Under weight Female

[Flood92]

Hey Guys, my girl is (supposed to be) 8 months, ive had her three weeks, shes fed 3 times for me no issues. She is only 228g. The breeder says she never had any issues eating, but did say he held off feeding her for 2 weeks before i got her to hopefully get her to eat well for me, does that makes sense? Currently she is eating large mice, the last one she ate was 2 days ago and was 21g. Im thinking of moving her to rat pups and bumping the feedings to every 5 days, do you think this is a good idea?

Also note; she doesn't look unhealthy by any means, no loose skin or anything.
Cheers

[bcr229]

I wouldn't worry about it as long as she's eating and growing, and doesn't look thin. They grow at different rates.

I would definitely get her switched over to rat pups sooner rather than later.

[chrid16371]

Feeding every 5 days is up to you. I feed my 2 every 5 days but it's only bc I know there hungry by there behavior. My 275g killer bee wants to eat every 3 but I think that's a bit much so she has to tuff it out 2 more days lol. For switching her prey that is no problem but make sure the pup is about as big around as your snake is. You can also weigh the rodent and feed the 10%-15% of your snakes weight, so at 228g your snake should be eating a rodent about 22.8g-34.2g. I usually do 10% every 5 days, but once in awhile they get one closer to 15%. If I was feeding 15% every feeding I personally would feed every 7 bc they would be eating more.

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[Scottywelsh]

If she doesn't seem unhealthy then she's just growing at her own rate. But yeah I would get her on rats as soon as possible and I feed mine every 5 days if they will take it which they pretty much always do.
If I'm not mistaken if they feed on mice they don't tend to grow that quick.

[Flood92]

Feeding every 5 days is up to you. I feed my 2 every 5 days but it's only bc I know there hungry by there behavior. My 275g killer bee wants to eat every 3 but I think that's a bit much so she has to tuff it out 2 more days lol. For switching her prey that is no problem but make sure the pup is about as big around as your snake is. You can also weigh the rodent and feed the 10%-15% of your snakes weight, so at 228g your snake should be eating a rodent about 22.8g-34.2g. I usually do 10% every 5 days, but once in awhile they get one closer to 15%. If I was feeding 15% every feeding I personally would feed every 7 bc they would be eating more.

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She usually looks hungry at 5 days, poking her head out, looking around, then hits the mouse as soon as i show her lol, she definitely has girthed up since i got her

[chrid16371]

She usually looks hungry at 5 days, poking her head out, looking around, then hits the mouse as soon as i show her lol, she definitely has girthed up since i got her

Then go ahead and feed her every 5 days then. Glad to hear she's eating and growing! If you can buy the pups local then take a scale with if you have one and weigh the ones you buy and IMO you should get ones closer to the 10% range since you will be feeding every 5 instead of 7. My logic for that is you were feeding twice every 14 days and now you will be feeding 3 times every 15 so she will get a extra rat every in 2 weeks so you should keep it on the light end so she is not over fed. One closer to 15% once in awhile won't hurt. This logic of mine of course is my opinion but bps tend to be overfed in captivity so that's why I say keep it on the lighter side of the % rule.

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[Flood92]

Then go ahead and feed her every 5 days then. Glad to hear she's eating and growing! If you can buy the pups local then take a scale with if you have one and weigh the ones you buy and IMO you should get ones closer to the 10% range since you will be feeding every 5 instead of 7. My logic for that is you were feeding twice every 14 days and now you will be feeding 3 times every 15 so she will get a extra rat every in 2 weeks so you should keep it on the light end so she is not over fed. One closer to 15% once in awhile won't hurt. This logic of mine of course is my opinion but bps tend to be overfed in captivity so that's why I say keep it on the lighter side of the % rule.

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I think this sounds great, I have to drive about an hour to get rat pups, as my local store wont bring in rats for whatever reason, but i always wanted to move her to rats.
I was happy when i found out the % guidelines so i have something to go by other than her girth. i think we definitely like to spoil them no way they are coming across 5-6 rats a month in the wild lol!

[Flood92]

My story continues.. I drove an hour to the Rat supplier, as she told me she had Pups. I get there, she had no pups. Only what she said were "between" pups and weanlings. She didn't have a scale so i pretty well eyeballed it and hoped for the best. I get home and weighed one, they are 51g each.

I still have one Adult Mouse to feed, which will be Tuesday (they are slightly smaller than her girth and dont usually leave a belly bump), and hoping by next week she will be up to 280-300g, then these rats will be 17-18% of her body weight. Next feeding i will lay the rat beside her to see size.

Do you guys think 17-18% is too big, should i supplement with a couple more adult mouse feedings till she is over 300g?

Thanks for all the help!

[chrid16371]

51g is about a small rat. Another thing I did before I bought a scale is take a string and put it around the snakes widest part and then hold it where they meet and then take it off and cut it and then put it around the rat and if it's close then it will be ok. But if the string about fits being 17%-18% I wouldn't feed every 5 days.

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[Flood92]

51g is about a small rat. Another thing I did before I bought a scale is take a string and put it around the snakes widest part and then hold it where they meet and then take it off and cut it and then put it around the rat and if it's close then it will be ok. But if the string about fits being 17%-18% I wouldn't feed every 5 days.

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That is a great idea thank you!
Sorry, i forgot to mention, if she can eat these i would pull back to once a Week