too big or perfect

i know that this is undoubtedly a 'beginners' question i've got 2 royals so heres the thing if this works the 15% rule says my pastel male should be eating a 82 gram rat and my pin female should take a 42 gram rat so would they be all good on them or what and if you could tell me if there a small weaner etc that would be brilliant as my local reptile shop is a bit funny when i say 25 gram rat etc so thanks for the help :)

15% only applies to hatchlings and young juvis.
So your pastel is in the 500+g range? He can probably eat a weaned or small rat. The pin is around 200-300g? Could probably take a fat rat pup or weaning rat.

I choose feeder sizes by eye balling the size of the snake. You can match the size of the feeder to the largest width of the snake.

male pastel 553 grams
female pin 289 grams

so would they be eating medium and large weaners do round about 40ish grams for my pin and 80 odd for my pastel???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snake_ghost

male pastel 553 grams
female pin 289 grams

so would they be eating medium and large weaners do round about 40ish grams for my pin and 80 odd for my pastel???

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Different suppliers have different size ranges for their small rats but generally, you can ask your supplier for a small rat for your pastel and a weaner rat for your pin.

well i picked up a small rat today as i thought he would be good on them but the weight of the rat is 128 grams big or what??

i see no risk when you just try it; if the meal is too big its not a health risk, the risk is that she kills the rat and then decides not to try eating it and uses is as a pillow instead.

so just try my pastel with the 128 gram rat and if he it's there's not risk of him hurting himself in any way

thats what i think. but i would wait until someone else confirms it :)

Is the rat the same size as the largest width of the snake, or even a little bigger? If so, I say dinner is served.

Going with the widest part of the snake is a good rule of thumb to start out with, and if the snake declines the food, then start stepping down. Like PythonFriend said, generally the worst thing you'd have to worry about would be convincing the snake to be rid of the dead rat that is decorating the tank, if it got attached to the new decor.

the width of the 128 gram rat is 6 1/2 inches and my pastel royal is the same so it will be all good then?? :)

Sounds about right to me, according to all i've read on the forums and other net resources.

Yep if they're the same size all good then :)

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There's also a risk of a regurge on too big of a rat which is stressful to the snake.

But, from the sounds of it, you're good to go on the pastel. I'd say it's too big for the pin, so get the next size down for the pin.

128 grams is nearly a large rat (small < medium < large). Your pastel can possibly eat it, but that's a huge meal for him. I don't feed my adult breeder females rats that size, especially not if it's live. A live rat that size can inflict a lot of damage on a small snake. Be sure you supervise the feeding, and get something half that size to feed him next time (like, in two weeks).

I still consider 128 to be a 'small', and it's the size I feel my 1600 gram female. The others (in the 500-700 gram now) can and will take rats at around 100 grams with no worry and they've even taken 150 without much fuss, though I worried a lot. They're fed live, once a week, and the only time I've ever had an issue with the rat biting the snake is if the snake bites wrong and gets the rat's head inside a coil instead of outside where I can get tongs in its mouth. I wouldn't give a 300 gram snake a 125+ gram rat, but I have had one handle a 80 gram rat without a fuss. If I could get them to take smaller, F/T rats I would, but the only choice is pinkies or small live rats. I have plenty of 50-80 gram weaners in my freezer but nobody cares about them which is frustrating.

i don't feed live to any of my snakes but i a snake NEEDED to be fed live then i would but there all happy with f/t and i went down to my local reptile shop and got a small weaner for my pin she can have them with out any problems and a large weaner for my pastel once again no problem so thanks for all the help and at least i know that the 15% rule works thanks everyone :)