Feeding Size for Age/Size estimate ?

[Talae]

I have heard that you should not keep f/t in a home freezer for more than 3-6 months. I am new though, and so I am unsure as to the validity of that statement.

[BillinIndiana]

That crossed my mind also, so I Googled "How long can Food stay in Freezer". It showed human food can stay in there for quite a long time. Here's a list http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...g/index.asp#19

I would think Rats would fall under the " Wild Game " category which is a year ! Ha

[dr del]

That crossed my mind also, so I Googled "How long can Food stay in Freezer". It showed human food can stay in there for quite a long time. Here's a list http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...g/index.asp#19

I would think Rats would fall under the " Wild Game " category which is a year ! Ha

Since they will be uncleaned and have all the internal organs I'd put them somewhere between poultry (whole) and poultry (giblets).

But a lot depends on the rating of your home freezer too.


dr del

[Andybill]

For what its worth I would start with a bag of 20 frozen appropriate sized rats for feeding. After it has consumed 10 rats weigh it and adjust accordingly for your next order. If you are feeding pups 10-15% of the weight of the snake on a 5 day basis it will definitely be ready for the next size up when the time comes for placing another order. At this rate you would go through 6 pups in a 30 day period so it would take about 3 months to feed off the bag of 20 pups. As I am not a fan of waste I would feed the entire bag even if the snake has outgrown the meal. It wont hurt it to be fed a pup every 5 days for a few more weeks until a larger meal is offered. In which case it may go threw a nice growth spurt when you do feed it a bigger prey item!

[BillinIndiana]

I know small orders are ideal, I was just trying to save a bunch on S/H

[glk832]

from 80-300 grams I weaned rats
300 and up smalls pre killed the biggest female I have is about 1100 grams so any larger IDK yet..

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When I dont have weaned rats I use 1 or 2 mice I dont see an issue unless you get a snake that doesnt want to go back to rats.. All mine dont seem to care much LOL

[BillinIndiana]

from 80-300 grams I weaned rats
300 and up smalls pre killed the biggest female I have is about 1100 grams so any larger IDK yet..

- - - Updated - - -

When I dont have weaned rats I use 1 or 2 mice I dont see an issue unless you get a snake that doesnt want to go back to rats.. All mine dont seem to care much LOL

So if you do the 15% formula with a 1100g snake that would be 165g.. Is this what Smalls weigh? Or do you have to be that exact?

[PsychD_Student]

Justin Kobylka has a great video on his youtube account discussing feeding and ball python sizes. I would definitely check it out.

http://youtu.be/gFB3Pa1SDhs

[Talae]

Thanks for the video link. Although, it led me into an hour long chain of videos...

[D_ONE]

Reason I'm asking is I found a place that does Free Shipping(in a certain range) if you spend $100 or more.. Sounded like a decent deal compared to another one that wanted $40 S/H on a $40 order..
It's American Rodent Supply http://americanrodent.com/

Are there any better deals out there? Like my name says I'm in Indiana

If you are close enough you can go the the Midwest Reptile Show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on August 26, 2012, 10am to 4 pm. American Rodent Supply will be there and you can look at the rats before you buy to try to determine the size you want.