What size should I...

I have a litter of rats coming soon, and I would like to ask for some input as to how large I should let them become before euthanizing them for my snake.

My snake is currently 200g, he has always been eager to eat, never rejected a meal, and has been on a consistent feeding schedule since I got him on the 9th of May, this year. For this reason, I am worried that he may be under weight. He was quite small when I got him, I would even go as far as to call him a runt. :8:

Currently he is on f/t rat pups which weigh in at around 20-25g each, every 6 days. I have been reading around, and the thought has crossed my mind that this might be too small of a meal for him.

BPs are fed 10-15% of their body weight. 20g is 10%, 30g is 15%. Better for the meal to be too big then too small.

I feed based on size appearance.
Works out pretty well and I don't have to get exact numbers and weigh them all the time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abuja

Better for the meal to be too big then too small.

---

Maybe you meant the opposite of what you wrote.

If not, then I think you may want to do more research before you go giving advice, as a newb yourself, to other newbs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wilomn

Maybe you meant the opposite of what you wrote.

If not, then I think you may want to do more research before you go giving advice, as a newb yourself, to other newbs.

---

I meant better it be 15% than 10%. 30g should be just fine for a 200g snake.

Wee bit argumentative.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abuja

I meant better it be 15% than 10%. 30g should be just fine for a 200g snake.

Wee bit argumentative.

---

Actually not at all.

However, you seem to have a habit of writing one thing and meaning another OR, getting defensive when someone points out that you have, once again, written one thing and meant another.

It's YOUR responsibility to be correct in any advice you give, not the recievers to know that you have, once again, written one thing and meant another.

While mind reading is an option, I prefer not to use it in general. The stuff cluttering some peoples minds is just no fun at all.

I'm pretty sure you could do better if you wanted to. Maybe if you took two breaths between writing and hitting submit and used the time those breaths took to re-read what you have written to see just what someone else may think of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abuja

I meant better it be 15% than 10%. 30g should be just fine for a 200g snake.

Wee bit argumentative.

---

He is not being arguementative. He is being critical because your info could be taken wrongly. As a general rule smaller is considered better. Ball Pythons are very skittish and scare very easy. If you put a meal in that is too large it is very possible that it will scare the ball python. If it scares or injures the snake then there is another strong possibility that the snake will go on a fast. So by saying bigger is better you could mislead people. To the OP...you do not need to get yourself hung up one weights of the food. It is not necassary. Feed a prey item approximately the size of the largest part of the snake. When it has consumed it you should be able to see a noticable lump in the snake. Feed that size prey item until the lump is not as noticable and then bump the prey item up to the next size. Hope this helps a little more. Todd

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wilomn

Actually not at all.

However, you seem to have a habit of writing one thing and meaning another OR, getting defensive when someone points out that you have, once again, written one thing and meant another.

It's YOUR responsibility to be correct in any advice you give, not the recievers to know that you have, once again, written one thing and meant another.

While mind reading is an option, I prefer not to use it in general. The stuff cluttering some peoples minds is just no fun at all.

I'm pretty sure you could do better if you wanted to. Maybe if you took two breaths between writing and hitting submit and used the time those breaths took to re-read what you have written to see just what someone else may think of it.

---

What I wrote is what I meant. Now I know you are a good advice-giver on bp.net, and I respect your advice, but I'm disagreeing with you on this. And I just read over my post 3 times before hitting submit.

Edit: Wes, I'm sorry, but I find some of your posts too harsh. It's not your problem, I'm just saying, some, like me, can misperceive your tone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abuja

What I wrote is what I meant. Now I know you are a good advice-giver on bp.net, and I respect your advice, but I'm disagreeing with you on this. And I just read over my post 3 times before hitting submit.

Edit: Wes, I'm sorry, but I find some of your posts too harsh. It's not your problem, I'm just saying, some, like me, can misperceive your tone.

---

In general, what you perceive is exactly what I want you to percieve, harsh or not.

Feed too large, get a regurge, welcome to Problem City. Feed to large, scare or injure your snake, once again, Problem City.

Feed smaller, welcome to Happy Snake Central.

I'm not much for coddling. You wanna learn, fine. You wanna pass on bad info, well, heck, that's the way it goes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wilomn

In general, what you perceive is exactly what I want you to percieve, harsh or not.

Feed too large, get a regurge, welcome to Problem City. Feed to large, scare or injure your snake, once again, Problem City.

Feed smaller, welcome to Happy Snake Central.

I'm not much for coddling. You wanna learn, fine. You wanna pass on bad info, well, heck, that's the way it goes.

---

15% of the snake's body weight is NOT too large, in my opinion. You keep your opinion, I'll keep mine.