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Registered User
Twice a week feeding?
My snake, who is close to two years old (possibly more) was neglected by his previous owners. Rarely fed, and when he was fed it was a hopper mouse. He fits in the palm of my hand and the widest part of his body is about two inches or less. He currently eats two hopper mice a week in the same sitting- I had a bunch of hoppers and didn't want to waste them.) . A fairly experienced friend of mine said that I could try a rat pup twice a week Instead of once, just until his spine stops sticking out. Is that overkill, no pun intended? And are pups too small? I read on this forum that hoppers are too small- are rat pups too small as well?
Sorry if this is a stupid question. I just want to make sure he's not over or underfed. And that being said, I must go because he's climbing into my pants.
p.s. Regardless I plan to switch him to a more typical feeding schedule; right now I just want to get some weight on him
Last edited by m1lkhoney; 08-21-2016 at 09:47 PM.
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Re: Twice a week feeding?
Grab a scale (like a kitchen scale, or mail scale, you want something that hits up go 3lbs), weigh the snake, weigh the food. Make sure the food is 10-15% the snake's body weight and feed it weekly. It will bounce back and grow to the correct size over time.
Alternatively offer it 1 food item weekly as wide as the widest part of the snake. Same idea as before, less need for a scale.
Last edited by Oxylepy; 08-21-2016 at 09:57 PM.
Ball Pythons 1.1 Lesser, Pastel
1.0 Lesser Pastel, 0.0.7 mixed babies
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Registered User
When they're small (up to 300-500g, depending how fast you want to grow him), you can feed every 5 days, if you want. But no rush. An appropriately sized feeder once a week will do the job too.
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If the snake is underweight and undersized, feeding it normally could potentially shock its system and you could lose the snake. A small meal once every 7 days until the snake puts on some weight will be sufficient. I would slowly work the snake up to regular-sized meals.
If he isn't significantly underweight or undersized, you should be fine feeding normal-sized meals weekly, but slow and steady is imperative for emaciated animals. If the snake really is 2+ years old and fits in your palm, it is definitely very small, and I'd be careful with feeding.
8.3 Boa imperator ('15 sunglow "Nymeria," '11 normal "Cloud," '16 anery motley "Crona," '10 ghost "Howl," '08 jungle "Dominika," '22 RC pastel hypo jungle "Aleister," '22 pastel normal "Gengar," '22 orangasm hypo "Daemon," '22 poss jungle "Jinzo," '22 poss jungle "Calcifer," '22 motley "Guin")
1.4 Boa imperator; unnamed '22 hbs
3.3 Plains garter snakes
1.2 checkered garter snakes (unnamed)
~RIP~
2.2 Brazilian rainbow boa ('15 Picasso stripe BRBs "Guin" and "Morzan, and '15 hypo "Homura", '14 normal "Sanji")
1.0 garter snake ('13 albino checkered "Draco")
1.0 eastern garter ('13 "Demigod)
0.0.1 ball python ('06 "Bud")
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Registered User
Thanks for all the advice. He's been eating every Thursday since May and seems to handle it okay. Maybe once every five days is a decent compromise.
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Registered User
Re: Twice a week feeding?
If you feed one properly sized rodent once a week, your bp should put on weight with no issues. If you could feed him rats (which are larger), he'll put on the weight.
Power feeding can cause too things:
1) am inconsistent eater
2) a fat snake.
Your snake should feel muscular without any scales protruding. There is no rush to get him up to weight.
Also, even if your snake turns out to be a mouser, it's not as big of a deal, assuming it's in fact a male.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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BPnet Veteran
I agree with Willowy, every 5 days for a month or two would be fine. Then increase rat size and go back to every 7 days.
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