Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey SHvar,long time no post.My 5'(3 year old) female Blackthroat(Sweetpea)recently ate a LARGE rat.I always fed her 2-3 small rats,but felt like a bigger one was more economical(for both of us).Rodentpro had a sale and they were huge!Needless to say she ate it fine and had a hard time with the tail.Here's the question;She has crapped very little since.A small amount twice in a week.I haven't fed her since.3 small rats and 1-2 days to digest.I'm thinking of selling these and going back to smaller ones.Is this normal or should I switch back?I've never had this problem ever and I'm a little concerned.I guess after 20 years,you still learn from your mistakes.Thanks to anyone.Cheers to FR.

When monitors cosume very large meals, they will elevate their body temp to speed up the start of digestion. This may only be needed for a few minutes, (5 to 30) then they will go back to their normal range of temps.

If they do not have that elevated temperature available, then problems digesting can occur.

The problem in captivity is, we set the limits with normal tasks, not with exceptional tasks. Your temps may be great for the medium rats(breaking thru the hide) But not high enough to break thru a JUMBO rats hide, which is many times thicker.(the hide is only an example)

This is why we offer a wide range of temps, knowing full well, they may never have need for the upper limits of the range.

Where monitors live in nature always has temps above what they normally use. Interesting thought hey? FR

Brian...my bt eats large rats...for a long time i cut them up..now she seems to have no problem with them whole...i will say my crocs seem to adapt to large rats more easily..anyway,if you chop them up i'll bet that helps...good luck...billy

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From large chicken peeps, hissers, and jumbo mice that the time to digest is longer, the frequency of her crapping dropped to once every 3-6 days, instead of once every 2-3 days. She spends more time basking by far with large rats than with multiple smaller meals. Right after the long basking she heads underground where it is coolest.
I myself like the sale price from Rodentpro on large rats, in fact Sobeks 4ft 1 inch 11.5lb uncle (Shadow) eats the same large rats. Shadow burns them off faster than Sobek on average, of course he has been eating more lately.
Just make sure the temps are available for her to use. I believe Sobeks basking spot is now 134-140f (kinda hard to lower it much more with the size of her). Shadows is the same, and so is Zeus basking spot. I might raise the temps of all 3 as theyve used basking temps up to 174f or more at times.