What to feed

[Guest]

Sorry I'm sure you get thousands of these threads but I just want to ensure I'm doing it right.

My royal is almost 4ft long weighed at 1030g.
I fed on Monday a f/t jumbo mouse which he struck brilliantly. He was active for the rest of the evening head raised.
I didn't want to overfeed so I left him.

Was this the correct way to go the person who had him before me had him on chicks and mice.

I would like to switch to rats but was anxious about making sure I've seen him eat a few times before I take on that potential battle

[George1994]

He has plenty of weight on him so if he does decide to hunger strike when switching to rats, he will be fine for a long time! But feeding him mice is no problem really, I think rats have less fat content so they are slightly better for them, but either way, if you want to continue feeding mice then do so.

Adult females are where it gets impractical because they can get so big, the mice simple aren't enough for them.

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply.
For peace of mind I'd like to see he's eaten a few times and Ive weighed a few times before a strike.

Should one jumbo mouse a week be enough?

[George1994]

Should one jumbo mouse a week be enough?

Depends on the size of it. I feed my male meals of about 70grams. That does him perfectly. He is about 1200g and is holding that weight, no loss, no gain

Hope that helps.

[200xth]

The jumbo mice from my supplier are around 35g to 43g (give or take). Not sure if your's are about the same, but I would guess they are close.

Males don't need a lot of food. I do think that one of those a week would be enough. Once a month you could feed him two if you want (and he takes it).

[Reptile Frenzy]

Get switched to rats would be ideal. I would say 3 jumbo mice a week. There really isnt much to a mouse its kinda like a lean diet.

[kitedemon]

I would tend to agree mice are not really a great meal for Royals they are simply too small. Ideally I would be feeding a male that size 1000gm around 100gm a week (small rat) until he hits the 1400-1600gm or so and then reduce that 10% weight to hold around the 5-7% so basically 70-110gm prey every 7 days. This allows them to attain full growth and then they go on a maintenance diet, to hold them.

Most of my adult males are 1600-2000 gm.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Feed what works mice are perfectly fine, rats are too.

If you want to keep feeding mice 2 jumbo mice a week will be enough for a male, if you wish to switch to rat this may require tough love (but again he can handle not eating for a few months) and the ideal size would be a small rat.

[Guest]

Great. Thanks for your help (though I've had very varying answers)

I'll up it a bit maybe see if he'll take two. Or maybe feed every 5 days for a while?

Yep I hope to switch to rats but I want to see he's taken a few meals first in prep for a potential stand off.