Twice a week feeding?

My snake, who is close to two years old (possibly more) was neglected by his previous owners. Rarely fed, and when he was fed it was a hopper mouse. He fits in the palm of my hand and the widest part of his body is about two inches or less. He currently eats two hopper mice a week in the same sitting- I had a bunch of hoppers and didn't want to waste them.) . A fairly experienced friend of mine said that I could try a rat pup twice a week Instead of once, just until his spine stops sticking out. Is that overkill, no pun intended? And are pups too small? I read on this forum that hoppers are too small- are rat pups too small as well?


Sorry if this is a stupid question. I just want to make sure he's not over or underfed. And that being said, I must go because he's climbing into my pants.

p.s. Regardless I plan to switch him to a more typical feeding schedule; right now I just want to get some weight on him

Grab a scale (like a kitchen scale, or mail scale, you want something that hits up go 3lbs), weigh the snake, weigh the food. Make sure the food is 10-15% the snake's body weight and feed it weekly. It will bounce back and grow to the correct size over time.

Alternatively offer it 1 food item weekly as wide as the widest part of the snake. Same idea as before, less need for a scale.

When they're small (up to 300-500g, depending how fast you want to grow him), you can feed every 5 days, if you want. But no rush. An appropriately sized feeder once a week will do the job too.

If the snake is underweight and undersized, feeding it normally could potentially shock its system and you could lose the snake. A small meal once every 7 days until the snake puts on some weight will be sufficient. I would slowly work the snake up to regular-sized meals.

If he isn't significantly underweight or undersized, you should be fine feeding normal-sized meals weekly, but slow and steady is imperative for emaciated animals. If the snake really is 2+ years old and fits in your palm, it is definitely very small, and I'd be careful with feeding.

Thanks for all the advice. :) He's been eating every Thursday since May and seems to handle it okay. Maybe once every five days is a decent compromise.

If you feed one properly sized rodent once a week, your bp should put on weight with no issues. If you could feed him rats (which are larger), he'll put on the weight.

Power feeding can cause too things:

1) am inconsistent eater
2) a fat snake.

Your snake should feel muscular without any scales protruding. There is no rush to get him up to weight.

Also, even if your snake turns out to be a mouser, it's not as big of a deal, assuming it's in fact a male.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree with Willowy, every 5 days for a month or two would be fine. Then increase rat size and go back to every 7 days.