Young JCP feeding question

[chet1028]

Hey Guys.
Quick question. I have a 6 month old JCP female. She's about 65g. She eats great. Hasn't missed a meal in the 4 months I've had her. She gets 1 live hopper mouse per week. I don't think I can give her anything larger based on her girth. But I was wondering if I should try giving her a second hopper after she has downed the first one. Any thoughts? She is strictly a pet so I am not worried about bulking her up quickly for breeding or anything. I just want to make sure I'm feeding her enough. Thanks for your help.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Carpet pythons can eat huge meals compared to their girth. They can easily eat a rodent that is 1.5 - 2 times the width of their widest point. I have always used the width of the widest part of their heads as a guide.

[chet1028]

Thanks. The hoppers I've been getting are about 110-120% of her girth. Maybe I will just try a bigger hopper.

[Charlie Smith]

They are not like other snakes where you need to not go larger than they can handle. Carpets are different. Some may not even go after mice too small. So you don't have to be afraid or thinking it isn't good for them. But if you want to stick to the diameter of the body rule, perfect, you can feed more than one at the same size. Two smaller meals are better than one HUGE meal.

Enjoy!

[vangarret2000]

You should feed it rats. When it gets bigger it will need rats as mice will be too small. Sometimes it can be hard to switch a snake over so it is best to feed them what the should be eatting right from the get go.

[chet1028]

I checked on the rats at the shop where I get my snake food (lol). The smallest one they had was too big for my snake. So I went with 2 small hoppers. She nailed both. Next week I will try a little bigger ones.