how long does it take.......

[snakehunter]

from feeding to defacation, how long does it take for your snake to process a meal, bc some times it takes four days, and like this week it took two days, is that normal, i know that food size has a bit to do with it. thanx
-JACOB

[mango]

Amateur here but I think that it just varies. Food size, activity, temps and everything probably affect the time between meal and defacation. Someone else will have better info than me. :D Sorry I couldn't be more help!

[sapphire_moon]

My male takes 3 small rats before he defactes.....temps 90-95 hot side, 75-80 cool side. Usually active at night......

[Jeff_Favelle]

Mango is bang-on. It depends. Good answer.

[mykee]

I wouldn't worry. Mango hit the nail right on the head. Good call. I have had balls that crap two days after eating, and I've had a ball poop 9 weeks after having eaten his last of 9 mice. Don't sweat it; if you have good conditions, he'll be fine.

[Solid Snake]

look at humans, some crap everyday, some crap every once a week(true)

not every BP is the same. my BP doesn't shiit much at all which is a good thing, cuz i hate doing the dirty work!

[Invictus]

Prey size, in my experience, has NOTHING to do with how quickly the snakes digest. In fact, since we've upped both the prey size and number that we feed our corns, we've discovered that they are digesting faster, not slower. (All our corns get 2 LARGE adult mice now.. they used to get 1 regular sized.) I realize the question was for a BP, but the point is probably the same, since I've discovered this with my BCI as well. Activity and heat have more to do with the speediness of the digestion.

[Jeff_Favelle]

You said:

Prey size, in my experience, has NOTHING to do with how quickly the snakes digest


BUT, then you said:

In fact, since we've upped both the prey size and number that we feed our corns, we've discovered that they are digesting faster, not slower.


So wouldn't prey size have SOMETHING to do with speed of digestion?

Curious. You said it doesn't, but then you say it does (speeds it up)? Which is it?


And yes, bigger items take longer to digest. Digestion isn't necessarily sped up, but if it takes 5 hours at 95F to "digest and break down" 20g of rodent, it will take 25 hours for 100g, and so on and so on and so son...........

[Invictus]

Sorry, I phrased that poorly. It was late when I posted it. My point was, I don't think the two are related. By upping the prey size, you'd *think* the digestion would be slower; but it isn't. The fact that their digestion has sped up could be related to anything. Maybe it's because it's summer time, and my house is near boiling point. All I'm saying is, we've almost tripled the amount of food we give them (double the number, and increased size on each mouse), and they are still FULLY digested in one week. So, shouldn't it be taking 3 weeks for them to digest, since it took them 1 week with a single, smaller mouse? According to your logic, it should. But it doesn't.

And I'm not your son. :)

[Jeff_Favelle]

I said bigger items. NOT 3 of the same sized items. Completely different.

[Linds]

It also has to do with the individuals metabolism. You'll find that often babies will tend to defecate more than adults do. Although just because a snake defecates even a day after their meal, even snakes with super high metbolismsn typically cant digest that fast - its one or more of the past meals it has had, and the previous meal is still to be fully digested.