What size should I be feeding?

[cristacake]

So I finally got a scale to weigh Donuts with. She's 290 grams, hasn't pooped much since... I can't even remember when. I am pretty sure I was underfeeding her for a very long time ):

Back to the question, what prey size should I offer? I had her on adult mice for a while but I could tell Donuts was not really growing much on them so I switched her to small rats. I would have preferred pups or weaned rats but Petsmart never has them.

[blue roses]

My 225g girl eats rat pups. For this age i go 10 -15% of body weight. So the food item i feed is between 25 and 35g and i feed on a 6 day schedule. This worked with my male who is just shy 950g and is 20 mos old.

[lexanidubs09]

10-15% of the snakes body weight is a good rule of thumb.

[cristacake]

How do I know how much the food weighs before I buy it?

[SmoothScales]

If you buy f/t online, most websites will give a size range. If you'r buying locally, this chart should give you a general idea what sizes to get. (I snagged this from someone here on BP.net. Don't remember who, or I would give credit.)

[EL-Ziggy]

I'd give her a weaned or small rat every 6-7 days. You can give her a chick every once in awhile too.

[cristacake]

If you buy f/t online, most websites will give a size range. If you'r buying locally, this chart should give you a general idea what sizes to get. (I snagged this from someone here on BP.net. Don't remember who, or I would give credit.)

This is a great resource, thanks! Looks like I'll have to place an order of weaned rats online.

I'd give her a weaned or small rat every 6-7 days. You can give her a chick every once in awhile too.

That is good to know! I don't even know where I would get chicks but if I find them I may buy her one. And feel kind of sad about it lol

[O'Mathghamhna]

Is that chart for BPs? I don't know of any BPS that are 11' long! My girl is about 5.5' long and weighs 7.5 lbs... I feed her a large rat every 10 days and she is nice and plump.

[chrid16371]

Is that chart for BPs? I don't know of any BPS that are 11' long! My girl is about 5.5' long and weighs 7.5 lbs... I feed her a large rat every 10 days and she is nice and plump.

The length column means the approximate length of the feeder. Meaning that an XL rat is about 9-11 inches long. It does not mean if your bp is 9-11 inches feed XL rat.

[cristacake]

I think you may be seeing the quotation marks as apostrophes, O'Mathghamhna