Feeding+Tub question

[barbie.dragon]

1. I know some of you guys feed live and you advocate feeding smaller prey often rather than a large meal over a longer period of time. I went to the vet and found out my snake is a little... Chubby. Should I feed her maybe 10% every 7 days? What size prey do you live feeders "max out" at meaning what is the largest live rat do you feed your snakes?

2. I put my ball python in a tub and now she wont go in her hide.... Is that what happened to your ball pythons?

3. Not a question but wow crested geckos are adorable.... Can you house a pair or trio in a 18x18x24
and can you house a baby crested in a 18x18x18? How long will it take for them to outgrow that? Well i guess this was a question....

[satomi325]

1. I know some of you guys feed live and you advocate feeding smaller prey often rather than a large meal over a longer period of time. I went to the vet and found out my snake is a little... Chubby. Should I feed her maybe 10% every 7 days? What size prey do you live feeders "max out" at meaning what is the largest live rat do you feed your snakes?

I just eye ball it. I don't really follow the 10-15% thing.
I compare the size of the rat to the widest girth on the snake. A little bit larger or smaller is ok.

And for a live prey size, I feed smalls exclusively to my adults once a week. A medium might sneak up into the feeder grow outs time to time.
But I wouldn't feed a live rat any larger than a medium.

Snakes below 500 grams feed every 4-5 days. Snakes above 500 grams get fed 7-10 days.

2. I put my ball python in a tub and now she wont go in her hide.... Is that what happened to your ball pythons?

Yes and No. Some will use the hide I provide them with, others feel secure enough just to chill out of the hide. But all of my tubs are in an enclosed rack, so the rack also doubles as a giant hide. And those without hides, just hide under the newspaper substrate.

[barbie.dragon]

I just eye ball it. I don't really follow the 10-15% thing.
I compare the size of the rat to the widest girth on the snake. A little bit larger or smaller is ok.

And for a live prey size, I feed smalls exclusively to my adults once a week. A medium might sneak up into the feeder grow outs time to time.
But I wouldn't feed a live rat any larger than a medium.

Snakes below 500 grams feed every 4-5 days. Snakes above 500 grams get fed 7-10 days.


Yes and No. Some will use the hide I provide them with, others feel secure enough just to chill out of the hide. But all of my tubs are in an enclosed rack, so the rack also doubles as a giant hide. And those without hides, just hide under the newspaper substrate.

Yeah my snake just hit 500 grams. I think she's gaining weight a little too fast... She just turned 5 months and she's at 503 grams. Every 10 days should be good for me I guess! All the rats I have are at 55-70 grams so they should be big enough for the rest of her life? Unless she grows to like a monstrous 5000 grams or soemthing but I doubt it

[BoostedMX3]

500 grams at 5 months.. Wow I believe according To the card I got from the breeder mine was born 8-6-12 unless I'm reading it wrong... Weighed in tonight at 151g

Either yours is a fatty or mine is skinny..

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What size prey do you live feeders "max out" at meaning what is the largest live rat do you feed your snakes?

Adult males get a small rat each week (that about 60/70 grams), adult females get a small medium rats once a week 80 to about 120 grams (yes even my 3500 grams breeder girls)

2. I put my ball python in a tub and now she wont go in her hide.... Is that what happened to your ball pythons?

It can happen tubs offer a sense of security which sometime translate in the snake no longer using it's hide.

3. Not a question but wow crested geckos are adorable.... Can you house a pair or trio in a 18x18x24
and can you house a baby crested in a 18x18x18? How long will it take for them to outgrow that? Well i guess this was a question

I recommend to house cresties individually when young, while you can house 2 or 3 geckos of the same size together, when young one might get bullied preventing access to food.

As adults so long you do not house 2 males together, and the animal you will house together are of the same size you will be fine in most cases.

I would also not recommend to house a male and a female at all time, 1# you do not want the female to breed before proper weight, 2# when she does start breeding you want to give her a break (remember female will lay 2 eggs every 4 weeks even long after the male is removed)

Hathlings until about 10 grams can be house in a 12 quarts tub and you can house a group of 2 or 3 adults in a 40 gallons breeder. For hatchlings you do not want to put them in an enclosure that is to big if you do they might have issues finding their food.

[barbie.dragon]

500 grams at 5 months.. Wow I believe according To the card I got from the breeder mine was born 8-6-12 unless I'm reading it wrong... Weighed in tonight at 151g

Either yours is a fatty or mine is skinny..

Mine was born on August 24, 2012. Here's a picture:

Adult males get a small rat each week (that about 60/70 grams), adult females get a small medium rats once a week 80 to about 120 grams (yes even my 3500 grams breeder girls)

It can happen tubs offer a sense of security which sometime translate in the snake no longer using it's hide.

I recommend to house cresties individually when young, while you can house 2 or 3 geckos of the same size together, when young one might get bullied preventing access to food.

As adults so long you do not house 2 males together, and the animal you will house together are of the same size you will be fine in most cases.

I would also not recommend to house a male and a female at all time, 1# you do not want the female to breed before proper weight, 2# when she does start breeding you want to give her a break (remember female will lay 2 eggs every 4 weeks even long after the male is removed)

Hathlings until about 10 grams can be house in a 12 quarts tub and you can house a group of 2 or 3 adults in a 40 gallons breeder. For hatchlings you do not want to put them in an enclosure that is to big if you do they might have issues finding their food.

Yeah I was thinking about having 2 girls in an exo terra 18x18x24 or something. Thanks for the info!

[Capray]

You want your snake to be fat! For a BP at least....


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[C&H Exotic Morphs]

500 grams at 5 months.. Wow I believe according To the card I got from the breeder mine was born 8-6-12 unless I'm reading it wrong... Weighed in tonight at 151g

Either yours is a fatty or mine is skinny..

So she is 5 1/2 months old and only 150 grams? That seems fairly underweight. Do you have any pics we could see?

To the OP 500 grams at 5 months just sounds like very good feeder to me! It might be bigger than average, but it is tough to really overfeed and make a hatchling/juvenile BP unless you're powerfeeding them. And it sounds like you are only feeding on a 7 day feeding schedule.
Plus they will all grow at their own rate.

[satomi325]

Sounds like the OP just has a fantastic feeder.
One of my girls gained about 100 grams a month and was about 500 grams at 5 months. She reached 1300 grams in a year. All my other girls who were born in the same month or a month older are half her size.

You want your snake to be fat! For a BP at least....


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Not too fat! Obesity in any kind of animal is unhealthy.
And overweight breeding females are known to slug out more.

[barbie.dragon]

Yeah she really really likes to eat. But admittedly she's been losing muscle definition so time for miss piggy to eat smaller meals haha

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