feeding during shed

[sapphire_moon]

Why shouldn't you feed during shed? I have always heard that you should NOT feed your BP during shed...and I was wondering why? Is it becuase they can't see and might hurt themself? I can't think of anyother reason at the time. I always feed my male BP on a regular schedule no matter shed or not.......and he has done fine.....the only problem I had with that is he tries to take the prey item from the middle.....or he misses when he strikes....Prana is going into shed and I want to be able to keep her on her schedule....Thanks for the info!

[mango]

My snake eats during shed as well so I guess I'm no help...again. LOL :D

[sapphire_moon]

lol......it's ok...no one has answered it, so I guess the only danger is not being able to see and biting himself/ or hitting the side of the tank when he strikes.....lol :)

[MontyPython]

Yeah, i feed mine during shed also, he's fine

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

SAPPIREMOON:

Not sure why the "myth" on feeding during shedding for Ball Pythons but check out these posts I did today. There you will see my 4 Ball Pythons after I feed them minutes after to take photos of. Look in:

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=35

I got 5 posts where you can see every animal was a photo after a feeding and some were in shed.

Cya...

Tony

[Invictus]

I've actually used feeding as a means to induce shedding with some of our more stubborn snakes. It works like a charm. One of our corns was not shedding as quickly as I had liked, so I gave him 2 mice, and as soon as he got back into his terrarium, he started rubbing up against things to shed. Same with our BCI. Most snakes will eat at any time during the shed cycle.

On the flip side, if you feed a big enough prey item, the lump in the belly might make it hard for the skin to come off. If our Kenyans are in shed, for example, we don't feed them. But the rest of the colubrids and boids are fine.

[mango]

So would you suggest small prey during shed or would you say not worry about it?? It's not like she's going to have a huge lump if she eats an adult mouse which is a larger meal for her. Just askin! :D

[marisa]

Ball Pythons can eat adult mice from birth so it's definitly not too large. I think the whole don't feed during shed thing came about because some snakes, ball pythons or no, just prefer not to eat during this time. But most have no issues with it. My ball never eats during a shed cycle. I have offered but she just looks at it. So now I just wait until it's over. But if yours eats, go for it.

Marisa

[sapphire_moon]

Thanks for the advice.....!!!!