1 or 2 small rats

so PJ (an 09 male, normal) has been eating like a champ lately.... like no amounts of food can phase him at all.... i have been buying him two small rats at a time and giving him the second one right after he finishes the first one... and he eats both of them like nothing... my question is, is it ok to feed two rats in the same meal or just stick to one? and no i do not have a scale to weigh his meals before i feed him. lol....

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

so PJ (an 09 male, normal) has been eating like a champ lately.... like no amounts of food can phase him at all.... i have been buying him two small rats at a time and giving him the second one right after he finishes the first one... and he eats both of them like nothing... my question is, is it ok to feed two rats in the same meal or just stick to one? and no i do not have a scale to weigh his meals before i feed him. lol....

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No one can answer this question properly without knowing the actual weights of your snake and his prey. Digital kitchen scales are cheap and can be found at any Walmart, Target, etc.

Well, you didn't mention how big the snake is, and the term small rat could be applied to pinkies, fuzzies, pups, and small rats. It varies depending on who you're talking to. If he eats them and it leaves a slight lump in him for a day or two then goes away it's fine, if it's lasting longer than that I'd look into smaller portions.

I agree, a scale would be beneficial.

Sounds like your snake is having no problem with your current method. It would be ideal if in the future you can get a scale so you can track your BP's weight gain and as an added bonus, you can weigh his food.

If he's pounding good on rats, it might be time to move him up to big mediums instead of two smalls. Might actually be cheaper for you in the long run, depending on where you source your rats from.

How often are you feeding? You feed live or F/T?

right now i am feeding live. i tried to switch him to F/T but he wanted no part in that at all....

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Originally Posted by Slim

Sounds like your snake is having no problem with your current method. It would be ideal if in the future you can get a scale so you can track your BP's weight gain and as an added bonus, you can weigh his food.

If he's pounding good on rats, it might be time to move him up to big mediums instead of two smalls. Might actually be cheaper for you in the long run, depending on where you source your rats from.

How often are you feeding? You feed live or F/T?

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To add to this - If you are feeding about every 7-10 days (recommended adult schedule), then most males never need more than one small rat/week. As LGray said, there are many subjective definitions of "small" when you don't weigh them - my definition is 50-80g. Most people do not feed medium rats (100g+) to anything other than large breeder females. If you are feeding frequently enough and getting frequent big piles of feces, you're probably overfeeding (defecating the nutrients instead of digesting and utilizing them).

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

right now i am feeding live. i tried to switch him to F/T but he wanted no part in that at all....

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I understand and I won't hijack this thread into a live vs. F/T debate, but I will point out that the larger the live rat you feed, the more risk there is to your BP.

I always felt that rats in the 70-90 gram range were Med in size, and my adult males thrived on one of those every Friday. The boys never got to heavy and always had good muscle tone. As always, your milage may vary.

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Originally Posted by Slim

I understand and I won't hijack this thread into a live vs. F/T debate, but I will point out that the larger the live rat you feed, the more risk there is to your BP.

I always felt that rats in the 70-90 gram range were Med in size, and my adult males thrived on one of those every Friday. The boys never got to heavy and always had good muscle tone. As always, your milage may vary.

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x2 on the safety factor of F/T, and your second point further confirms LGray and I's point about "small" having many definitions. Mine are based off of what I guess would be considered "industry standard" - look at any of the big rat breeder websites and they pretty much agree on the weight ranges for each size classification.