Feeding question?

[slither9192]

Hi, I have a 2-3 year old Male BP. Lately he hasn't been eating much. So I tryed feeding him small rats (instead of large rats) and at first he didnt take it but i left it over night (FT not live) and he ate it at night. My question is since in the wild they rarely get a large rat a week or every other week, is it healthier to feed an ADULT BP a small to medium rat every week or a large rat every week? It just seems to me like if you fed a small to medium rat every week or other week it would be more realistic like in the wild. Post your opinions.

[JLC]

BP's are opportunistic feeders. If given the chance, they will gorge themselves on a large rat, but then will not need to eat again for a long time. In the wild, where meals are highly unpredictable, that works fine. In captivity, though...not so fine.


A mature male BP can live his entire life on small-small rats fed weekly. Even if they act like they want more, they don't need it. And feeding them small will help insure a consistent eating pattern and long-term good health.

[rabernet]

I feed small/small rats to my adults.

[Larry Suttles]

i feed only smalls as well..small meals more often works better for me

[Brock Wagner]

Small meals are good to get snakes that won't eat to eat sometimes. That is from my experience. Good luck with him.


Brock Wagner

[mricyfire]

you guys feed smalls because you dont want them to grow to big correct? Or is it that you have so many snakes that economically it is best to buy small rats?

[JLC]

you guys feed smalls because you dont want them to grow to big correct? Or is it that you have so many snakes that economically it is best to buy small rats?

No...on both counts.

Feeding small does not keep them small. (Unless you're feeding TOO small...in which case you're just slowly starving the animal.) What we're talking about is feeing an appropriate sized meal to promote healthy growth and maintain a regular, consistent feeding routine.

Some people may choose to feed BP's larger meals...but they will also deal with frequent fasts that last an indefinite amount of time. I much prefer to be pretty sure my snake will eat each and every week than to have to guess each week. If there's any economics involved in the equation, it's simply not having to deal with refused rats all the time.

[mricyfire]

lol just thought i would ask...im slowly improving my knowledge on snakes...dont know everything...but i keep learning something new on this forum

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hi, I have a 2-3 year old Male BP. Lately he hasn't been eating much. So I tryed feeding him small rats (instead of large rats) and at first he didnt take it but i left it over night (FT not live) and he ate it at night. My question is since in the wild they rarely get a large rat a week or every other week, is it healthier to feed an ADULT BP a small to medium rat every week or a large rat every week? It just seems to me like if you fed a small to medium rat every week or other week it would be more realistic like in the wild. Post your opinions.

Smaller his better it will allow you to have a BP that feed with more consistency, because BP wll fast to catch up.

I feed nothing larger then a small rat (4 weeks old) once a week, many breeders also feed small rats even to their large breeders.