feeding time?

hi i bought a normal bp nov. 28th when i got her she was 4 months and eating a medium mouse every 10 days i changed that to 2 small mice every 5 days. When she eats 2 the next week she wont eat but one. after she eats that one before the fifth day shes already hungry this has been going on for the last 2 months should i change her back to what she was doing or just keep trying the two every five days. She shedded dec. 23 and the shed was 21 inches i dont have weight yet but i hear shes very healthy looking

Why not try 1 medium every 5 days

I would say to go back to the medium size mouse. In the wild, BP's don't eat on a schedule such as a medium mouse every tuesday at 5:00pm. Also reptiles have very slow metabolisms which means they tend to digest thier food very slow. When I worked in the pet shop years ago we made it a point not to feed our reptiles on the same day and same time we would always vary it slightly. BP, I have found, are very picky eaters too. The last BP I had, sometimes you could offer her a small rat every two weeks or so and sometimes she would eat it, sometimes she refused. Sometimes she wasn't in the mood to kill her prey, but as soon as I euthanised the rat and then offered it to her right away she was willing to take it. What I'm saying here is sometimes it's trial and error. Hope that helps.

ok so i should just go back to a medium every 8 to 10 days. is that what ure saying?

i have no advise for you as im a new owner myself and not fed yet, but im sure someone will this site is amazing.

I would feed on a 5 day schedule until at least 6 months old! The snake will tell you because if it refuses then you know you have to go to a 6 or 7 day schedule. I would feed it at least a adult mouse every 5 days or even go to a rat pup. Rats come in larger sizes so that way you will only have to feed it one item instead of multiple! in a month or two, it will need two mice per feeding if not switched to rats. At 4 months it should be eating a larger item than a medium mouse so try a adult mouse next feeding then it won't be hungry still! Hope this helps!!! Good luck!

I think you need to get a scale to weigh your snake. Feed 10-15% of the snakes body weight every 7 days.

There is nothing wrong with feeding on the same day at the same time. My snakes are always ready for food on feeding day.

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Originally Posted by BPTexas_Pete84

hi i bought a normal bp nov. 28th when i got her she was 4 months and eating a medium mouse every 10 days i changed that to 2 small mice every 5 days. When she eats 2 the next week she wont eat but one. after she eats that one before the fifth day shes already hungry this has been going on for the last 2 months should i change her back to what she was doing or just keep trying the two every five days. She shedded dec. 23 and the shed was 21 inches i dont have weight yet but i hear shes very healthy looking

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I say one adult mouse every 7 days

feed her 1 and wait alittle bit then try to to feed here i have to do that.

Hi,

It might also be an idea to get the weights of each of those meals.

It does make a difference the weight of those two small mice every 5 days compared with one medium mouse every 10.

You might find when you weigh them that you literally doubled her food intake for the ten day period which is a bit of a jump in one go.


dr del

ok when i get me mice they have small medium and large then it goes to rats
i usually wait till they get them out the back but last week walked back there while i was talking to the employee i saw that they did have all different sizes of mice in the same tank they asked what size and picked them up. so your telling me i need to find a place that weighs them for you or start a small scale breeding of my own to keep with the weight?

Hi,

Nothing that complicated.

I was only thinking about the average sizes of both meals - just buy what you would normally buy but weigh it before offering and you will have more of an idea about how much you have changed the amount from his old regime. :)

Then decide what would be a good schedule based on that.

You might find that your best bet would be either one medium or two small mice every 7 days rather than every 5.

But without knowing the weight difference between 2 smalls and one medium it's hard to say.


dr del