Feeding timeline, when to move up?

I am planning to make an order online soon (big cheese has packs of just 25) but with only one snake I wanted to be sure that I could use 25 fuzzy rats before he outgrows them. I know it is possible to feed two rather than one as he grows but are there any problems with doing it that way? I think the fuzzy rats would be the perfect size for him right now but I have no experience in how fast I can expect him to grow. How long do bps typically stay on one feeder size? Would it be safe to order 25 fuzzies and 25 pups or am I risking a large portion going unused? Thanks for any input, the site is having a great sale right now that I think would allow me to actually justify shipping costs. ^_^

You won't use 25 fuzzy rats before he outgrows them. Doubling up on them is fine if you have to.

How much does he weigh? You might be better off going straight for pups.

I will be getting a digital scale tomorrow and I will know exactly, but I did pick up some small mice before I realized that we may be able to order the rats. The mice are probably 3/4 of his largest width. I have never seen a rat put to compare in size and it did seem when I offered it last night that he wasn't too sure how to grab and swallow it. He doesn't seem to like to strike and is more interested in just slithering up to it and grabbing it with his mouth. How long do they usually stay on one food size while they are growing?

They tend to grow at different rates, so it's hard to say for sure. I'd order at least pack of fuzzies and a pack of pups. You could throw in some weaned and/or smalls too if you want to be super prepared and take advantage of their flat rate shipping special right now. If he gains weight quickly, most growing balls will take more than one rat per feeding (not at the same time - completely swallow one, offer another) so there's no reason to worry about having small sized rats left over as he grows.

Awesome, it seems like a really good deal and a decent amount (not as huge a minimum quantity as some suß). Is there guideline for how much they should eat in grams based on their body weight?

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Awesome, it seems like a really good deal and a decent amount (not as huge a minimum quantity as some sites). Is there guideline for how much they should eat in grams based on their body weight?

Since you're getting a scale, the general guideline is until they are ~500 grams to feed them 10-15% of their body weight every 4 days. A 300 gram snake will get between 30-45 grams of rat every 4 days.

Once they reach the 500 gram mark, they're usually ready for small rats and can go to weekly small rat meals. Many adult BPs won't ever need anything bigger than a single small rat weekly, while some big girls will take a medium weekly. By the time they're big enough for that, you'll be able to tell by their behavior what they want to be fed.

Exactly the information I was looking for! I like having a numerical guideline, just feels safer. So how heavy should a 2 month male be? I know they do grow at different rates, but is there a weight that would definitely be too low?

I agree with him not eating the entire 25 rats pups. At one feeding a week, that's 6 months worth of food. Some of my younger ones eat a couple times a week, so even then that's 12 weeks of food. Still too long on rat fuzzies. I'd buy the minimum of that you can and then the minimum of the next size up as well. You could always get a second BP and feed it what the 1st one doesn't eat ;)

Not really. They can be born at such different sizes (relatively speaking) that going by a number for weight vs age isn't practical. Believe me, I'm a logic/numbers guy too so I wish this weren't the case, but it is. You really have to go by the general appearance of the snake to be able to judge a healthy weight for it. :)

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeEye

You could always get a second BP and feed it what the 1st one doesn't eat ;)

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Shhh! Now you're giving away my secrets! :gj:

Oh man, the last thing I need is to encouragement to get another lol. I figure it is inevitable but I am trying not to go too crazy too fast. I so envy anyone lucky enough to have the time and resources to breed or keep a large variety of snakes. I will have to get a clearer picture of him soon. Maybe what I am really lacking is experience in telling if a bp is underweight or not. He is not "triangular" but at the same time I can feel his spine. Not sure if this is normal or not. He doesn't seem to have excessive skin folding though sometimes I notice his skin will sort of grab my arm so it isn't like he is so plump that there is no give. From my reading it seems that it is normal, especially in young snakes, for there to be a bit looser skin than in adults. I will sure feel better when that scale gets here though. That is really my biggest concern, that I will overlook signs of a problem simply due to lack of experience.

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Originally Posted by kiiarah

Oh man, the last thing I need is to encouragement to get another lol. I figure it is inevitable but I am trying not to go too crazy too fast. I so envy anyone lucky enough to have the time and resources to breed or keep a large variety of snakes. I will have to get a clearer picture of him soon. Maybe what I am really lacking is experience in telling if a bp is underweight or not. He is not "triangular" but at the same time I can feel his spine. Not sure if this is normal or not. He doesn't seem to have excessive skin folding though sometimes I notice his skin will sort of grab my arm so it isn't like he is so plump that there is no give. From my reading it seems that it is normal, especially in young snakes, for there to be a bit looser skin than in adults. I will sure feel better when that scale gets here though. That is really my biggest concern, that I will overlook signs of a problem simply due to lack of experience.

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I really wouldn't worry. In time it will become second nature and you'll know what's what and what works for you and your snakes and whether something is wrong or not.

I also wouldn't worry about the food size. Even as an adult my big male enjoyed cleaning up the occasional rat pups if any were going spare from my younger snakes...

I still had fuzzies left over and just fed two at a time to make the weight ratio right. We went quickly from fuzzies to smalll rats. I probably had him 5 months. Last order I made....I bought weanlings and small rats. Already on second bag of smalls.

I also recently ordered from Big Cheese. My snake, now at around 280 grams, was taking a rat fuzzy every 5 days. When those became too small, I switched him over to large mice via a local pet store. I then got 25 pups and 20 weanlings from BC. (note: you'll get better shipping prices in the fall-winter months when snakes are known to go off feed - or so I'm told). The pups are about 28-30g each, which is slightly larger than the large mice he was getting (which averaged 23-25 g). He's doing great on the Pups (5 gone so far), and gets 1 every 7 days. When he's bigger, I plan to lower the feeding frequency to 5 days so he more or less gets 2 per week. Then I'll bump him up to the weanlings, which are still vacuum-sealed. This is a lot better than making trips to the hit-or miss pet store, where feeders were sometimes sick or unavailable. More cost-effective over time as well. :gj:

Ok got the digital scale in. He weighs 92 grams, I have photos of him on the other post I made about a possible impending shed, but since I am at work cannot upload them here until later. Any thoughts.

I fed my snake rat fuzzies every 4 days till he was around 230 grams. The fuzzies were about 13 grams each. The rat pups I got from BC are around 30g each. To give you an idea of weight gain (at least from my experience), you can expect an increase in the snake's weight of around 35-60g a month with the 10-15% per week feeder rule. When I started measurements in mid April 2014, he was at 141g. He's at 295g as of this morning. He's been getting a rat pup weekly for the past month, when he weighed 240g at the start. I'll be moving him to a 4-5 day feeding interval of pups this week.