BRB feeding question

[kyle13404]

Ive had my BRB for a few months now. He is currently eating live fuzzy mice once a week. I havent weighed him yet. When should I feed him a bigger meal?

[Eramyl]

As soon as the current food quits leaving visual bumps in the body. Even if you don't think they're ready, they most likely are. My female used to pound adult mice down in no time, but would also eat 2 or 3 at a time. When I gave her a small rat for the first time it took her 8 minutes and I thought she was going to choke. I still have the video of it.

[DennisM]

Well, there's really not enough info in your post to say. You should start tracking the snakes weight. My feeling is if the snake is gaining weight, then at minimum it's getting enough to eat. That is not to say that an increase in food size is not appropriate. One commonly held approach on food size is to feed an item whose girth is 100-150% of the snakes girth at it's widest point. If the meals are not leaving any bulge in the snakes belly it's probably time to upsize. Another not so common approach is a rule of thumb that I have used for many years. If it takes the snake more than 15-20 minutes to ingest the meal from the time it has actually started consuming it, the food item is unnecessarily large. If the snake inhales the item in about 5 minutes or less, it's time to upsize.

[bcr229]

If it takes the snake more than 15-20 minutes to ingest the meal from the time it has actually started consuming it, the food item is unnecessarily large. If the snake inhales the item in about 5 minutes or less, it's time to upsize.

Sounds like a good rule of thumb, though I do have a boa who would blow it out of the water - she keeps attempting to eat her meals from the wrong end.

For the OP, my BRB litter last year got bumped from a mouse fuzzy to a hopper weekly when they were two months old.

[kyle13404]

Yeah, it sounds like he could eat a mouse hopper. He is still growing and shedding fine with the fuzzy. But he eats it very fast and its not leaving a lump in his stomach.

[DennisM]

Sounds like a good rule of thumb, though I do have a boa who would blow it out of the water - she keeps attempting to eat her meals from the wrong end.

For the OP, my BRB litter last year got bumped from a mouse fuzzy to a hopper weekly when they were two months old.

Wrong end eaters are exempt from the rule!