Too soon for Rat Pups?

My little guy is nearing 3 months old and has been eating a frozen hoppers for me every 5 days like complete clockwork but I'm worried that they may be getting too small for him - I don't have any means to weigh him right now, but he's a little wider than a quarter at his widest right now and around 2 feet long.

The guy at the reptile store near me told me he should be able to take rat pups but I'm worried that they might be too much for him - Following the "no thicker than the thickest part" rule, it seems like they're JUST about the same thickness as him.

Is three months too soon to start on rat pups?

He should be fine with a rat pup.

Some will take rat pups as their first meal, you will be fine feeding him them. I feed my little ones (about the same age) rat pups and they were taking hoppers before I got them.

I get my hatchlings on rat pups ASAP. Should be fine.

Regards,

B

Rat pups are 25-30g and too big for hatchlings till their easily over 200g.

I try not to move up in food size so fast yet, feed more frequently smaller prey items. Doing so youll notice each time you open the cage, WOW gotten big.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I try not to move up in food size so fast yet, feed more frequently smaller prey items. Doing so youll notice each time you open the cage, WOW gotten big.

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BHB proved that to actually be the other way around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyXZN25XOZo

Larger meals once a week resulted in the most growth.

Personally I rather get my snakes on rats as soon as possible so they don't get hooked on mice.

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Originally Posted by Kinra

BHB proved that to actually be the other way around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyXZN25XOZo

Larger meals once a week resulted in the most growth.

Personally I rather get my snakes on rats as soon as possible so they don't get hooked on mice.

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HA, all i gotta say, believe what they say cause WHY. He did that dumb experiment with colubrids. Feeding larger meals DOES NOT prove a snake will grow faster and bigger.

I got 2010s 1400g breeding, small meals every 3-5 days for me gets them up faster than larger meals.

I go by personal experience that has worked for me and many others that have followed what ive done.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I got 2010s 1400g breeding, small meals every 3-5 days for me gets them up faster than larger meals.

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Are they early or late 2010s? I have a couple of August 2010s that are right around 800-900g, but I don't see a need to feed them every 5 days. Once a week has been working just fine for me.

I haven't been doing this for very long so I don't claim to be an expert by any means, I just regurge information that I've read several times.

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Originally Posted by Kinra

Are they early or late 2010s? I have a couple of August 2010s that are right around 800-900g, but I don't see a need to feed them every 5 days. Once a week has been working just fine for me.

I haven't been doing this for very long so I don't claim to be an expert by any means, I just regurge information that I've read several times.

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all 3 girls are July 2010 eating small rats every 3 days right now for breeding and will be put back to 5 days soon.


Just dont take to heart what you see from the so called big guys as truth.

I feed small rats every 5 days once their 700g. and they never go bigger than smalls their whole life, and i got some females over 3000g i raised from hatchlings on this schedule

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

all 3 girls are July 2010 eating small rats every 3 days right now for breeding and will be put back to 5 days soon.


Just dont take to heart what you see from the so called big guys as truth.

I feed small rats every 5 days once their 700g. and they never go bigger than smalls their whole life, and i got some females over 3000g i raised from hatchlings on this schedule

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Ah, I went with a slightly different schedule. I started them on small rats around 600g but I only feed once a week. I really didn't want to push them to be big enough to breed this year though. This will be my first season and I'd rather learn the ropes with one-two clutches of normals to single gene males than learn with a lot of clutches from more expensive females. Plus rats are expensive. >__<