Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 questions, they are at the end of the post, scroll down if to skip the details behind my predicament.

My 5 yr old adult male albino retic came off of his winter/breeding period of refusing food and now has a bottomless pit for an appetite. He has also suddenly developed an aggressive attitude(hunger driven?) He has never had an aggressive response, even to food. A month ago I could easily handle him, let him run around the house, even helped him with some difficult shed spots. Now I have to block off his side of the cage in order to fill his water.

I was encouraged by my local retic/burmese breeder to feed him until he calmed. He is approx 14ft long and weighs 50 lbs. He ate 12 X-large rats and a 10lb rabbit in 9 day period. He is still striking at everything that moves in his area. We are running out of food sources.

First, is our tactic to feed until he is satisfied appropriate? If not, how much food to body weight should I shoot for?
Second, are there any risks to feeding him live chickens?
Lastly, is there any risk to feeding him slaughtered chicken that you can buy in a grocery store?

All my retics strike the front of their cages when I enter the room. Babies in racks sound like popcorn when I walk by. They have a conditioned feeding response. Your presence means food likely and they attempt to eat anything that moves or is warm.

This is the Retic

Now you need to make sure you have jump back room and prepare for a few lunges whenever you open the cage.use a hook to gently redirect them back and try touching them gently on the head. My retics will swipe and strike an average of 3 times at the hook, me etc and then realize that no food is coming and settle down and be handled starting with the hook once they stop responding to you and the hook in a hungry manner.

Whole Chickens can be fed but stats are bulky and nasty smelling.

Chickens also carry salmonella more than rodents.

No need to over feed as this is not the problem.

Chicken parts also carry salmonella potentially and do not offer full nutrition, though in the old days I used to slide in chicken legs as animal was finishing its rat.

Winslow

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Your advice has made dealing with him a lot more manageable.
I've had this guy for 5 yrs, since he was a new born. He's never acted like this before. I have him hook trained and he responds well to the tap. The behavior I am seeing is hugely different than anything before.
This year he went off feed for 3 months, longer than usual. He also looked leaner afterwards. I am guessing he is hungrier than usual and therefore having a stronger feeding response.
He also just went up in food size to large rabbits(10lbs). I was hoping to find ways of supplementing his diet with food that is easier to access.
You've given me a lot of information that helps ease my concerns and move forward in working with him.