Feeding size - did i buy too big?

[alexcessive]

hey guys! so i have a bp, she's about 12 years old and was technically a rescue: her old owner only ever fed her medium live mice every two weeks to a month. i got her around Sept. 2015, and since switched her to f/t rats (she was an incredibly easy switch but don't ask me to repeat that mircale lol), she's grown about 400g (jan - april '16 she was on strike, and hasn't had one since). she's now over 1500g and was taking three medium rats at last feed. if i didn't feed her at least three, she'd be stuck in strike mode so fierce i couldn't even get near her water dish!

last week i went to the local reptile show and bought some large frozen feeder rats, since her weight's been pretty stable and she was eating so many medium mice i figured it was time to up her. however now that i got these large rats, they almost seem too large? they're a bit bigger than the thickest part of her, which everything i read says that's the adequate size, but feeding charts i've seen seem split: some say you don't feed them large unless they're 1800g+ while others say 1500g+.

i guess i'm still just a little worried, she's currently my first and only bp, and my mind instantly just jumps to worst-case scenarios of this ravenous noodle hurting herself trying to cram this rodent-godzilla in her gob. (especially considering she was pretty underfed for a decade)

[montymiow]

If it's only a bit bigger than the widest she'll be fine, a lot of people feed 10-15% of the snakes body weight. I feel if she was taking 3 medium mice then there would barely be an issue digesting a large, I'm not sure about where you are but a medium to a large here isn't a huge jump . They tend to stay in feeding mode a good while after eating, my female would eat until she exploded given the chance lol.

[alexcessive]

thank you! i'll keep in mind about the 10-15% rule actually, that seems a much better way of keeping track of proper feeding size and yeah, the jump from medium to large was big enough for me to worry, but i just weighed one and it came up at 175g (so, 11% of her current weight- perfect!). i guess these guys look a lot bigger than they are, but i'll still keep an eye on her during her first time with them. (she usually shies up pretty quickly after eating! she might poke out curiously if it's shortly after, but this instance was like full-on strike mode for a solid day. she tried to grab a paper towel roll! what a nut)

[Sauzo]

Pythons can eat huge food. Only slightly larger than her thickest part is plenty fine. My 1630g girl eats a medium rat once a week.

Are you sure you are giving medium rats? If she took 3 in 1 sitting, that is ALOT. Since it sounds like you got a scale, I would weigh those medium rats and large rats to get exact weights. It sounds like your mediums might be smalls and your larges might be mediums. My 7' boa eats large rats which about 250-260g and she is 12.7 lbs at last weigh in. A medium rat should be about 120g. Heck even my 5' SD retic eats medium rats and those leave a nice lump in him but even after that, he is still ready for more but calms down after about an hour. Remember, some snakes stay in feed mode a lot longer so just because they are willing to eat more doesn't mean its good for them. My boas and retic would both eat themselves into a coma and probably death if I let them lol.

And the 10-15% rule goes out the window once they are adults. That applies to hatchlings up to a year or so. Once they are adults, you more or less go on a maintenance schedule which for the most part seems to be small to medium rats every week or two.

[Sauzo]

Well looks like my post hit after yours which you posted weights on lol. 175g is a large medium, not a large but close to small large. If yours likes those, go for it, should be fine. If I feed my girl too big of food in 1 sitting, she seems to go off feed and becomes sporatic with her eating sometimes skipping a week or 2 and then eating again. I found if I feed her small-medium mediums weekly, she stays more consistent but each snake is different.

And staying in feeding mode for a full day sounds kind of weird. Caesar my retic who is an eating machine tried to latch onto the glass doors of his cage after eating and will track any movement and come shooting up to the front of the cage but only for about an hour.

[montymiow]

It must have been one tasty kitchen roll haha. It's good to know about the sizing not being 'a thing' with adults, I've only ever sized by eyeballing

[Sauzo]

It must have been one tasty kitchen roll haha. It's good to know about the sizing not being 'a thing' with adults, I've only ever sized by eyeballing

Lol I started weighing Dotties mice/rats when she was a baby but she was such a pig as a baby, she would eat every 3 days and stand up like a cobra ready to strike lol. She did that until about 6 months to 1 year old, then she mellowed out and went into her winter fasts. Now I have no idea what she does as she sometimes eats, sometimes chooses not to lol. I got enough snakes that if Dottie doesn't want dinner, one of the other garbage cans will happily eat it lol. She is plenty round and seems plenty happy. Here is a picture of the fatty doing what she does best haha. This is an older pic of her. I use ReptiChips now and not aspen anymore.

[Reinz]

Alex- my experience is very similar to yours.

I switched my Female BP to frozen at 13-14 years of age. One medium or even a large rat will/would not satisfy her. She would stay in food mode for 2-3 days and be very cage aggressive. She would take four mediums and I stopped there. But she would still be in feed mode for a few days.

To mellowed her out I have to feed her a very large rat or jumbo once a month. Then I didn't have any cage aggression anymore.

She does go on winter fast each year and to reiterate, she gets fed monthly when not fasting.

I know the guidelines and many folks here say to max out at medium rats. But those are guidelines and guidelines always need to be flexible. Not every BP acts and or reacts the same.


Elvira, normal

[montymiow]

Lol I started weighing Dotties mice/rats when she was a baby but she was such a pig as a baby, she would eat every 3 days and stand up like a cobra ready to strike lol. She did that until about 6 months to 1 year old, then she mellowed out and went into her winter fasts. Now I have no idea what she does as she sometimes eats, sometimes chooses not to lol. I got enough snakes that if Dottie doesn't want dinner, one of the other garbage cans will happily eat it lol. She is plenty round and seems plenty happy. Here is a picture of the fatty doing what she does best haha. This is an older pic of her. I use ReptiChips now and not aspen anymore.

Wow she's a beauty!

I know the guidelines and many folks here say to max out at medium rats. But those are guidelines and guidelines always need to be flexible. Not every BP acts and or reacts the same.

One of mine is on large too, after anything smaller she's cruising around for more and not opting for belly heat. Regurgitation is NOT something I ever want to happen again lol