Feeding Enough??

[kc261]

I just thought about this, a problem with the whole 10-15% rule. So when your snake is over 2k or 3k grams do you still go by the rule? No way. People feed full grown adults a medium (80) gram rat once every 7 days, some even go longer.

I am sorry to stretch this out but the whole 10-15% rule is something I have a problem with. There is loop holes everywhere, try to go off the girth of your snake. Only you can tell if they are still hungry and I bet with the size of your snakes 3-4 would not be a problem if done correctly..

Your argument doesn't make sense here. I definitely agree that the 10-15% isn't perfect for all situations. I usually say to feed 10-15% when the snake is still young & growing quickly. However, I think a rat that is as fat as the girth of a big adult BP would be too big of a meal just as much as 10-15% of the body weight would be.

In my opinion a natural diet is a healthy diet for any animal of any age, and for snakes, a natural diet is a slow diet. They are built to go many, many months without food.

This brings up a good point, which is that not only are snakes capable of going a long time without food, but that they are designed to essentially turn off their digestive system between meals, so they aren't wasting energy. This is part of how they can go on long feeding strikes without any significant weight loss. I don't know one way or the other, but I wonder if it is unhealthy for a snake to live with its digestive system always "on".

For this reason, I feed my snakes on either a 5 day schedule or a 7 day schedule. Occasionally, I'll feed a day late, so then the next feeding might be only 4 days apart to get back on schedule, but I do not feed more often than 5 days as a general rule.