Feeding questions

[Libby]

My baby is 16 months old and over 1300gr. We give her either a single large or 2 medium f/t rats totaling 10-15% of her body weight every 7 days. This Sunday evening she refused to eat a 150gr rat. Normally she has a great feeding response as long as we make sure the rats are between 90-95F with the temp gun. The only other time she's refused a meal was when she was deep in shed.

So my questions are:

How soon should I attempt to feed her again? A couple of days or a full week?

Has she gotten large enough that I should start moving her back to a 10 day instead of a 7 day feeding schedule? We have no intention of breeding, so aren't trying to get her up to a larger size, just keep her nice and healthy.

We don't handle her after feeding until after my son gets out of school on Tuesday when we feed her on Sunday night. We do get her out on Sundays, but generally earlier in the day and not for extended sessions. Should we not handle her at all on feeding day? She is VERY mellow and it's never been an issue before.

Thanks so much for the help!

[Crazymonkee]

That's a lot of food, 10%-15% of the body weight is mainly for hatchlings. Give one appropriate size prey every 7-10 days (I like 7). They prey should be the same width as your snakes widest part or slightly larger.

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[Libby]

I wondered if she thought it was too big, but she's eaten that size before. It definitely wasn't wider than her, since she's a pretty big girl. I have been wondering about pulling back on size or frequency, though.

[Crazymonkee]

I'd pull back on size personally, a lil smaller is good, less energy to digest it and will digest quicker, and stick with weekly feedings.
Oh wait a full week before offering again
I've noticed most people don't feed larger than sm/med rat per feeding. Except to the extremely big girls
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[Pythonfriend]

do you have intentions of breeding her soon?

if its just a pet, i think its just too much. lots of food on a tight scedule makes sense when they go off feed for breeding each year and lay a big clutch of eggs each year. that doesnt make much sense for a pet.

[MrLang]

I'd feed the same size rat every 14 days or about half that size weekly. It is not uncommon for them to decide not to eat when they're at a nice healthy weight. As long as her body condition is good don't be surprised if she decides not to eat for a while. I would say if you have handled her on feeding day before and she has eaten then don't worry about it.

[Libby]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer!

@Crazymonkee, I think that's exactly what I'll do, keep her on the same schedule with a smaller rat, since it's already our routine.

@Pythonfriend, very good point about increased diet for snakes that will be bred. Millicent isn't getting a boyfriend, so we'll try to keep her girlish figure!

@MrLang, thanks for the reassurance about handling her on feeding day. She gets fed Sunday night, so she has Monday and most of Tuesday off from handling and my son can play with her on weekends.

So...anyone in Tampa Bay area want two 140-150 gram rats that are in my freezer? I'm in north Pinellas, let me know if you'd like them!