Rat Snack Fever

It has been weeks between feedings, 5 weeks and 5 days to be exact.

Jolene repeatedly refused my offerings of juicy rats, which wasted us $20! (that was 2 large rats). I recently got her a medium sized rat at Hoffer's for $7.00, which I suppose isn't bad if she only gets hungry every 5 weeks or so.

The last time she ate was after shedding. I figured she'd be hungry once she slept for a week and used all her energy to shed. I was right, she ate right away. So three weeks later I tried feeding her and she ignored it. Then a week later she did the same thing. I guess she wasn't hungry, she was however getting very active at night which I thought that meant she was on the prowl.

Then one day I noticed something different about her. She looked hungry. How does a snake look hungry? I've read that a sign that a snake is hungry is that they will stare at you with a tight "S" shaped neck. That's exactly what I saw.

She was also awake in the middle of the day which is unusual because ball pythons are nocturnal. I was in her room so I checked on her. I figured she'd be curled up sleeping, but she wasn't. She was in her hide with her head poking out. Her body was definitely S shaped, her head was hovering, and she was staring me down.

I got the rat out of the freezer and thawed it. Of course the bag leaked and the rat got all wet. I set it on the floor and propped her emitter heater in front of it to dry it a little. When I stood up, Jolene was halfway out of her hide watching me, it was kind of spooky! Maybe she could already smell the rat.

I'll definitely pay more attention to her body language next time to tell if she's hungry. She was real jerky watching my every move, and her head was constantly hovering. So I plopped the rat in her cage. She stared at it for probably 5 minutes before approaching it. She'd then back off and go towards it a few times. Finally she striked, and slowly pulled it into her hide to devour it.

WARNING: graphic pictures of predation ahead!

A nice shot of her hovering. She usually has a long relaxed body.

Locked in on the kill.

Another good example of a tight "S" shaped neck.

Strike!

Slowly dragging it away...

 ...while eating.

 Brought it into her hide, maybe for privacy. I wasn't having any of that!

 Down the hatch.

 All done.