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    Increase size of rat for a yearling?

    Hello Everyone,
    Yesterday was cleaning day for my ball pythons. Also is the first time I weighed everyone. I have weights on all of them from their breeders and wanted to see how they all have progressed over the last few month being with me. My oldest female who turned a year old on October 8th is 743g. She gained a good amount of weight so far, she is also the one who has never refused a meal. She is always looking for food too it seems. I still have her on rat weanlings (which was suggested by the breeder). Do you think she is fine on the weanlings or should I increase the size of the rats now that she is over a year old?? Maybe if there is an increase in food size she won't be as ravenous between feeding days? I feed every 5-7 days depending on scheduling.

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    Well, this chart has been around for quite a while under our site's "BP Husbandry" sub-forum- maybe it will help you gauge whether it's time to up-size.

    According to this, it's time- but also remember though that many snakes will continue to act hungry for a while after they eat, even when it's a large meal- so don't fall for that either.

    Last edited by Bogertophis; 02-05-2022 at 02:44 PM.
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    Re: Increase size of rat for a yearling?

    Okay, cool. Yea she seems like she is always on the hunt, lol. The breeder would offer her a few rat weanlings. I just give her one. The one time I offered her two she didn't eat the second one. But that is when I first got her. So I think maybe after my weanlings are done, I have a few left. I'll size up and see how she does. Thanks for the suggestion and the chart info. I can use it for the others too. I think our other female is under weight. She is our picky one. So the chart helps for her too.

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    That chart Bogertophis posted is great wisdom and so helpful. It has been my go to for a long time.

    The other accepted guideline that this chart is also loosely based around is the 10% rule. You want to feed your noodle a meal that is 10% of the body weight. IE: 700 gram snake is eating a 70gr rat

    The other thing to consider too is you can eyeball the right size as well. Especially since sometimes people judge rat sizes differently. A store near me doesn't do 'weanlings' for example. To eyeball them, you wanna look at your snakes while they're stretched out. The rat you want to feed should be equal to or slightly larger than the widest part of your snake. It can definitely help when you're between sizes and trying to sort your feeders.

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    Re: Increase size of rat for a yearling?

    Are you feeding F/T or live?

    I usually say go a little smaller if feeding live for the snakes safety.

    If feeding F/T definitely small rats (60-90G) are okay now. More nutritious than weanlings. However, I would feed every 10-14 days once on small rats.

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    Re: Increase size of rat for a yearling?

    Quote Originally Posted by dakski View Post
    Are you feeding F/T or live?

    I usually say go a little smaller if feeding live for the snakes safety.

    If feeding F/T definitely small rats (60-90G) are okay now. More nutritious than weanlings. However, I would feed every 10-14 days once on small rats.
    I agree- hopefully feeding f/t. And it's better (healthier) to underfeed slightly than to overfeed slightly- so when in doubt, lengthening the interval between meals is a good way to go.

    And...feeding snakes doesn't have to be such an "exact science" at every feeding anyway. They sure don't eat on schedule in the wild, nor is it essential for captive pets or breeders.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
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    Re: Increase size of rat for a yearling?

    Frozen thawed all the way. I am actually picking up two BPs at the NARBC Tinley show in March. They were on live. I asked the breeder to start offering f/t a few times before pick up. I want to make sure they are readily taking the dead. I have fed hognose live in the passed and I tried hard to switch over. Which worked. I have transitioned a baby BP over no problem. So I always go f/t. I just do scheduled feeding to keep track and wrote everything down to make sure they are good. Thanks for the advice!

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