What size?

[ARBallMorphs]

hey everyone,

My female Lesser Pastel is now just over a 1000 grams and i was wondering if the F/T rats i feed her are the right size.

so i was wondering how big/much do you guys feed to a 1000 gram female?

here are 2 photo's after her most recent shed om 03-12-2015





thanks,

Andrew

[Albert Clark]

Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck

[rlditmars]

I usually feed rat smalls until they reach at least 1100 grams. Then I bump the females up to rat mediums. One every 7 to 10 days should suffice throughout their life unless you are trying to accelerate her growth, then you can keep her feeding schedule to every 6 to 7 days. Once she reaches between 1500 and 2000 grams there is no need to feed her more often then once a week. In fact that might be more than she requires.

[200xth]

Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck

That 15% to 20% rule is mostly for hatchlings.

I personally don't feed a 1000g snake anything bigger than a 60g to 65g rat (or that ballpark).

[Stewart_Reptiles]

By those 10% / 15% figures we would be talking about a 400 to 600 grams rat for a 4000 gram female, a 250 to 375 grams rat for a 2500 grams female

An animal eating a 250 grams rat would be sluggish and uncomfortable for days and likely to eat only once every 3 to 4 weeks, that's old school feeding. (though some people even used to feed small rabbits)

BP are already overfed in captivity and that kind of feeding is not something I would recommend.

For a snake to eat with consistency year round I recommend feeding smaller preys, anything around 1000 grams here gets something in the 55/75 grams range depending if it's a male or female, and I skip a week here and there as well.

And I never feed anything larger than 150 grams rats even to my 4000 grams female.

Sure they can eat more but it does not mean that it is good for them, there metabolism slows down tremendously as they age and food intake should decrease.

[Eric Alan]

Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck

Please don't give this percentage recommendation for anything outside of a hatchling to ~500 grams. I'm guessing you don't have much experience with 1000g+ ball pythons or 200 gram rats - a rat that size is HUGE for this size BP (it's huge for most BPs).

Personally, I feed a ~10-15% meal every 4 days until they're about 500 grams.
Then, I switch to feeding a small rat (50-90 grams) weekly until they're about 1500 grams.
Females over 1500 grams get switched to medium rats (90-140 grams) - males stay on smalls.
I only consider feeding anything larger than a medium rat (f/t only) to the biggest girls over 3000 grams, and that's rare.

[ARBallMorphs]

I want to thank everyone that gave me an answer,

i knew about the 10-15% rule for hatchlings till +/- 500 gram.

going by the rest of the answers it seems i have been doing ok, i have been feeding rats of about 70/80 grams 1 every 7 days unless she is in shed then she doesnt get any

1 other question, how likely is it she will be 1500+ by the end of this year if she keeps eating?

[Eric Alan]

1 other question, how likely is it she will be 1500+ by the end of this year if she keeps eating?

If she keeps eating, it's very likely - but keeping eating is the catch. 1000 gram females are notorious for messing with your head.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

1 other question, how likely is it she will be 1500+ by the end of this year if she keeps eating?

If she keep eating she will likely get there by the end of the year but it's hard to guarantee that she will keep eating, around the size she is now they often hit a wall so it doesn't always turn out the way we hope for.

[NIGRO51]

Seems like too many people around here are in a rush to breed. This is not a get rich quick sceme. These are live animals we are talking about..