Am I under feeding?

[Nitelion94]

Hello. I have 1 BP unsure of age :/ Weighs 131g and I am feeding it an adult mouse every 5-7 days and when you get closer to the vent the skin is a little saggy. When holding him(unkown sex but I think its a boy dont ask me why cuz I dont know) he feels rock hard and can grip really good.

[dave g]

i have seen others on here say feed according to the widest part of the snakes body and also i have said feed according to 10% of snakes weight. i am pretty new to the hobby so i am no expert. i have a couple month old male pastel that is feeding on adult mice every sixth day or so.

later, dave

[latte]

i was wondering the same thing i just got my first bp for the first time about a month ago hes almost a year and im almost possitive its a male but not quite sure but my family had snakes when i was younger and they are all saying he acts like hes still hungry after we feed him but i dont want to over feed him and ive been feeding him live mice should i be feeding him frozen mice??

[jsmorphs2]

How much does the adult mouse weigh? Seems like it would be a good meal for a 131g-er.

I go with the 10% rule for hatchlings to yearlings then after they get 1,000g+ they get small rats in the 70-90gram range. Big females get one or two small rats depending on the breeding season cycle.

[AK907]

Hello. I have 1 BP unsure of age :/ Weighs 131g and I am feeding it an adult mouse every 5-7 days and when you get closer to the vent the skin is a little saggy. When holding him(unkown sex but I think its a boy dont ask me why cuz I dont know) he feels rock hard and can grip really good.

If its 131g it is probably pretty young unless it is emaciated. Most likely it is a 2011. You mention that the skin is saggy. Can you post pics? Could be lots of reasons.

As has been said, feed it a meal that is as big around as the fattest part of its body or roughly 10-15% of its body weight, so 15-20g meal would be perfect. Every 5-7 days is fine. On that note, I'd recommend doing away with the mice. Offer him an appropriately sized rat. Rats are more nutritious than mice and making the switch from mice to rats later in life can be much harder. Its a real pain having to feed an adult ball 5+ mice in a sitting. I've been there. After the switch you'll notice a big difference.

[Sama]

Lol, I have also done the 5+ mice in one sitting, 1 rat is much easier. As for acting hungry, I have a 1800g male who is the same way, he gets a med. to small rat every week and then goes looking for more. Actually, both my males are bottomless pits, kinda like teenage boys = ).

[AK907]

Lol, I have also done the 5+ mice in one sitting, 1 rat is much easier. As for acting hungry, I have a 1800g male who is the same way, he gets a med. to small rat every week and then goes looking for more. Actually, both my males are bottomless pits, kinda like teenage boys = ).

Sounds like our male spider. He would eat until he split open if you let him. We all have to play bartender sometimes and cut them off.

To the OP, you'll learn to read your snakes. Every snake will be different and what we've told you are just general guidelines. Sometimes you will get a bottomless pit who will eat everything in sight and never seems to gain any weight, likewise you may be lucky and have one that only eats a small meal on occasion, yet bulks up faster than Kirsty Alley and Rosie O'Donnell at an all you can eat buffet.

[rperry03]

My 2011 Bp is 325 grams, my neighbors is 320, and the one I just gave to a buddy is also in the 300's. Now i know every snake is different and I know for a fact that my neighbors is not from the same clutch, but my two could have been.
They all eat every sunday 1 asf or rat 30-45 grams (never can get identical weights) or 2 of something that equals that amount.

[AliCat37]

i was wondering the same thing i just got my first bp for the first time about a month ago hes almost a year and im almost possitive its a male but not quite sure but my family had snakes when i was younger and they are all saying he acts like hes still hungry after we feed him but i dont want to over feed him and ive been feeding him live mice should i be feeding him frozen mice??

It is up to you whether or not you feed live mice. I typically prefer to feed mine prekilled or frozen-thawed. Feeding live is a huge risk to the snake (it can be bitten and bleed to death) and, in my opinion, cruel to the mouse as it has no chance to escape as it would in the wild. Not to mention, your BP won't be eating mice forever, and rats can inflict some nasty wounds. Better to switch now than later.

[Redneck_Crow]

I feed f/t for convenience. I'm not opposed to live, and I've fed live. I've never had a snake get more than the most minor bite when feeding live and yeah, it sucks to be a rat getting killed by a snake but it sucks to be a rat in the ratty gas chamber.

The only time I've ever seen a snake significantly injured by a live feeder is when the snake didn't eat and some dimbulb left the rat in with the snake for a long period of time unsupervised.

When I give a live rodent it's life expectancy is <45 seconds once it hits the tub. I have one little mojave who thinks that f/t or p/k is of teh debil, and she doesn't have even one marred scale from eating live.

I'd try to get the snake off mice and onto rats ASAP. Right now a mouse makes a nice sized meal for your snake. But I can tell you it's a pain where a pill won't reach to have a big old fat adult ball python that eats 5 or 6 mice at a sitting. It's also very expensive if you have to buy the rodents.