Retic feeding schedule?

[robert7107]

Just touching base here making sure I'm on the right track...

1) female hatching 188 grams I've been feeding her a rat pup (20-30 gr.) every four days .(she is new arrival so I've only feed her 4 times)

2) female she weighs 266 grams as of last week feeding her a weaned rat ( 30-40grams ) every 4 days

3) female she weighs:cens0r:488 grams feeding her a small rat 70 -80 grams every 7days.

Male . 248 grams a weaned rat every 4 days

I've read several articles with different feeding schedules so I'd rather get actual retic onwers feedback ...

Also I'm not interested in making them huge super quick but I do want them to grow....... healthy but big.....




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[John1982]

I don't keep retics but I think this advice can be applied to most captive reptiles. Whatever feeding schedule you end up going with, be sure to pay attention to overall body shape. If your animal starts to look on the plump side, cut back on frequency and/or size of prey. If they're looking thinner than usual, increase their intake a bit. Their general proportions shouldn't really change much until they start hitting puberty. Then you might see a little increase in girth, though nothing too drastic if you're aiming for wild type/healthy proportions.

[bcr229]

Sounds about right, though I usually feed weekly but that's mainly for my convenience. Baby retics are garbage disposals and I think they'd eat every day if you let them!

[cchardwick]

My two retics had incredible metabolisms when they were young. Your feeding schedule seems very aggressive and I think that's what a young retic really needs. You are up over 10% of the body weight and feeding every 4 days is spot on. You'll see the lump in their belly after feeding and after 4 days they will look anorexic, they process food faster than any other snake I've seen.

The first year they go through explosive growth, it's truly amazing. After the first year they start to slow down a bit and by the second year they really slow down and you can cut back to every other week. You can't really go by body condition the first year as it changes in just a few days, you could feed them multiple rats until they look like they are going to explode and they would look skinny a few days later.

You can limit feed them but I think it really makes them a lot more food aggressive and a bit tougher to handle.

[Sauzo]

I fed Caesar every 4-5 days as a baby. Just fed him whatever size was his thickness. Retics grow very fast so you will be changing sizes on food pretty quick. Caesar went from a 2 foot baby at 5 months old to about 6 feet at a year old i believe. Some retics will also let you know when they want food by pushing and overall being a brat. Others can go a lot longer and are fairly quiet. You will know what you have in awhile.

But i would feed every 5 days until they are up to small or medium rats, then every 7 days. Remember a retic isnt a boa, they need to eat and love to eat. You can also just go by the in one end, out the other end schedule lol. I more or less do that to an extent for my GTP since he's just a baby.

[robert7107]

I fed Caesar every 4-5 days as a baby. Just fed him whatever size was his thickness. Retics grow very fast so you will be changing sizes on food pretty quick. Caesar went from a 2 foot baby at 5 months old to about 6 feet at a year old i believe. Some retics will also let you know when they want food by pushing and overall being a brat. Others can go a lot longer and are fairly quiet. You will know what you have in awhile.

But i would feed every 5 days until they are up to small or medium rats, then every 7 days. Remember a retic isnt a boa, they need to eat and love to eat. You can also just go by the in one end, out the other end schedule lol. I more or less do that to an extent for my GTP since he's just a baby.

I've noticed that within 24 hrs later the lump has practically disappeared...
That's the main reason for the post . Want to make sure they're getting enough ..

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[AbsoluteApril]

weekly should be fine. Yes, the lump usually goes away super quick, they have fast metabolisms.

[ShaneSilva]

I fed this guy every 5 days when he was a hatchling. Pretty sure I kept him on that schedule until he was on small rats then I moved him to 7 days. He's a little over a year and a half now and eats a 1lb(give or take) rat/rabbit every 2 weeks and that keeps him happy. No pushing or anything. But every snake is going to be different. Some will push pretty bad if not kept full enough.

Pic is after a 1.25lb rabbit just for a lump size reference

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[robert7107]

I fed this guy every 5 days when he was a hatchling. Pretty sure I kept him on that schedule until he was on small rats then I moved him to 7 days. He's a little over a year and a half now and eats a 1lb(give or take) rat/rabbit every 2 weeks and that keeps him happy. No pushing or anything. But every snake is going to be different. Some will push pretty bad if not kept full enough.

Pic is after a 1.25lb rabbit just for a lump size reference

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How long is he?
I see this a lot on other post an forum's of people going to rabbits as soon as their retic is eating 2 jumbo/colossal rat( 450+ grams)..
Are rabbits better for the reason of bigger bones more calcium




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[ShaneSilva]

How long is he?
I see this a lot on other post an forum's of people going to rabbits as soon as their retic is eating 2 jumbo/colossal rat( 450+ grams)..
Are rabbits better for the reason of bigger bones more calcium




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He's under 7 and a half feet. The rabbits I get for him now are extra small and only in the 500-750 gram range. I'm not sure as far as the nutritional values go. I just wanted to get him on rabbits Early to make sure I won't have any issues getting him on them later. Now that I know he's taking them no problem I can place a bulk order from monster feeders for him and my burm. Might try a couple pigs too

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