feeding question for my rtb

hi everyone- i just adopted a 3 yr old rtb-- the owner had died and two 18 yr old girls called me (thru a friend) when they were "in over their head". i adopted him (?) a couple days ago. the day i took him home the girls had tried to clean his cage on feeding day-- btw they fed him once every 2 months. :mad:-- anyway as she tried to spot clean the cage and he bit her hand pretty bad-- enough to send her to the er. hes been cool with me so far-- but im just giving him his space and quiet while he gets accustomed to his new home. anyhow-- thats just a little background... my question is--- what should i feed this guy and how often? im not so much into red tails-- more rainbow boas, chondros, and bps-- so red tails are totally new to me. hes pretty big around-- def bigger than a large rat. what would you guys suggest? thank you!
jacqueline :snake:

Well with him being 3 years old, i'm sure he's suposoto be a lot bigger then what he is because of being underfed. Anyways yes, once every 2 months is ignorant, and proves the people had no knowledge of snakes.

So i'm glad you received the rtb. Just make sure he has a constant water source, and since he was underfed, I would say for a while feed him once a week. Other's may recommend once every 2 weeks. The only reason I say once a week is so he can pick up some body size, just make sure the meal is the proper size.

Since he's new to you and sounds like he didn't have a great life before you took him in I'm going to recommend you get a fecal float done just as a matter of course. Also, if you do keep other snakes make sure you are using full quarantine routines for him.

Are you able to supply a length, weight or body dimension for him? Maybe some pictures with something for size reference? It's a bit hard to recommend a feeding program with nothing to go on but his age and gender. Actually are you sure he's a male? It's pretty important to know this as there can be quite the size difference between males and females.

Personally if I had this snake I'd let him settle for a good week or so, then offer him a reasonably sized rat. I like to get to know a snake, it's health status and it's hunting style before I rush into any large meals. I figure better a slower work up to a full feeding routine than triggering a regurge of a huge meal because somethings up that I may have missed.

You mentioned you do have snake experience but just remember that most RTB's have a long, fast and hard strike response. Watch that during feeding time. Most are not picky about what they eat or the feeding method but you'll sort that out once you get to know this particular snake.