Just tried switching to rats, is this too big?!

[starmom]

What was the weight of the rat? I feed prey that is about 15% of the snake's weight. Some feed about 10% of the snake's weight. At the least, it is a good way to gauge the size.
Maybe you could bring your scale to the store?? You could also order on line perhaps??

[FIREball]

You will be fine, looks like a small rat to me. I usually dont offer small rats to anything under 500g but I know some on here who offer them to 350g snakes.

[Peter Williams]

Looks alright, maybe a tad too big. But absolutely no where near big enough to cause him any harm whatsoever.

[giaach]

Well he got it down fine. Now Ive been amusing myself watching him try and fit inside his hides ha.

[NightLad]

The rule of thumb is to not offer prey with more girth than the snake.

Feeding large prey may seem like a good way to help your snake grow and bulk-up, but a common mistake people make is measuring their snakes health in relation to their weight. Snakes can become obese, too. If you feed a very large meal (in relation to the snake), give it time to really work it off before feeding again.

For future reference, you may benefit from this food chart.

I would also suggest you invest in a digital scale. It will help you keep track of your snakes general health, as well as the exact weight of the food items he is eating.

There are many good brands of digital scales, but this one seems to be far and away the most recommended: 7001DX Precision Digital Scale. I use one myself. Its also great for baking! Just use a different bowl.

[sg1trogdor]

That things huge got any pics of the little guy now that he got it down. I wanna be amused at him trying to fit in his hide also.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Glad he got it down. he still may spit it up later... or in a day or two.

Be prepared. the number one reason IMHO NOT to feed too big like that, is now you don't know when he will eat again. Don't be surprised if he now refuses food for the next couple weeks or month, throwing his schedule even more out of whack!

one properly sized rodent (or 2 or 3 smaller ones that add up to equal the properly sized rodent) once per week is way better then the frustrations of having a snake completely off any kind of regular feeding schedule!!!

Mike

[SatanicIntention]

Another way to ensure you always have proper sized prey items to feed, would be to buy a larger number of mice, feed them and let them get chubby, THEN feed them off.

That's what I do. I buy 250 at a time, feed off 75 or so in the beginning when I first get them, and by the second week I need to feed, they are much bigger and healthier, especially the males.

Even my adult females do fine on mice(some are over 2000g). Your small Spider male would have been fine on 2-3 small mice a week(or less). Even my adult males only get 2 mice every week to 2 weeks, maybe 3 if they have been in with a female.

[sweety314]

If you HAVE to handle him (avoidance would be best) be VERY careful. With a meal that large, there's the strong possibility that he could regurge in a few days. Just be diligent.


Just stick to the 2-3 mice for a while. He'll do plenty growing on those. You'd be surprised!

[giaach]

well I do have a digital scale, and I get a weight on him every month or so. He has grown pretty consistantly over the past 6 months and is now, like i said, 31 inches and 420 grams. He has never refused a meal and eats anything I throw at him. The reason I got a rat this past weekend was because all the feeder mice were hoppers, it would have taken like 5 to sufficiently feed him so the rat what my best bet. He seems to be doing fine, while a few of you say "hes gonna regurge" I don't think that's in his future. He has been in his hide and seems to be acting fine (poked his head out for some water, a look around, and back in the hide)