Inactive after feeding

[luxxman]

Ok I just had my first feeding with my new corn and that seemed to go off with no problems at all. It only took about 15 minutes for the little guy to latch onto the pinkie and swallow it down.

My question is about normal behavior "after" feeding. Since I've only had him for a week I decided to do his first feeding in the viv to give him more time to get comfortable in his new home. He came out of his hide and ate, and then he went right back into his hide. From what I've read that is normal for them to do that. The problem is that I haven't seen the little guy come out of his hide since he ate. It has been about 48 hours now so I'm hoping he just needs 2 or 3 days to get out and about again. Is this normal for them to stay in hiding for this long after eating?

I can see inside of the hide enough to see him move a little and the "bump" has gone down a bit so maybe he's just digesting slowly and maybe I should give only a partial pinkie next feeding?

He is roughly 16 to 18 inches and about 3 months old so he's still just a little guy. I hope I'm just worrying too much and all will be well in another day or so.

[Joolz68]

Nibblet usually stays hidden for a few days while digesting dinner. :eatpointe He should be out anytime now.

From what I've read on this site, you should feed him something 1.5 times his wide part. Since he swallowed it down with no problem, :eatsmiley I wouldn't go down in size.

Temperature plays a big part in him digesting his food (needs warmth to get juices flowing). As long as the temps are within proper levels, you shouldn't worry. [don't I sound intelligent]

Keep us posted.

[luxxman]

Thanks for responding, being the first feeding and all I'm just being cautious and worrying about every little thing haha. Until I know all of his behaviors I'm going to worry everytime he does something I haven't encountered yet.

[sbourget]

Joolz68 is right about snakes being inactive after eating. They have to digest that big meal and so they will relax in a comfortable hiding place and pretty much do nothing for 24-48 hours. It's strongly recommended that you not attempt to handle them and minimize disturbances for 48 hours after a feeding, that way they get a chance to fully digest the meal without being stressed by a giant handling them.

[luxxman]

Yeah I knew about not handling them after eating from reading many posts on these boards. This is only the first week for him in a new home so I'm figuring on giving him another week before going for regular handling. He has enough going on with exploring his hides and tunnelling without having to worry about the big giant coming to play haha.

I also knew it would crawl away to the hide after eating but since it was my first feeding I had nothing to compare it with as far as how long it would take before it would become active again.

I'm just glad this board is here to help keep the worrying to a minimum lol.

[sbourget]

Well, enjoy your new snake, and don't be shy with any questions.

[luxxman]

Update! My little guy has started moving around again. I went to check on him today and all that has left in his hide was a little burrow hole towards the back of it lol. Of course foolish me kept looking all around trying to see anything moving so I could figure out where he was and the whole time he was just relocated into the hide on the cool side lol. His head was moving around in there so I'm figuring either tonight or tomorrow he'll be back to exploring and doing laps around the cage heh.

[gwb8568]

welcome to the site and the addicition. please post some pics when you get a chance. also, check out the link in my signature to answer any more questions that you may have and to learn alot more. enjoy. :)