Food size - weight versus girth

I know there is a lot of discussion regarding the size of the meal for a BP - food should be 10-15% of body weight. The other common convention is that the food should be the same size as the girth of the BP. The problem is these 2 standards do not yield the same result. My young female normal weighs 180 grams so the 10-15% standard would yield a meal ranging from 18-27 grams (size of a rat pup). The BPs girth, however, is more in the range of a small rat...when I weighed the small rat of equal girth it tipped the scales at nearly 50 grams. So, what's the ideal standard? Do you feed by the "numbers " (10-15%) or the "eyeball test" (equivalent girth)?

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Numbers, up until they are 400g or so. I never feed larger than a small rat. It's wasteful, IMO.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I never feed larger than a small rat. It's wasteful, IMO.

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Why's that? What if your snake weighs 1000g or above?

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Originally Posted by Greekinese

Why's that? What if your snake weighs 1000g or above?

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Then he/she still gets a 60-80g rat once a week. I might alternate in a medium here and there, but it isn't needed. My breeders regain their weights after laying quickly, and none of them are ever too bloated to handle the day after feeding. My 2500g girl maintains her weight just as well as my 1100g male with this feeding schedule.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Then he/she still gets a 60-80g rat once a week. I might alternate in a medium here and there, but it isn't needed. My breeders regain their weights after laying quickly, and none of them are ever too bloated to handle the day after feeding. My 2500g girl maintains her weight just as well as my 1100g male with this feeding schedule.

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After looking at your website/pics, I trust your judgement 100%! Those are some beautiful animals. Thank you very much for you input.

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Originally Posted by DMills

After looking at your website/pics, I trust your judgement 100%! Those are some beautiful animals. Thank you very much for you input.

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Thank you! They definitely don't go hungry. :)

I basically use a very similar equation. I feed 10-15% weight every 5 days for snakes under 300gm I shift that to once a week until loosely the 1000gm range. At this point I shift again only 4-7% weekly. I find weekly easy for me and it seems good for my snakes.

I have seen anything from equal girth to twice the girth. This is a very old school idea. Some tried and true methods are worth keeping some have been proven to be myths or down right dangerous. I do not thing this is a good method at best it leaves things open to error and difficult record keeping. When things go wrong accurate records can be a huge help.

Under 300g I offer every 3 to 4 days and everything over that gets offered every 7 days.
I keep a close eye on their weight but still, I don't worry about feedings too much.
I personally don't feed anything over a medium to my balls but I also breed my own rats and realize that there isn't much difference between a large small and a small medium :rofl::rofl: