What size?

hey everyone,

My female Lesser Pastel is now just over a 1000 grams and i was wondering if the F/T rats i feed her are the right size.

so i was wondering how big/much do you guys feed to a 1000 gram female?

here are 2 photo's after her most recent shed om 03-12-2015

http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...pss06oud9g.jpg

http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0dxuo6uh.jpg

thanks,

Andrew

Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck:gj:

I usually feed rat smalls until they reach at least 1100 grams. Then I bump the females up to rat mediums. One every 7 to 10 days should suffice throughout their life unless you are trying to accelerate her growth, then you can keep her feeding schedule to every 6 to 7 days. Once she reaches between 1500 and 2000 grams there is no need to feed her more often then once a week. In fact that might be more than she requires.

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck:gj:

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That 15% to 20% rule is mostly for hatchlings.

I personally don't feed a 1000g snake anything bigger than a 60g to 65g rat (or that ballpark).

By those 10% / 15% figures we would be talking about a 400 to 600 grams rat for a 4000 gram female, a 250 to 375 grams rat for a 2500 grams female :O

An animal eating a 250 grams rat would be sluggish and uncomfortable for days and likely to eat only once every 3 to 4 weeks, that's old school feeding. (though some people even used to feed small rabbits)

BP are already overfed in captivity and that kind of feeding is not something I would recommend.

For a snake to eat with consistency year round I recommend feeding smaller preys, anything around 1000 grams here gets something in the 55/75 grams range depending if it's a male or female, and I skip a week here and there as well.

And I never feed anything larger than 150 grams rats even to my 4000 grams female.

Sure they can eat more but it does not mean that it is good for them, there metabolism slows down tremendously as they age and food intake should decrease.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck:gj:

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Please don't give this percentage recommendation for anything outside of a hatchling to ~500 grams. I'm guessing you don't have much experience with 1000g+ ball pythons or 200 gram rats - a rat that size is HUGE for this size BP (it's huge for most BPs).

Personally, I feed a ~10-15% meal every 4 days until they're about 500 grams.
Then, I switch to feeding a small rat (50-90 grams) weekly until they're about 1500 grams.
Females over 1500 grams get switched to medium rats (90-140 grams) - males stay on smalls.
I only consider feeding anything larger than a medium rat (f/t only) to the biggest girls over 3000 grams, and that's rare.

I want to thank everyone that gave me an answer,

i knew about the 10-15% rule for hatchlings till +/- 500 gram.

going by the rest of the answers it seems i have been doing ok, i have been feeding rats of about 70/80 grams 1 every 7 days unless she is in shed then she doesnt get any ;)

1 other question, how likely is it she will be 1500+ by the end of this year if she keeps eating?

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Originally Posted by ARBallMorphs

1 other question, how likely is it she will be 1500+ by the end of this year if she keeps eating?

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If she keeps eating, it's very likely - but keeping eating is the catch. ;) 1000 gram females are notorious for messing with your head. :D

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Originally Posted by ARBallMorphs

1 other question, how likely is it she will be 1500+ by the end of this year if she keeps eating?

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If she keep eating she will likely get there by the end of the year but it's hard to guarantee that she will keep eating, around the size she is now they often hit a wall so it doesn't always turn out the way we hope for.

Seems like too many people around here are in a rush to breed. This is not a get rich quick sceme. These are live animals we are talking about..

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

If she keeps eating, it's very likely - but keeping eating is the catch. ;) 1000 gram females are notorious for messing with your head. :D

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Originally Posted by Deborah

If she keep eating she will likely get there by the end of the year but it's hard to guarantee that she will keep eating, around the size she is now they often hit a wall so it doesn't always turn out the way we hope for.

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hey,

yeah that wall... my Orange Ghost female is there already for like 3 months orso, she is now down to 975 grams orso :(

My Lesser Pastel did just take a rat so i am concidering myself lucky that she isnt fasting yet.

And to bring some good news, my Pastel het. Piebald female who was +/-850 grams when she desided she was big enough to stop eating (01-21-2015) now finally after 2 months took something, only it was a F/T mouse, but hey a mouse is better then nothing.

should i try to give her more? or just keep it at this 40 gram F/T mouse to get her digestion system started up again after a 2 month fast?

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Originally Posted by ARBallMorphs

And to bring some good news, my Pastel het. Piebald female who was +/-850 grams when she desided she was big enough to stop eating (01-21-2015) now finally after 2 months took something, only it was a F/T mouse, but hey a mouse is better then nothing.

should i try to give her more? or just keep it at this 40 gram F/T mouse to get her digestion system started up again after a 2 month fast?

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When I use this method to get them eating again, they've usually been good to go back up to regular size after the first smaller "jump start" meal. Your results may vary. :)

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Originally Posted by NIGRO51

Seems like too many people around here are in a rush to breed. This is not a get rich quick sceme. These are live animals we are talking about..

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I can see why you are saying that, and i do agree with you but...

that is not what i am trying to do, that is why i asked what size i should be feeding.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

When I use this method to get them eating again, they've usually been good to go back up to regular size after the first smaller "jump start" meal. Your results may vary. :)

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ok thanks a lot!

I will keep it at this 40 gram mouse then and hope she will eat again next week :)

The way I've always determined the quantity or size is to take the largest part of my snake and match that size to the rats. It may be better to start with two smaller ones that will end up being the same width as your biggest part of python.