medium rats

ok thanks. yeah i cant see the skin inbetween his scales. except for the first two days after she eats. other than that he seems really healthy. moves around alot, eats all the time, etc. i can tell you now he doesnt miss a meal!

100 grams isn't too large for a BP to eat. I have heard of a few breeders that feed their LARGE females that size consistently. For my BP that was 3 ft long, we used to feed him medium rats, and sometimes larger. He ate consistently, but we literally saw him get fat. His neck and head got large, you could see white between the scales when he moved, and finally, one day after a few months, he refused. We didn't have a choice with choosing smaller rats because our supplier told us that was the smallest FT he had.
Finally we ordered from RodentPro and he has slimmed down, he doesn't refuse anymore.
You really won't be able to see the fat deposits unless you did an autopsy/necropsy if he ever did pass. The problem areas would be buildup around the heart and liver.

It works for us to feed smaller, just keep in mind that you may have to space out the feedings to 9-10 days if he does start to get fat or refuse here and there.

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

ok thanks. yeah i cant see the skin inbetween his scales. except for the first two days after she eats. other than that he seems really healthy. moves around alot, eats all the time, etc. i can tell you now he doesnt miss a meal!

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That's exactly what Judy is referring to. You really don't want that after feeding. A nice small bulge that doesn't separate the scales is fine, much larger is much more than she requires. Is there a reason you want to feed her larger rats?

So small rats their whole life is the main consensus. When do you move from rat pups to small rats, around 1-2years of age?

Small rats or weanlings?
I dont know how anyone else figures it, but I think of it this way.
Weaners: 3-4 weeks old. Weight: 60-70 grams
Small rats: 5-7 weeks old. Weight:70-90 grams (varies in weight)
Medium rats: 7+ weeks weight: 100+ grams (varies as well)