Feeding

[Morris Reese]

I have been looking at the post on here about "How much do you adult males weigh" and noticed that someone said their adult male was 900 grams and eating a large weaner rat each week.
Is that a bit small for a snake that size or am I feeding way too much.
I have a 5 month old female that is at 282 grams and eats a weaner rat (35-45 grams) ever 5 days. I do weigh each feeding so I'm not guessing with the weight. I bought 20 f/t and weighed each one, put it in a ziplock bag with the weight on it and I'm feeding from smallest to largest.
I just wanted to get some opinions to see if I am on track here. I think I'm doing good. She eats and 4 days later she poops. On day 5 she is out on the prowl searching for prey!
Thanks!!

[Snakes_on_a-Plane]

I think your on track with what your doing. I have a 750 gram Spider that has a bad head wobble. He is my pickiest eater that I have and I've found that giving him smaller rats helps him actually eat. I wouldn't say they are "weaning" rats but more like recently weaned rats, maybe a two or three weeks after it's been fully weaned. (sorry i don't weigh my feeders, otherwise I'd give you an exact weight.) As long as your snake is eating what you offer you're not over feeding in my opinion. Hope this helps!

[BrandyL1193]

I just switched my guy to weanling rats.......the rat pups weren't leaving any type of evidence (couldnt see anything after he was done).....he was 251g at his last weight. Has had two rats since I switched.......when I got him in Feb I was feeding rat fuzzies......then pups and now weanlings.....he is doing great with it too.

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[bumblebee1028]

I've always followed the guideline of 10-15% of the snake's body weight every 5-7 days, until the snake is about 500 grams. 10-15% of 282 grams is 28.2-42.3 grams, and it looks like you're feeding right in that range. So what you're feeding sounds good to me.

A large weanling rat does sound a bit small to me for a 900 gram snake (I have a 500-ish gram male on small rats), but if that's what he'll eat, then I guess that's what I would feed him.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I have been looking at the post on here about "How much do you adult males weigh" and noticed that someone said their adult male was 900 grams and eating a large weaner rat each week.

The key here is the word Male, you don't feed a females (and you have a female) the same way you would a male, a male should remain lean hence the difference in feeding.

You can't compare adult males with growing juvenile female when it comes to feeding.

[Morris Reese]

The key here is the word Male, you don't feed a females (and you have a female) the same way you would a male, a male should remain lean hence the difference in feeding.

You can't compare adult males with growing juvenile female when it comes to feeding.

Makes sense. I have always had females and never really studied the different feeding habits for males. This is good to know, especially when I am looking at purchasing a male in July from Frenchie and her friends at Repticon in Gwinnett!!
Counting the days!! 84 days to Repticon!!!!