Feeding Enough??

Yea we feed ours 4 days he always looks like hes still hungry :P

But hes still a little guy so he needs his food :P

In my opinion a natural diet is a healthy diet for any animal of any age, and for snakes, a natural diet is a slow diet. They are built to go many, many months without food. I'm not saying anyone should feed a snake monthly, I'm just saying that it probably isn't the healthiest thing to feed them every few days. I feed my older snakes a relatively large meal every two to three weeks, while hatchlings get an appropriately sized meal every week. None of my animals are obese, and none of them are underweight. They grow relatively slowly, but I think it's a fair price to pay for good health.

While considering a feeding schedule, the only thing on your mind should be the snake's health, not how long it will take to get up to breeding weight or anything else.

Don't worry about how big your snakes are at what age; growth varies between individuals. I have two ball girls that are roughly the same age, both in perfect health, on a similar feeding schedule, and one is half the size of the other. Just like with people, some are freaks. ;)

I ask about the feeding mainly b/c I wonder if my snakes are plump enough.

Example:
Norm
6 months old
27" inches long
268 grams after feeding today
1.25 inches width at widest pt

My normal female is roughly 6 months old and bout 27 in long. she went on a 6wk hunger strike in january and febuary this year but shes eating again now. i weighed her the other day and she was 320g and i feed her a mouse that weighs 20-30g every 5 or 6 days. depending on when she wants it. i used to think she was on the small side till i realized each is an individual. shes healthy, brights eyed and does what she does so im not too worried bout it.

I am trying to switch her to rat pups or fuzzies in the next few weeks and see how that goes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ElwoodG

My normal female is roughly 6 months old and bout 27 in long. she went on a 6wk hunger strike in january and febuary this year but shes eating again now. i weighed her the other day and she was 320g and i feed her a mouse that weighs 20-30g every 5 or 6 days. depending on when she wants it. i used to think she was on the small side till i realized each is an individual. shes healthy, brights eyed and does what she does so im not too worried bout it.

I am trying to switch her to rat pups or fuzzies in the next few weeks and see how that goes

---

A 20g mouse is too small. 10 - 15% means at 320g, you should be feeding between 32g - 48g.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ElwoodG

My normal female is roughly 6 months old and bout 27 in long. she went on a 6wk hunger strike in january and febuary this year but shes eating again now. i weighed her the other day and she was 320g and i feed her a mouse that weighs 20-30g every 5 or 6 days. depending on when she wants it. i used to think she was on the small side till i realized each is an individual. shes healthy, brights eyed and does what she does so im not too worried bout it.

I am trying to switch her to rat pups or fuzzies in the next few weeks and see how that goes

---

I just picked up a het albino female at a show last sunday amh she weighs 268 grams and was hatched on August 26/09 so she is 6 months! She looks very healthy but my 7 month old male is twice her size! If she look healthy then no worries!

I feed every five days with the 10% rule to both, which are under 500g.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bman123

I just thought about this, a problem with the whole 10-15% rule. So when your snake is over 2k or 3k grams do you still go by the rule? No way. People feed full grown adults a medium (80) gram rat once every 7 days, some even go longer.

I am sorry to stretch this out but the whole 10-15% rule is something I have a problem with. There is loop holes everywhere, try to go off the girth of your snake. Only you can tell if they are still hungry and I bet with the size of your snakes 3-4 would not be a problem if done correctly..

---

Your argument doesn't make sense here. I definitely agree that the 10-15% isn't perfect for all situations. I usually say to feed 10-15% when the snake is still young & growing quickly. However, I think a rat that is as fat as the girth of a big adult BP would be too big of a meal just as much as 10-15% of the body weight would be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

In my opinion a natural diet is a healthy diet for any animal of any age, and for snakes, a natural diet is a slow diet. They are built to go many, many months without food.

---

This brings up a good point, which is that not only are snakes capable of going a long time without food, but that they are designed to essentially turn off their digestive system between meals, so they aren't wasting energy. This is part of how they can go on long feeding strikes without any significant weight loss. I don't know one way or the other, but I wonder if it is unhealthy for a snake to live with its digestive system always "on".

For this reason, I feed my snakes on either a 5 day schedule or a 7 day schedule. Occasionally, I'll feed a day late, so then the next feeding might be only 4 days apart to get back on schedule, but I do not feed more often than 5 days as a general rule.