feeder size

[Ranegyr]

i am currently feeding my 5yo male, medium size rats. my 1.5 yo f is eating two mice, one right after the other. this is because the only place i can find feeders is petsmart and i they don't have the proper size for her. i hate that. i am thinking of using ASF's but the size of the mouse concerns me. an adult ASF is a lot smaller than the size of rat i am feeding my adult male. i really don't want to feed him 3 or 4 at a time. so what do all of you do? am i missing something simple or is this a delima you all have? the female wont be a problem because if i do switch to ASF, i am going to begin f/t and will have no issues euthanizing the proper size for her for a while.

[grammie]

don't know much but what I saw here. My 4 yr old ball has been eating medium rats. The last one I thought was too big, but she handled it. yesterday was her first asf. It was smaller than the medium rat, but adult size. She ate it and went to her hide, she didn't look around for more or anything. She's still happily there and I think the other may have actually been too much. Everyone keeps saying that an adult ASF is the perfect size for a grown ball. I listened. You wouldn't have to F/T if you don't want to, they won't outgrow what you need.

[Ranegyr]

i just saw mike Cavanaugh's post that followed mine. his largest ASF is less than half the size that i feed mine. i have always followed the 2-3x the size of the head rule. does my big boy just have an enormous head or am i overfeeding?

i am gonna go find out how to adda pic to my thread and show ya. i'ma have to change his name from opie to Big Mouth.

[greghall]

full grown breeders are just the right size,but take awhile to get them to that size.They love the little ones they eatem like candy!2 or three at a time

[littleindiangirl]

Full grown breeders can be anywhere from 80 to 150 grams. I haven't heard of using the head to gauge feeder size, but rather the widest point of the animal being fed (usually the hips) should be no larger than the girth of the snake.

[greghall]

they do vary in size,I do have some whopper females & males.Ill weigh some tonight with some pics.Have to move the rattys out of one room to the other side of my basement, for the motherinlaw, the night time noise will keep her awake!!cant wait to get my room built!

[Ranegyr]

too busy at work to get that pic, but thanks for the info so far. i have also heard of the "hip size measurment" and the medium rat that i just used definitly fit that measure. so, still huge rats and smaller ASF's.

i don't have a problem feeding 3 or 4 or whatever. but does that not affect the snake? i usually feed at night so if i have to do multiples, how long should i wait between each pseudo-crack rat? should i determine the number needed by weight (in grams) and feed till done or should i spread them out over a few days?

i just feel weird about going to smaller rats. i dont want him to be hungry, but i dont want him to be fat fat either.

thanks again for the info guys. sorry to be a pain.

[littleindiangirl]

Unless your "male" is HUGE, he would do well on a maintanence diet of an adult asf weekly. You should keep in mind that their fatty deposits are under the rib cage, and push on the organs. You wouldn't be able to feel the fat necessarily.

I do question the size rat you're feeding, since in my mind, an adult asf IS the size of a medium rat. What is the weight of these medium rats your feeding? I'm thinking you are feeding large sized domestic rats.

Balls can easily live on a weaner rat for their life, especially a male since males tend to be lean and don't look as full as females.

[Ranegyr]

i just upgraded to the medium rat at petsmart. see, i think that's part of my problem. i cant find anyone other that 1 persmart that sells rats. so my opinion may be skewed by a lack of variety. but that rat, sorry no pic, is 5 inches nose to butt and as big around as a base ball. it was an easy meal for my big boy. the petsmart manager calls them lab whites or standart whites.

i guess i am getting that i may be overfeeding. i'll find out what happens when i switch to ASF.

i have to find some somewhere. having no luck in tampa.

[jsmorphs2]

I usually judge the size of food by the width of the snake meaning that the width of the food is slightly smaller than the widest part of the snake. From experience, they can take larger but its not the best thing to do. They may re-gurge a meal that is too large. Also, its always easier to get your snakes on the same type of food and I suggest f/t rats, they are inexpensive, easy to find (usually online or at local reptile shows), you can choose the right size for your snake, and you don't have to worry about feeding live or stunned. If your girl is eating two mice she can probably take a small rat. I have three bps out of fourteen that are on live mice and before every feeding I try offering and f/t rat. If they don't take it it will just go to someone else. If they do take it I keep that snake on rats unless they refuse one again. I also order feeders in bulk (usually 200 at a time).

The baby jungle carpet I had refused pinky mice so we tried a fuzzy and she still refused. I had to assist feed her a few times but she was going down hill fast. On a whim we put a small adult mouse in with her and immediately she took it. The lump in her belly made it looked like she was going to burst! She did fine and ever since she was a great feeder. So in that case a large meal probably saved her life.

Hope this helps