feeding your snakes

[BaLLPAddICT]

My snake didnt eat for a month.. i offered rats.. live and frozen numerous times. Then I bought several adult mice and put one in his cage and he ate it really fast and i was so happy. It wasnt that big for him you could barely see lump and i tried feeding him again the next day and he ate again and the day after that. Is it okay that i fed him four times in five days. I did only because he hasnt eaten in so long and i think he was hungry the whole time but was just being picky and because i heard that they generally wont overfeed and the prey item was particuarly small. I was also wondering if it would be ok if i offered more often like every 5 days when young and every week when older or should i stick to the weekly basis.. could you all let me how many times you feed your snakes? and what is healthy and not considered over feeding? thanks you guys!

[Jay_Bunny]

I feed one prey item per week, and I make sure the fuzzy is just big enough to cause a slight lump in his body. I've only missed one feeding since I got him a month ago, but I made up for it by giving him a nice plump fuzzy yesterday. He ate it in half the time he eats the smaller ones.

[PipeDADDY]

Once a week is fine. Your snake isn't starving unless it has lost a considerable about of weight. (some weight loss is normal) It most likely didnt eat for a month because it was over fed and needed to catch-up. (assuming the relevant husbandry issues were on in check) So....with that said....once a week is fine.


I feed mine once a week and that is it. if it is a little underweight prey item...that is fine. no biggie. The key for me is consistent weekly feedings...so I fed them smaller prey items.

Here is a little guide I have put together based on posts in this forum from the "small small" feeders...

0y04m 20-25g
1y04m 30-35g
2y04m+ 40-50g

Good Luck

[snakedude56]

If your snake ate the mice but refuses to eat rats it may have a preference for the mice. Since mice are smaller you could feed multiple mice in one feeding each week to equal the amount of an appropriately sized rat. Feed one mouse, wait for your snake to finish it and then offer the next.

[BaLLPAddICT]

my snake wont take one after another it has to wait until the next day before it will take the second.. does that mean that the one mouse filled him up or not? its hard to tell

[snakedude56]

It depends on how big your snake is, wether or not one mouse will fill him up. I have an 8 month old ball python that only eats one mouse a week. If the mice you are feeding are the same size around as the snake at its biggest point then one of those a week should do it. Feeding 4 days in a row probably isn't the best idea.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My snake didnt eat for a month.. i offered rats.. live and frozen numerous times. Then I bought several adult mice and put one in his cage and he ate it really fast and i was so happy. It wasnt that big for him you could barely see lump and i tried feeding him again the next day and he ate again and the day after that. Is it okay that i fed him four times in five days. I did only because he hasnt eaten in so long and i think he was hungry the whole time but was just being picky and because i heard that they generally wont overfeed and the prey item was particuarly small. I was also wondering if it would be ok if i offered more often like every 5 days when young and every week when older or should i stick to the weekly basis.. could you all let me how many times you feed your snakes? and what is healthy and not considered over feeding? thanks you guys!

If you want to feed multiple prey items it is ok but should be done in one time. You feed the first prey wait until it is down and offer another one.

Remember BP are imprint feeder and yours appear to be a "mouser" doesn't mean it can't be switch but it might take time and patience.

Even if he does not switch a BP can do just fine eating mice for the rest of his life.

Keep in mind that a BP will feed with more consistency if fed a prey smaller then the girth size, once a week and that as an adult your BP will do fine with 2-3 mice a week (depending on size)

[Larry Suttles]

You could try an offer him mice for a couple more feeding to get his feeding response back up and juming then try rats. This usually works for me if they shut down for a while. A couple of mice meals to get em jump started back in feeding mode then I'll switch em back to rats.

Good luck either way mice or rats as long as their feeding things are good