Feeding size

Hey guys, my albino only eats live, and she has eaten live adult Mice and live rat pups. Do you think she could get away with a small adult rat? The pet stores near me don't have rat pups and I'm hoping to go there and find the smallest live rat that they have. Here's a picture for reference:
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...256eedde50.jpg

The one on the right is about 300 grams and eating small rats, the albino is 157 grams.


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If "small adult rat" conforms to any sort of standard sizing, no, a 157 gram snake cannot eat a small adult rat.

The small adult rat that I gave to the guy on the right was 31 grams which should work for a 157 gram snake. I mean it's a little on the hefty side if you're sticking to the 10-15% rule. I'm just nervous that the rat would be a bit more vicious and scratch her. She's been scratched by mice but not deeply at all.

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Originally Posted by Reed12321

The small adult rat that I gave to the guy on the right was 31 grams which should work for a 157 gram snake. I mean it's a little on the hefty side if you're sticking to the 10-15% rule. I'm just nervous that the rat would be a bit more vicious and scratch her. She's been scratched by mice but not deeply at all.

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31g sounds more like a big rat pup or small weaned rat.

It's on the big side, but it's doable. I've fed at 20% before without problems.

This is why I generally like weights better than labels. Easier and faster to tell over the internet if something will work or not.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

31g sounds more like a big rat pup or small weaned rat.

It's on the big side, but it's doable. I've fed at 20% before without problems.

This is why I generally like weights better than labels. Easier and faster to tell over the internet if something will work or not.

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well I'm basing it off of a frozen rat that I had. it was labeled as a small rat, but in terms of length, seemed to be almost twice the length as a smaller rat pup.

I take the common sense approach. If they take a larger meal,that's what they get. If they don't,go smaller.

The smallest rat I've produced was about 80 grams at weaning, and most pet store rats are going to be considerably bigger. Most "small" rats I've purchased from pet stores have been around 130g, with the very smallest probably somewhere around 100, but that was a very rare find. Honestly, I'd rather go too small than too big here and just go with the biggest mouse they've got (mice average out around 20g as adults).

Well I went to the pet store and they didn't even have small rats. So I had them get me the biggest mouse they could find. I'm pretty sure they gave me a pregnant mouse because it was extra feisty and it was fat. My snake struck at it and caught the tail. She ended up getting bitten and scratched, but swallowed the mouse and had a considerable bulge in her stomach.


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Originally Posted by Reed12321

Well I went to the pet store and they didn't even have small rats. So I had them get me the biggest mouse they could find. I'm pretty sure they gave me a pregnant mouse because it was extra feisty and it was fat. My snake struck at it and caught the tail. She ended up getting bitten and scratched, but swallowed the mouse and had a considerable bulge in her stomach.


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I recommend a pair of feeding tongs. Sometimes mine don't get a very good grip, so I have to be ready to give the feeder something to bite that isn't my snake, or to put something between kicking feet and scales (my finicky eaters tend to refuse their next meal if they got scratched or kicked pretty good).

I use those but last time I used feeding tongs with a live feeder, it bit me pretty badly


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A small rat is 50-80 grams. If anyone is paying small prices for 125g rats, let me know who you're buying from haha.

An XL retired breeder mouse would be close to 50g. Or a pregnant female maybe. A small rat could be about that size if you find a smaller small rat. So yes, it'd be OK to feed one to that snake as long as you get the right size. If you're worried about the rat being too feisty for the snake cuz of its size, you just pre kill it. Hold a pencil, ruler or butter knife behind its head and push down. Yank hard of the base of the tail. Boom, simply pre killed.

So she ate what appeared to be a pregnant mouse, but it was a rough feeding in terms of getting scratched and bit in the process. That was about 5 days ago. I can tell she's hungry because when she is hungry, she roams all over the tank trying to get out. I'm assuming she's looking for food when she starts doing this. Today I put a live mouse in there that was about the same size as the pregnant one, and she didn't have any interest in it. After 15 minutes, I put it back in the cage, and decided to try thawing out a rat. I put a rat in the tank and left it for a few hours, and nothing happened. I'm going to try to get a live rat pup from a pet store to see if she'll eat it, but I'm nervous that since the last time she ate was so violent, that she'll be hesitant to eat.

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Originally Posted by Reed12321

I use those but last time I used feeding tongs with a live feeder, it bit me pretty badly


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How were you using the tongs? If you do it correctly (for putting the tongs in the feeder's mouth so it can't bite the snake) there should be pretty much no way you could be bitten.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

How were you using the tongs? If you do it correctly (for putting the tongs in the feeder's mouth so it can't bite the snake) there should be pretty much no way you could be bitten.

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Apparently I was doing it wrong. I was holding the feeder like I would hold a F/T (by the tail) How do you use tongs to feed live?

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Originally Posted by Reed12321

Apparently I was doing it wrong. I was holding the feeder like I would hold a F/T (by the tail) How do you use tongs to feed live?

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You don't... you just place the feeder in the snakes enclosure and let the snake do its thing. You want the feeder to be calm when placed in the snakes enclosure, holding it by the tail is not good for the feeder and will put your snake at risk for getting a bite.

Edit: And put yourself at risk for a bite too Lol. Rat bites are not fun.

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Originally Posted by AlexisFitzy

You don't... you just place the feeder in the snakes enclosure and let the snake do its thing. You want the feeder to be calm when placed in the snakes enclosure, holding it by the tail is not good for the feeder and will put your snake at risk for getting a bite.

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Okay then I am doing it right. The instance where my snake was bitten was because when the snake struck at the mouse, it caught the tail. I wasn't holding he rodent by tongs at all. It was just roaming around the tank and the snake just struck and missed the body. She didnt let go of the tail and that's what caused her to get bit. She wasn't even coiled around the mouse when she was bit. I might be able to post a video of what happened

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FE0oS9IbH8

If my snake would have just grabbed the tail I would have grabbed the mouse to make sure it wouldnt bite her.. Not just watch it happen.. When I did feed live the adult mice I was getting were 30 grams and male now that I'm on ft there 18-22 when I weigh them frozen.. It's not hard to get them to switch.. My 300g one that always took live his whole life switched right over no missed feedings at all

Yeah this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I know better to intervene next time. I've been trying to get her to switch to f/t but when she was a hatchling, she ate live from the breeder. After I got her home, she ate 1 f/t and went on a feeding hiatus for 3 weeks until I got her a live mouse to eat.


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I know there are some snakes that will only eat live but I do believe the majority of them can be converted to f/t. It takes a lot of patience sometimes but if the snake isn't losing a lot of weight you just have to wait them out. Eventually they'll get hungry and eat what's available. Once they take f/t I would never offer live prey again unless absolutely necessary. You have a very nice BP. I'm sure you don't want him to get injured, or worse, by his food.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I know there are some snakes that will only eat live but I do believe the majority of them can be converted to f/t. It takes a lot of patience sometimes but if the snake isn't losing a lot of weight you just have to wait them out. Eventually they'll get hungry and eat what's available. Once they take f/t I would never offer live prey again unless absolutely necessary. You have a very nice BP. I'm sure you don't want him to get injured, or worse, by his food.

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yeah it's tough. She ate a f/t like 3 days after i got her, then stopped eating for 3 weeks and did lose some weight. I did EVERYTHING and a bunch of people on here said, "You have to feed your snake what it will eat, not what you want it to eat." It's hard when I have one snake thats a super pickey eater, and one that's a garbage disposal. I bought a live rat pup today, and put it in the tank and again, she has no interest. I wonder if she'll eat fresh-killed...but i don't know how to kill a rat/mouse.

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Originally Posted by Reed12321

It's hard when I have one snake thats a super pickey eater, and one that's a garbage disposal.

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And this is how I have a few snakes that grow much much more quickly than their peers. They end up with double meals when their pal wont eat his rat. Luckily in my case my problem feeders are proven males. The females and juvenile males keep pounding those rats.

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Originally Posted by chrisv

And this is how I have a few snakes that grow much much more quickly than their peers. They end up with double meals when their pal wont eat his rat. Luckily in my case my problem feeders are proven males. The females and juvenile males keep pounding those rats.

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Well both of my snakes are juvenile, but that is how my male is more than twice the size of my female, and they're less than a month and a half apart in age. He eats all of the meals that she won't eat. He has 15 recorded feeds, but I know there was a feed here and there that I didn't record because he ate a tiny mouse hopper or fuzzy. The one I'm having issues with has 8 feeds. She was eating live no problem, but now that she had a rough feed, she's refusing. I guess I'll wait a week to feed her again. Looks like I'll be taking care of a rat pup.