Max feeder size?

[Magalo]

I have a bit of a dilemma here...

I got my bp a month ago and her weight was estimated by the breeder at 200g. He eyeballed it since he didn't weight her recently. I fed her 4 mice and a small rat (30-35g). I just bought a kitchen scale and weighted the rat I just bought (33g) and my bp since she pooped today. She is 147g...

I had no problem feeding her the previous rat which was about the same size as the largest part of her body. She striked it in 3 seconds and digested it without problems. I fed the mice every 5 days but waited 8 days for the rat because she was in shed and it was a much bigger prey.

The problem is, the rat I bought is over 22% of her body weight which is a lot more than the recommanded 10-15%... What should I do? Continue feeding these small rats or go back to mice?

[Slim]

Do you have access to rat pups or weanlings? Sounds like they might be closer to the size you need. I don't think I'd ever throw a small rat to a BP that size.

[Lizardlicks]

35 g is about pup/wean size. Small rats are usually between the 55 - 90 range. As for if the 35 g is too big, you should be fine as long as the rat pup is no bigger than the thickest part of the snake. She's obviously eaten them before with no problem. If you're worried about her having enough time to digest then just give her a couple extra days between feedings. My girls were about that size when I got them and I had them on a once a week schedule with 30-ish gram rat pups.