Proper size meal

[Dzydvl]

I'm looking for some advice, My boy is 215g, he's still a baby. He's eating well, but I'm worried his meals are too small. He's eating rat fuzzy's, but I'm not seeing a bulge. I haven't tried to change him to frozen, I'm trying to get him established. Then I will change from live to frozen. When is the best time to go up a size, or should I got to 2 times a week with smaller food?

[Bogertophis]

I wouldn't feed any closer than every 5-7 days, they need time to digest, otherwise you risk seeing the meal again, in the form of a regurgitation.

And did you miss this? > > > it's the 5th "sticky" from the top, under "BP husbandry":

By this chart, you'd want to be feeding him either a rat pup (20-29 grams) or an adult mouse (18-32 grams).

[Bogertophis]

Now obviously snakes in the wild don't follow charts, & some variation isn't going to hurt anything. For example, if you feed a slightly larger than usual meal, you might give a few extra days before the next meal, etc. A rat fuzzy is a bit small for him now, so if he's hungry, & you have more of this size to "use up", I'd feed him every 5 days- they should be digested pretty easily, & feeding smaller but closer together is less apt to cause a problem than trying to feed 2 of them together & causing trouble digesting for him. Snakes don't eat on schedules in the wild either- they eat when they find food, when they can.

[Dzydvl]

I didn't see that, but thank you for posting this. I'll be honest, my time has been short, so I should have done more research before posting, thank you for giving a newbie a break. I'm just trying to do my best for my boy. Today was the first time he tried to strike me. I saw he was anxious, so I was cautious. Once I picked him up he was good. I'm thinking I spooked him, which I understand, He's a whopping 18" and I'm over 6 feet tall. I know he's in an unusual size so I'm trying to make sure he's taken care of.

[Bogertophis]

Snakes seldom identify us visually- when we approach them (especially without giving them other cues, like our scent or touch), they're trying to decide "predator? or prey?" Don't take it personal, lol. And even if you weren't so tall, you'd still be scary to him.

And btw, he's not 18" tall, he's only about an inch "tall".

[Dzydvl]

Reading your chart, I will move Kevin to a rat pup this week. I'm just hoping my local shop has food for him. I need to change him to frozen, but I'm trying to establish his feeding schedule.

[Bogertophis]

Reading your chart, I will move Kevin to a rat pup this week. I'm just hoping my local shop has food for him. I need to change him to frozen, but I'm trying to establish his feeding schedule.

Frozen is for sure much easier & more convenient to ensure you have the best size on hand to feed your pet snake. Pet stores often run short of live sizes you need. But at least you have him eating regularly- all in good time, you'll get there. Some snakes (like BPs) may balk at changing the type of rodent also- rats & mice smell & taste differently, otherwise you could easily substitute a mouse of the right size for the rat pup they were out of. They tend to prefer mice, so if you can keep him on rats, it's more convenient for when he's bigger because rats come in bigger sizes that "fit" an adult BP. If you were still feeding mice then, it might take several, & then some snakes will only eat one item, even if it's too small. LOL, some snakes can be goofy...

[EL-Ziggy]

I agree that getting him on f/t is the best way to go. You won’t have to worry about finding the right prey size or type. I’d suggest starting the transition sooner than later. I start all my snakes on f/t as soon as I get them and they all transitioned within 3-4 months. I feed my snakes a little on heavier side for their first two years and then I scale back their feeding frequency. At 215g I’d offer him a rat pup every 5-7 days or a weaned rat every 7-10 days.

[Dzydvl]

Thank y'all for the advice. I do want to switch Kevin to Frozen, I've been afraid since he's been eating on a decent schedule. I will bump him up to a larger size this week, then I will try and transition him to frozen the following week. The only reason I'm holding off is because it looks like he's going to shed soon. While his eyes aren't fully cloudy his skin has changed a bit, and I know he's grown, so it's about that time.

[Bleh]

It's one of the biggest things for me with BP's is their eating and eating habits.

I remember the first time I sized up our first BP's feed. It looked huge in comparison and I doubted he would eat it in that sitting, but he smashed it!

This weekend is one of them weekends when I'm going to try a size up for BEL who's been on small weaners for a good while...

How I gauge it is if she strikes and constricts but doesn't eat, maybe she has decided it's to big for her liking. If she does do this, next week she'll be offered a small weaner again, and weekly for maybe 4 - 6 weeks before I consider trying a larger feed again.

With the hatchlings I have here, they're on their second helpings after being sized up since hatching. They are also on small weaners now, but the smaller side of small if you like, and gratefully my chosen food supplier allows me to sieve through the stock picking out what feeds I want.

What I'm hoping to offer you here isn't 'nailed-on' scientific advice, but reassurances that you can experiment one week and if it doesn't work, relax and revert back to what works the following week...

The suggestions made above are offered by people with fantastic experience and you can assured that anyone and everyone here has your little dudes best interest at the forefront of any replies given

BTW: I feed frozen-thawed!