Average weight of 8 month old female??

I have an 8 month old female pastel that weighs approximately 222g. Is this a normal weight or am I under feeding her? I've seen others that aren't much older than she is that weigh much more. I'm not sure if those owners are trying to beef up their females to breed sooner or if I'm just not feeding enough. She is an aggressive eater so that's not the problem. I just want to make sure her weight is on target. Thanks for your help.

That's a little small...What & size are You feeding her?

She's been getting one small or medium mouse every 7 days. Last week she ate a small rat because that's all LLL had when I went in to get feeders. She ate the rat no problem, she was just a little slower about getting it down than she is the mice.

I would feed the 1 rat a week instead of the mice.

I have got 2 10 month old females at around 600+ so yeah its a little small. I would do a small rat every 5 days.

OK. I can do that. Thanks for your help. I think I was feeding mice because someone told me that they had more nutrients than the rats, is this true?

Most people say rats have more nutrients than mice. But there is nothing to really back it up other than here-say.

Found this info on rodent pro:
Pro% Fat Ash Gross engery

55.8 23.6 11.8 5.25 Adult Mouse

56.1 27.5 14.8 5.55 Juvie Rat

Hope this helps. I feed a rat pup avg weight of 10% of the body weight of my snake or a little more 1 per snake a week.

My snake is 6 months old and he's a boy, but I just weighed him today and he's 344 grams. I feed rat pups.

I am no pro but I have been told rats are better for them. My girl is 5 months and about 230g, She gets a 27g rat pup every 5 days. As soon as I run out of those I am switching to weaned rats.

Good luck!

There is no way a 200g snake could eat a small rat.

Feed the snake approximately 10-15% of its body weight once a week.

For reference, my 8 month old snakes around around 500-600g.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

There is no way a 200g snake could eat a small rat.

Feed the snake approximately 10-15% of its body weight once a week.

For reference, my 8 month old snakes around around 500-600g.

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I thought so too but she did. While watching her eat, I kept thinking I was going to have to go back to the store for something smaller because I didn't see any way for her to get it down. I also felt bad that she had killed a rat for no reason since she wouldn't be able to eat it. Surprisingly, she got it down.

I appreciate everyone's comments and helpfulness. I'll be feeding her a rat pup every 5-7 days and hope she continues to grow. She hasn't missed a meal yet but I want to make sure she's at a healthy weight. I'm not trying to beef her up to breed, although I would like to breed her eventually. I just want to her grow and be healthy.

I feed all my ball pythons a rat every 4 days. And i pick a rat thats the same diameter as the widest part of the snake. Works out great. If your not breeding then slow down on the feedings when they get up to 1000 grams. Every 7 days will be fine then.

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Originally Posted by itskrystle

I thought so too but she did. While watching her eat, I kept thinking I was going to have to go back to the store for something smaller because I didn't see any way for her to get it down. I also felt bad that she had killed a rat for no reason since she wouldn't be able to eat it. Surprisingly, she got it down.

I appreciate everyone's comments and helpfulness. I'll be feeding her a rat pup every 5-7 days and hope she continues to grow. She hasn't missed a meal yet but I want to make sure she's at a healthy weight. I'm not trying to beef her up to breed, although I would like to breed her eventually. I just want to her grow and be healthy.

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Oh, a rat pup is different then a small rat. A small rat weighs somewhere between 50-80g.

Feed every 3 to five days if you want them to grow. When sub adults every week is ok.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Oh, a rat pup is different then a small rat. A small rat weighs somewhere between 50-80g.

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It was a small rat that I fed her last week and was afraid she wouldn't be able to eat. I'm thinking that I'll start feeding her rat pups as opposed to the mice she's been getting. I had a rat pup last week but the store only had one and we fed that to a smaller female that we have which left only a small rat for "the precious."

The biggest problem is that I feed live and have to go to the store to get them. Most of the time the store doesn't have what I need and it's hard to judge the diameter of the rat in comparison to the snake when I don't have both of them in front of me. I'm not sure if there is a way I can weigh the rat before purchasing it to make sure it is 10-15% of the snake's body weight. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much. I'll try to buy rat pups when I can. I think the store gets their shipments in on Wednesday so I may have to gradually start trying to change feeding day from Saturday to Wednesday.

Different places have different definitions of what a "small rat" is. According to rodentpro, they range from 45-84g, but that's just their definition.

I do believe a 200g BP could probably swallow a 45g rat. It might not be the best for her though. Meals that are too big can cause them to regurge.

As far as whether rats or mice are better... we don't know. You can find very detailed information on rodentpro's website about protein content and a lot of other nutrition information on mice, rats, and other prey animals. However, as far as I know, there has never been a scientific study to determine what the dietary requirements of BPs are. Is more protein better, or worse? We don't know. But we do know that BPs seem to do very well on diets made purely of mice, purely of rats, or a mix of the 2. So feed what works for you & your snake.

The small rats I've been getting are around 40g.

It won't hurt your snake to skip a meal if the shop doesn't have your prey size. I would rather skip or feed too small than feed too large.

My bp just turned 5 months and weighed 350 grams 2 weeks ago but has been off feed since then because she dosent want to take rat pups. Mice for an 8 month old is kind of small.

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Originally Posted by zantedeschia

It won't hurt your snake to skip a meal if the shop doesn't have your prey size. I would rather skip or feed too small than feed too large.

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I hadn't even considered this. I've just been too concerned with making sure she gets the adequate amount of nutrition. I'll keep this in mind next time the store is out of what I need. Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate your help.

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Originally Posted by itskrystle

I have an 8 month old female pastel that weighs approximately 222g. Is this a normal weight or am I under feeding her? I've seen others that aren't much older than she is that weigh much more. I'm not sure if those owners are trying to beef up their females to breed sooner or if I'm just not feeding enough. She is an aggressive eater so that's not the problem. I just want to make sure her weight is on target. Thanks for your help.

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My 8 months is 3ft and weighs 927 grams

My 8 month female weighs 927 trams and is 3 ft

My 6 month old is 600 grams and for the past 3 months has gained an average of 112 grams per month.