Weight/feeding

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

how would you change the percentages or the other numbers in the rule in order to improve it?

you may also adapt it into two rules, for BPs falling into two different weight categories, if you feel the rule is wrong only for a certain weight range of BPs.

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I've seen you recommend that for snakes that are a year old and malnourished. That rule was established for hatchlings. His snake is past the hatchling size.

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Originally Posted by Neal

I've seen you recommend that for snakes that are a year old and malnourished. That rule was established for hatchlings. His snake is past the hatchling size.

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not very helpful.

so is the rule giving a 140 gram BP too much food, or not enough? is 14-21 grams every 5 to 7 days not appropriate for a 140 gram BP?

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

not very helpful.

so is the rule giving a 140 gram BP too much food, or not enough? is 14-21 grams every 5 to 7 days not appropriate for a 140 gram BP?

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Does it work? Yea but that snake can eat rat pups at that stage so technically he'd be going under what it should be eating. A rat pup starts at around 20-21 grams? So that snake eating under that would be rat fuzzies and those are far unde what he can eat. I've had a smaller bp then 140 grams eat a rat pup. If a snake is under 100 grams then feel free to recommend the 10-15% rule. Otherwise if you don't understand it then stop. If a bp is a year old and severely underfed that 10-15% rule will not even come close to applying because the length would mess up the weight rule so the diameter of food recommended would be too big. That's what I mean about understanding something before you recommend it, or knowing when to recommend it. This is the reason a lot of veteran's give people simple advice versus what one would recommend to another

The problem is i cant find rat pups that arnt sold in bulk online i dont need 50 rat pups they start to go bad after a while, and i dont have a huge freezer

Can you find someone local that can split an order? Or try a local BP/reptile group on Facebook. Worst case, you can post a Craigslist ad.


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Originally Posted by Neal

That rule was established for hatchlings.

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It can also apply to juvies. Basically, it may apply until you get to medium rats. Then the bp can stay on medium rats all the way through adulthood. Sick or abnormal snakes of course have different requirements.

Different suppliers vary in weight ranges but rat fuzzies can go from 10g to 20g, rat pups from 20g to 30g. Mediums start out at 80g and can go up to 180g depending on supplier.

Now that I've been doing this for years, I can pretty much eyeball my rat stock and pick out which ones to feed. But when I was just starting out, I used a scale.

Of course, these are just guidelines especially for those just starting out. Each bp owner adjusts these according to their own particular situation.

To the OP: they also sell frozen rats in PetSmart.

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Originally Posted by MarcsReptileShed

The problem is i cant find rat pups that arnt sold in bulk online i dont need 50 rat pups they start to go bad after a while, and i dont have a huge freezer

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I've been dealing with f/t for a long time and this is what I've found out. Anything without hair is good for about 6 months, as long as they're sealed good with minimal air(certain people sell their stuff vacuum sealed). I've had stuff with hair last up to a year. So a bag of rat pups will last you awhile, just make sure that you seal them really good and get as much air as you can out.

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Originally Posted by anatess

It can also apply to juvies. Basically, it may apply until you get to medium rats. Then the bp can stay on medium rats all the way through adulthood. Sick or abnormal snakes of course have different requirements.

Different suppliers vary in weight ranges but rat fuzzies can go from 10g to 20g, rat pups from 20g to 30g. Mediums start out at 80g and can go up to 180g depending on supplier.

Now that I've been doing this for years, I can pretty much eyeball my rat stock and pick out which ones to feed. But when I was just starting out, I used a scale.

Of course, these are just guidelines especially for those just starting out. Each bp owner adjusts these according to their own particular situation.

To the OP: they also sell frozen rats in PetSmart.

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It can, but it most likely doesn't unless that snake wasn't fed properly. 15% of 140 grams is like 21 grams. That snake should be on rat pups at that weight. With that in mind that 10-15% rule barely applies and it's more like a 15% rule in this case. Also pet smart f/t stuff is like $8.

They dont have rat pups tho. Im gonna call around and see if there is anywhere. But 9/10 hes imprinted on mice already

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Originally Posted by MarcsReptileShed

They dont have rat pups tho. Im gonna call around and see if there is anywhere. But 9/10 hes imprinted on mice already

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At 2 months I doubt it... the longer you wait the harder the switch will be.

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Originally Posted by MarcsReptileShed

They dont have rat pups tho. Im gonna call around and see if there is anywhere. But 9/10 hes imprinted on mice already

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Whoever is giving you this information I would highly disregard it. From a logical stand point it honestly makes no sense. Yes while they get older they are harder to switch, but being he's not that old it shouldn't be hard at all.