Feeding Questions!!!

[Ladybugzcrunch]

I got my digital scale in the mail yesterday and used it right away to weigh my BP's. I have had them since September and they have grown a noticeable amount since then. I am pretty sure the female was right out of the egg and had only eaten one or maybe two times. The male was a bit larger and had more than four feedings in him. Both were sent home in the small sized plastic container with lid commonly used at reptile shows. The female pastel weighs in at 150.2 grams and the male spider 220.4 grams. Does that sound like a good weight to all you experts based on the info I provided above? What about feeding them. How often and how big should I offer? Seems the male will grab and eat anything (mouse wise) F/T, live, jumbo, adult, etc. I have never tried rats. The female has been a bit more picky all along and at first would not take a white mouse. Now she takes any color and will kill anything but leaves jumbo mice after "killing" them, even if they are F/T. Now that I can weigh my prey also, I want to be as spot on with their intake as possible. What size feed would you offer them and how often? BTW, I would not mind if the female caught up with the male by offering a bit less than he needed for maximum growth rate but I do not want to do anything that will compromise his health.

[PitOnTheProwl]

They all grow at different rates.
Two of my normals are the same age and one is almost 100g larger than the other.

[Alexandra V]

The weight of your snakes isn't as important as the overall look. If they have a sort of "triangular" shape to them, they're underweight. They should look voluptuous and curvy, if you will.

As for feeding, the rule of thumb is that the prey should be about as big around as your snake at its widest point, or the prey item should weigh 10% - 15% of your snake's weight. I prefer to feed young ones every five days until they get up to about 400g ish.

If your male isn't picky, I don't think he'd have a hard time switching to rats, which I would recommend doing because it's more convenient when your snake gets bigger. Your female would grow faster on rats too because they're a lot meatier.

My advice: try them on a rat about the same size as the mice that they'll eat consistently, and try thawing the rat out in a bag with a mouse or two at the same time, so that it'll smell like mouse for the first couple times.

BTW, I would not mind if the female caught up with the male by offering a bit less than he needed for maximum growth rate but I do not want to do anything that will compromise his health.

Now about this. Your snakes don't need to be the same weight, they all grow differently. I'm not sure I understand... You'd like to bring the male's weight down by feeding less to match the female's?

I don't believe that's a good plan for you or your snake. You're better off to just feed them on a five day schedule with appropriately sized prey and just let them grow at their own weight. Your female should catch up to the male in weight, as females are usually larger than males, so she might have just been a slow starter.

Making a snake lose weight is not really a good idea, especially when they're so young.

[Ladybugzcrunch]

Now about this. Your snakes don't need to be the same weight, they all grow differently. I'm not sure I understand... You'd like to bring the male's weight down by feeding less to match the female's?

I don't believe that's a good plan for you or your snake. You're better off to just feed them on a five day schedule with appropriately sized prey and just let them grow at their own weight. Your female should catch up to the male in weight, as females are usually larger than males, so she might have just been a slow starter.

Making a snake lose weight is not really a good idea, especially when they're so young.

Okay I just reread my post and I should clarify. DO do not want the male to loose weight. I would like the female to gain a little bit more rapidly than the male. I want her to pass him in weight eventually. I want this to be a slow process as to not comprimise his health by underfeeding or hers by power feeding. I won't do anything that harms the animal.

[Alexandra V]

Okay I just reread my post and I should clarify. DO do not want the male to loose weight. I would like the female to gain a little bit more rapidly than the male. I want her to pass him in weight eventually. I want this to be a slow process as to not comprimise his health by underfeeding or hers by power feeding. I won't do anything that harms the animal.

Okay, now I get the picture. Your female will eventually surpass your male in weight, it's just a matter of time. If you feed them the right sized prey every five days things will even out as they're supposed to. That's the best route in my opinion, and you won't power feed.

[hops523]

Okay I just reread my post and I should clarify. DO do not want the male to loose weight. I would like the female to gain a little bit more rapidly than the male. I want her to pass him in weight eventually. I want this to be a slow process as to not comprimise his health by underfeeding or hers by power feeding. I won't do anything that harms the animal.

Then just feed them on a five day schedule like suggested. Like it was said before, they ALL grow at different rates. Usually females end up larger than males anyway, so just watch them grow.

[TheWinWizard]

As already stated, just feed them normally, nature will do the rest.

[Ladybugzcrunch]

So I should be feeding a 15-22 gram mouse/rat to the 150 gram snake and a 22-33 gram mouse/rat to the 220 gram snake every five days. Is that right? I was not aware that male snakes would be sexually mature so much earlier than the females when I bought the pair. Of course I find out right after I obtain them. Its okay though because I got a killer deal on them, $200 for the pair. Spider has no noticeable wobble.

[Alexandra V]

So I should be feeding a 15-22 gram mouse/rat to the 150 gram snake and a 22-33 gram mouse/rat to the 220 gram snake every five days. Is that right? I was not aware that male snakes would be sexually mature so much earlier than the females when I bought the pair. Of course I find out right after I obtain them. Its okay though because I got a killer deal on them, $200 for the pair. Spider has no noticeable wobble.

Yup, that sounds about right to me. Congrats on the wicked deal and good luck with the spider, hope it stays wobble-free!

[PitOnTheProwl]

I was not aware that male snakes would be sexually mature so much earlier than the females when I bought the pair. Of course I find out right after I obtain them.

2 years is a hard wait