Should I feed this size everytime?

[hops523]

I have an 800 gram female right now that I've been feeding small rats around 60-70 grams usually. When I was picking up a live rat today the guy gave me a larger small that weighed about 98 grams. Just fed her, and she took the rat down fine, and fairly quick. I'm wondering should I feed her rats around that size from now on, or still stick to the 70 gram rats? When I was checking out the size chart on rodentpro, it said a 98 gram rat was a medium.

[Chaco Taco]

I have an 800 gram female right now that I've been feeding small rats around 60-70 grams usually. When I was picking up a live rat today the guy gave me a larger small that weighed about 98 grams. Just fed her, and she took the rat down fine, and fairly quick. I'm wondering should I feed her rats around that size from now on, or still stick to the 70 gram rats? When I was checking out the size chart on rodentpro, it said a 98 gram rat was a medium.

my male pastel is around 650g and when i feed him a med size rat I notice he swells up a couple of days after but does fine with it but i like the small rat option better.
I'm no expert but the snake being 800 grams should be fine with a med size rat.

[Alexandra V]

Well I have a male at about 480 grams at the moment and he's eating small rats that are 60 to 75 grams with no problems. Whether or not you should go bigger depends on what "rule" you follow; if you go with the rule that dictates a prey item the same size around as your snake then you'd want to change based on that. The other rule is to feed 10 to 15% of the snake's body weight, so you could give anything between 80 and 120 grams with no problem. I personally follow the second rule more abstract just kind of eyeball to make sure that the prey isn't too much bigger than the snake (a little bigger is okay though). It's all up to what you follow.

[KingPythons]

I would say stick to the size you were feeding. Close to breeding season start throwing those bigger small rats. With females I would do anything to keep them eating so small rats would be great. My rule is simple, feed the right size so that they don't skip a meal next week.

[ScubaDiver007]

I would say stick to the size you were feeding. Close to breeding season start throwing those bigger small rats. With females I would do anything to keep them eating so small rats would be great. My rule is simple, feed the right size so that they don't skip a meal next week.

I agree with this statement, because i have to relay on buying rodents from a friend of mine, i would rather feed smaller and more frequently than a bigger meal and have her go off feed for a couple of weeks. Though i have a couple of 3000gram females that will eat every two days if you let them..lol

[Monster Dodge]

I have been feeding Rat Crawlers for the past couple weeks to my BP's, but this past weekend the place I get mine from only had rat weenlings. They looked kinda too big for my girls but they needed to eat so I got them anyways.... Man let me tell you what, my BP's had ZERO problem taking them down and they are just fine. My girls range from 200 to 230 grams. I will now be staying with weenlings now till they are big enough to upgrade to small rats

[hops523]

I actually never really did the 10-15% rule, just kind of eyed the rats I bought. When I started to weigh the rats they always ended up around 10% though. I heard some people stop using the percentage rule after their snakes reach a certain weight?

You all make very good points. I think what I'll do is keep the rats around 70-80 grams, and if I end up with one thats a little larger, then at least I know she'll be able to handle it.
Thanks

[CoolioTiffany]

Larger prey items seem to make snakes grow faster, or even feeding them smaller rodents every 5 days works out just the same. Just last week during feeding time I had a few snakes take down some large rodents and now they're all in shed LOL.

The rule I go by is that I feed a rodent about as large as the middle part of the snake's body.. so far things have been working out pretty well.

But whatever you want to feed your snake is entirely up to you if you feel the snake can down it. If you're not looking for your snake to grow faster then probably sticking with what you've been feeding her is best. If you're trying to get her up to size quickly for next breeding season, getting a little bit bigger rats wouldn't hurt.

[hops523]

Thanks for the reply CoolioTiffany. I guess as long as she stays on her regular 7 day feeding schedule and doesnt skip a meal I might keep feeding her larger smalls, or I might just stick with 70-80 gram rats and feed her larger small rats everyonce in awhile. Thanks again.

[LeviBP]

I have been feeding Rat Crawlers for the past couple weeks to my BP's, but this past weekend the place I get mine from only had rat weenlings. They looked kinda too big for my girls but they needed to eat so I got them anyways.... Man let me tell you what, my BP's had ZERO problem taking them down and they are just fine. My girls range from 200 to 230 grams. I will now be staying with weenlings now till they are big enough to upgrade to small rats

Same here, amazing how they take them down so easily. I have to admit I was worried they would regurg. but thankfully they are just fat and full!