Just curious.....what do you do with these big snakes?

[Tsanford]

Rabbits, chickens, ducks, lambs, large guinea pigs and piglets were the main food sources for my large constrictors.

This is what would stop me from a big constrictor... how do you afford to keep them fed.. I already breed rats, but I can't run a farm just to feed then haha. But mad respect for sure.

[MarkS]

This is what would stop me from a big constrictor... how do you afford to keep them fed.. I already breed rats, but I can't run a farm just to feed then haha. But mad respect for sure.

You don't have to feed piglets or bunnies or baby hippos to your large constrictors, my burms have never eaten anything but rats. My female gets 2-3 jumbo rats per serving and my male gets 1-2 of the same. I've tried rabbits, but they don't even recognize them as food. If you breed rodents, keeping a couple of big ones is a great way to find a use for your retired breeders.

[bcr229]

I've tried rabbits, but they don't even recognize them as food.

That's funny, my rabbit supplier has everything from 25-30 gram rabbit pinkies all the way through massive adults. All of my BCI's, dumerils boas, BRB's, adult king snakes, etc. will hit a rabbit, as will all of my retics. Even a couple of my BP's will take them.

[MarkS]

That's funny, my rabbit supplier has everything from 25-30 gram rabbit pinkies all the way through massive adults. All of my BCI's, dumerils boas, BRB's, adult king snakes, etc. will hit a rabbit, as will all of my retics. Even a couple of my BP's will take them.

I actually sewed a dead rat onto the head of a dead rabbit once (yes it's was gross, but I understand it usually works pretty well) , my female burm took it, but while swallowing the rat she got to the rabbit and just stopped. She sat there for a few minutes and you could almost see the thoughts going through her head, then she put a coil around the rabbit and pulled really hard until the rabbit tore away from the rat. Then she left the rabbit laying there and finished swallowing the rat. I figured that she had expressed her thoughts on the taste of rabbit pretty clearly and have only been feeding rats ever since.

[Gio]

This is what would stop me from a big constrictor... how do you afford to keep them fed.. I already breed rats, but I can't run a farm just to feed then haha. But mad respect for sure.

Once your animal is eating larger prey, the frequency of the meals drops.

I don't even have a giant, but I can tell you I feed my boa constrictor in early November, and when the temps and seasonal changes take hold, he won't eat again until April.

When my coastal reaches full size, the same will apply but may be slightly modified based on sex and species.

If you pay close attention to "Reptile Experts" videos and feeding regime, you can get a feel for what and how to feed based on a male VS female retic, or a breeding candidate VS a shoulder pet.

I think many people forget that snakes evolved over millions of years to be very efficient feeders.

Some African Rock pythons eat 1 giant meal and are good for a year.

Unless you are housing multiple giant animals, which would be quite difficult for the casual pet owner I don't see it getting out of hand.


I can argue my son's royal refuses and wastes more money and food than both of my other snakes eat.

I think there are a lot of exaggerated stories about large snakes that are put to rest when somebody that keeps them responsibly shares their experience.

I have not heard anybody mention going broke due to feeding a retic yet.

[Alexiel03]

This is what would stop me from a big constrictor... how do you afford to keep them fed.. I already breed rats, but I can't run a farm just to feed then haha. But mad respect for sure.

i order my rabbits in bulk and it only costs us about $190 in total for their food, thats also with rats included in the order. usually end up getting about 5 rabbits a piece (10 total) and that will feed them for about 3-4 months.

[CloudtheBoa]

I don't know if her attitude will change as she gets older, but I have my 3' retic in a tub that's large enough for a 4' snake if you go by the Length+Width rule. She's got a lot of room, 2 hides, a humid hide, water dish, a fake plant, and I just added a paper towel tube to see if she'd like it as I see a lot of snakes enjoying them, retics and Burms included. She has no aggression at all, and spends most of her time perched on top of her humid hide, and less so in her plants. She's rarely ever found in her hides, but she uses them on occasion. I do use a hook so she'll be used to it as an adult, but she's really calm and easy to take out. The only time she bit me was when I had her in a tiny tub while I was changing out her bedding. When I popped the lid off, she went super stiff and stared at me from the corner of her eye. I picked her up, knowing that if I messed around and took my time it would irritate her even more. She nailed me once, but immediately calmed down.

I'll try moving her to her 6' enclosure when she hits 5' and see how she does, but if she'll do with in one, I'd like to provide an enclosure where the Length+Width is at least equal to her length. So 8'x4' if she gets no larger than 12', and if she gets 15' then a 12'x4' or something similar. If she shows signs of aggression, I may keep her either in the 6'x2' or an 8'x4'. Right now she has no qualms with the extra space whatsoever.

[CloudtheBoa]

i order my rabbits in bulk and it only costs us about $190 in total for their food, thats also with rats included in the order. usually end up getting about 5 rabbits a piece (10 total) and that will feed them for about 3-4 months.

Where do you get your food? I went on Layne Labs to see how much it would cost to order a year of adult food for all my snakes (100 rat pinks, 24 large-medium rats, 25 small rats, and 12 10 lb rabbits), and it would cost me over $800, and ~$650 of that was shipping alone. Then again, I could be overestimating it with the 10 lb rabbits, that was just a guess at what she'd need.

I was thinking about breeding them because I want to go back to breeding rats when I can, but I'm not sure rabbits would cost that much less a year to breed...

[bcr229]

I was thinking about breeding them because I want to go back to breeding rats when I can, but I'm not sure rabbits would cost that much less a year to breed...

You may want to look into it, I pay about $2/lb locally for f/t rabbits from a breeder.

[John1982]

Where do you get your food? I went on Layne Labs to see how much it would cost to order a year of adult food for all my snakes (100 rat pinks, 24 large-medium rats, 25 small rats, and 12 10 lb rabbits), and it would cost me over $800, and ~$650 of that was shipping alone. Then again, I could be overestimating it with the 10 lb rabbits, that was just a guess at what she'd need.

I was thinking about breeding them because I want to go back to breeding rats when I can, but I'm not sure rabbits would cost that much less a year to breed...

Definitely look around and you can find better. I just used rodentpro.com because I know they sell everything on your list and here's the cost.

12 xxl rabbits(8.00-9.99 pounds) -- $12each($144) -- xxxl are 10.00-12.00+ pounds and are $13 each so add $12 if you wanted those
40 small rats(sold in packs of 20, needed 2 to hit 25) -- $1each($40)
30 medium rats(sold in packs of 10, needed 3 to hit 24) -- $1.25each($37.50)
100 pinky rats -- $.30each($30)

Comes out to $251.50 + $116 shipping(4 boxes to fit your order) for a grand total of $367.50 shipped.