Prey Size

[brittany]

I just got my bp a little over a week ago. I adopted her from our local Herp Society but I'm a little confused about what size/how much prey she should be getting. I know someone told me when I adopted her but I had about 5 people telling me a million different things at once and it didn't exactly perfectly register. I plan on feeding her every 10 days. She is ~2 years old, 715g, 34" long. I can get a pic of her if needed. I've read that you can feed twice the width of the widest part of her but I'm still not 100% on what that prey would be called. I got xl pinkies to feed her and I fed two of those to her this past Monday but that doesn't look right. I think I remember someone saying small rats or small mice would be ok. Would those be adults? Thanks for any input.

[Freakie_frog]

I feed nothing larger than a small rat

[Patrick Long]

a large mouse would be an adult mouse. a small rat would be a juvenile rat. i can tell you right now if its over 2 years old, it can eat bigger than pinkies, even if they are xl. maybe try like a rat pup or something like that.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I feed nothing larger than a small rat (4 weeks old 45/65 grams) once a week.

If your BP eats rats, a small rat will be enough, if your BP eats mice 2 to 3 depending on their size will be enough.

One thing here that got my attention are you sure your BP is a female? 34 inches long and 715 grams would be very small for a 2 years old female and if it is indeed the case I would highly recommend you to have her check by an herp vet and have a fecal done.

[jknudson]

715g....small rats ~50g

[brittany]

One thing here that got my attention are you sure your BP is a female? 34 inches long and 715 grams would be very small for a 2 years old female and if it is indeed the case I would highly recommend you to have her check by an herp vet and have a fecal done.

Yes, she is a probed female. She is a rescue so I figured she would be small. Most of the animals that are turned over to the society are smaller than they should be and most of the time it's from being underfed as a baby/juvenile. I do plan on having a faecal done as soon as she poops.

Thank you all for the info.

[littleindiangirl]

Wow, she does sound small. I have a girl just over a year at 1000+ grams... Like everyone said, a 3-4 week old rat every 7 days is a good schedule. Hopefully you can get her back up to weight before long. Let us know how everything goes!!

[shag]

Yes thats is small I have 1 year male thats the same size and hes eating small rats once a week. Try the rats and she'll start putting on some good steady weight. She must destroy those xl pinkies.

[brittany]

She must destroy those xl pinkies.

Actually, she only ate 2. I offered 3 but she wouldn't take a third.

[brittany]

Can I go straight from what shes on now to small rats or do I need to gradually build up to it?