How do you guys catch up with missed meals?

So last saturday, I didn't feed Pylox because he was in shed and my usual plave was out. Tomorrow I'm going to feed him as it'll have been a week by then. Well today I checked him and noticed that he was pretty skinny. I'm currently thinking a large rat instead of a large mouse as Pylox is far from a picky eater. I'm curious though, how do you guys do it? Do you feed multiple or larger or more often? I'm curious!

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Don't catch up with missed meals for snakes. Missed meals are natural for them and a non-issue. Just feed normally. If he's skinny, make sure you're feeding the right size prey. I find weighing to be the easiest way to do this - 10-15% of the snake's body weight (but not as adults - this guideline stops at around small rats).

no need to play catch-up. pythons have excellent metabolisms and regulate themselves as necessary, regardless of a few missed meals.

There is no need to catch up, skipped meals and fast are normal as snakes are very efficient, I even skip feeding intentionally to keep my animal consistent year round

As the others have already said, no need to play catch-up.

Just feed a properly sized prey item and start the feeding cycle again.

Feeding schedules are as much for you as they are for your snake. If you feed off schedule then you could get your routine off. If you don't feed for a week, just skip and feed again on the next scheduled day. It helps keep things simple. I know I have to do this with 3 snakes with 3 different feeding days and I need an app just to keep my head on straight!

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Originally Posted by Tonald Drump

So last saturday, I didn't feed Pylox because he was in shed and my usual plave was out. Tomorrow I'm going to feed him as it'll have been a week by then. Well today I checked him and noticed that he was pretty skinny. I'm currently thinking a large rat instead of a large mouse as Pylox is far from a picky eater. I'm curious though, how do you guys do it? Do you feed multiple or larger or more often? I'm curious!

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Did you mean a large weaned rat?? Because a large rat will be much too big anyway if Pylox usually eats a large mouse. But as everyone says, no need to 'catch up' anyway ;)

Okay, thanks for the answers everyone! Hopefully next week he's back to normal then :D

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Personally I don't stick to the routine schedule all the time for all snakes. I do feed weekly but if I have a skinny snake I'll usually feed multiple meals, usually two or more, sometimes another couple mid week until it fills out a bit. If I buy a new snake that is super skinny sometimes I've even fed up to five rodents in the first week of feeding to get him back in condition. If I have a fat snake I'll stop feeding all together for sometimes up to a month or more. It's the same with my dogs or any animals I have, if they get fat I'll cut back on the amount and frequency. If they are skinny I'll give them much more a lot more often until they have a good body weight. A weekly feeding routine is just maintenance feeding, you really need to watch your animals and see if they are getting enough or too much. My feeding also depends on my rat breeding schedule, sometimes I'll have bad litters with very few babies and it sets me back. If I have an abundance I'll feed multiple smaller meals to my thinnest snakes just to use up the extra rats.