Behavior-Based Feeding

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I have always fed snakes on a schedule. One mouse every Saturday. Or two mice every other week. So when I found a webinar on behavior-based feeding, it was a totally new concept to me. For snakes, at least. 

The basic idea is that you feed snakes when they're hungry, not on a predetermined schedule. Their behavior is key here. Are they moving around more than usual? Are they spending time in new areas?  Are they chasing after any sign of movement? These are all signs that they are hungry and looking for prey. It's time to eat!

Digger pokes her head out of her habitat door.
Is she hungry and searching for food?

A behavior-based feeding routine requires very careful observation of the snakes and knowing what is normal behavior and what's not. To get a baseline of "normal" for our snakes, Emory and Digger, I started recording observations to create an activity budget. 

Activity budgets are summaries of how an animal spends their time. So far, we've seen that Digger the hognose snake spends 89% of her time on the warm side of her habitat and her head is visible 48% of the time. This data will help me track what is normal for Digger, so when I see an unusual behavior, it might be time to feed her. 

The observations are so easy that Museum visitors can help contribute to the activity budgets, too! Next time you visit the Museum, scan the QR code on Digger's exhibit to add your observations of her behavior. The more data we have, the better we can understand their normal behaviors.

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