Which "rule of thumb" do you use for prey size?

I would like to know what "rule of thumb" you use to decide the size of the meal you offer to your BP.

Can I say I use a combination? I won't feed anything that's larger than the body girth, and I make sure my BP gets 10% of her body weight in food. Sometimes that requires two prey items.

bout the size of the snakes biggest section of its body

Just judge it by eye...

i voted 15% of body weight just because its easier IMO

I go for a rat or mouse just slighty smaller then the fattest part.

I feed weekly.

If its a fatty i give one the size above.

If it was a long and thin animal i'd give 2 half size items in a feeding.

I voted for girth however I do weigh every item and try to keep them about 10% often they are close to the same anyway.

I do 10-15% of the snakes body weight until 1000g then I just feed a small rat once weekly.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I voted for girth however I do weigh every item and try to keep them about 10% often they are close to the same anyway.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I do 10-15% of the snakes body weight until 1000g then I just feed a small rat once weekly.

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I use a combination of these two depending on which snake it is and all of mine get fed every 10 days...

Ideally I offer a prey item whose girth is similar to that of the snake I am feeding. However I do have a couple of fussy feeders who seem to be intimidated by appropriately-sized prey, will only eat much smaller items and don't usually want seconds. For them I just have to feed smaller prey more frequently.

When i get my snake I am going with 15% of body weight :)

Also, in the poll, 15% of people say they use the 15% body weight method. :rofl: :rofl:

For now I go with prey around the size of the snake's widest point (starting a bit smaller than that and varying between individuals based on metabolism and feeding response), but as soon as I get around to getting a scale I'd like to start using the 10-15% rule.

Prey item slightly smaller to equal the BP's girth size for growing snakes and nothing larger than a 4 to 6 weeks old rats for adults. (male BP get the younger and smaller ones and females get the older and bigger ones)