sorry for all the ?'s but we are new to this and thanks for the help.

When I first got my snake I was curious about the same thing. I just watched his behavior for a few weeks and noticed that when he was hungry he would become very active. He's typically only active at night, but when he is hungry he will roam often during the day. Every snake is different, but you may be able to pick up on something that will tip you off.
It is ok to try and feed him another meal, but I would try waiting a few days in between. If you aren't feeding frozen/thawed, make sure you remove the rat after a few minutes if the snake doesn't eat it. Rodents will gnaw on snakes that aren't feeding, sometimes causing severe injury.
Good luck

Thanks. That is what prompted this question; he devours the rats and acts like he could do more. I was wondering if it is better to try with a few days in between or one right after the other. We give him fresh killed using co2 but he has eaten F/T before as well so rodent injuries are not a problem.

I would suggest one after the other. Unless feedings are spaced out much farther like once every 2 weeks.
-----
Jay A. Martin

OK will try it at the next feeding. Thanks.

the downside to trying one right after the other at the same feeding is that if the snake isn't willing to feed right away you could potentially end up with a wasted rodent. If you are feeding F/T re-freezing could cause the rodent (at the next time it's thawed) to have a bad taste to the snake and he may not be interested.
Either way it's up to you to decide.
As an extra thought, when my snake started eating two mice, I switched to feeding small rats as they were a bit larger than two mice. When I did that he slowed his meals to once every two weeks. Once he starts feeding every week again, I may move him up to medium rats, etc.