Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so my male carpet has got back to eating for about a month now. I got him in the early month of Dec so this is a first for me. im up to feeding him one large rat every other day. I bet he would eat every day if I put one in the tank. he has been highly aggresive and even strikes the glass on the tank when im near it. so should I start an every day feeding schedule? is this aggressiveness normal? I mean I have to wait untill hes mid rat just to change his water and clean up the tank a bit.

Males go off feed during the colder winter months often, it's a breeding behavior. I wouldn't feed him nearly as much, eventually he's going to fill up and you'll have a snake that doesn't want to eat again.

Has he been aggressive since you got him? I've acquired a few very aggressive carpets and I'll normally leave them alone in their cage for a few weeks and then start handling them regularly to try to get them used to it (if thats your goal, anyways).

no, when I first got him it was in the cooler months and he wasnt eatin like you said. now thats all changed. he already got me once a couple weeks ago and like I said before he has a go at the glass when im near it thinking its food. when I toss in a rat in rarely hits the ground he gets it so fast. hes been eating every other day for the past month ( the largest rats I can get around here) and nothing has changed. in the cooler months when I first got him I did and could handle him with no isues. not the case no that hes eatin. this my first python and I do appreciate the help.

Carpets tend to be much snappier when they are in their cage on their perch. If you use a snake hook to get him out of the cage and then handle him a few times over the course of a few days, he will probably start to chill out.

The winter hunger strikes are normal and while you may want to feed heavily for a few weeks afterwords, feeding a rat every other day is too much at this point.