How much to feed

My snake has been cruising his cage and being more aggressive when opening the tank lately. This used to start 5-6 days after the last feeding. Last two weeks its like 3 days after eating day.

I think I recall seeing posts on here that say to feed 10% body weight, so that tells me I need to bump up. he is around 500 grams and the rats I get are about 40 grams. However the next size up for rats at the pet store is way to big for him. Not sure of weight, but going by size.

So then my question becomes, how do I go about feeding him more. I'm thinking, feed him the small rat he usually gets then give him a mouse I think they are around 20 grams maybe.

How do I do this? Let him eat the rat, then offer the mouse? Should I feed the rat one day and the mouse the next? Will he get pissy if I mix rats/mice? Or maybe I should just feed more often till he's big enough for the next size up.

Typically you would feed 10%-15% body weight or a rat that is roughly the same size as the thickest part of your snake.

At 500 grams your snake should be eating small rats. From my experience most rat suppliers small rats will be in the 50g-75g range live and can be bigger if buying frozen. All depends on where you are buying from though.

I wouldn't suggest mixing prey items, stick with the rats! Also at 500 grams I wouldn't suggest double feeding, If you want to pack the weight on you can just change your feeding intervals and go every 5 days.

The rats I get (frozen) are 40g. I get them from Petco so limited selection. Maybe I'll try to find a different store that has them a bit bigger or start feeding every 5 days till I can go up a size.

Won't do the double feeding thing. Also will not mix prey items, figured that would be a bad idea, but hey that's why I use on this forum.

I'm not concerned about packing on the weight, just not looking to get my hand bit when I reach in the tank cause he's a pig and hopes my hand is food.

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Originally Posted by VooDooDoc

just not looking to get my hand bit when I reach in the tank cause he's a pig and hopes my hand is food.

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That isn't ever going to happen undress your hands smell like rats. BP's can tell the difference between your hand and a rat easily, nothing to be worried about.

Also there is no problem at all with feeding rats and mice at the same time. I do it all the time with no ill effect.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

That isn't ever going to happen undress your hands smell like rats. BP's can tell the difference between your hand and a rat easily, nothing to be worried about.

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Tell that to my snake :). After about 3-5 days after he eats, I stick my hand in and he strikes at it. He'll then sort of follow it with his head and I reach with my other hand and pick him up from behind and he calms down instantly and is fine. I take him out and let him crawl around, and watch TV with me, no issues.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Also there is no problem at all with feeding rats and mice at the same time. I do it all the time with no ill effect.

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I'll keep that in mind.

Do you smell like rats? lol I have never seen a ball do that. my carpet will though