multiple mouse feeding?

[LostNFound]

yet another newbie question from LostNFound ... *sigh*

I am looking into different places to buy rats in bulk Now with Christmas and all that I having to wait till next week for the $$ to order the large quantity. Around here all I can find are large mice ... it's OBVIOUS that a large mouse is NOT enough for Avy. Honestly going but the as thick as her body rule she could go with a med to large rat ... SO... When feeding Multiples how do I gauge too much or too little ... I feed her 2 days ago ... one large mouse ... her skin is lose and she seemed REALLLLLLY interested in my birds yesterday so I got 4 more frozen mice today ... she took NO time to strike this time I barely got the mouse in there!! and when I walked by the tank later she was still showing signs she wanted more ... she has this mannerism when she smells food ... I can't explain but she was still hungry I thawed another and again she took NO time to strike ... So now what ... she still seems kinda hungry ... If I had a rat I wouldn't even be posting this ... ugh ...

do snakes stop when they are full?
or would she continue to take them if I offered?
I don't want to over feed her ....

[ev477]

I've seen your story of this snake so I want to say, careful not to overfeed it. Just like humans, after being underfed a snake can die from over-eating. You have to make sure you work it up to its normal size prey.

I think you should wait more than 2 or 3 days between feedings, maybe like 5-7 days. I don't know what to make of your current prey size. There's not really a good way to tell how many large mice = a medium rat to my knowledge. I would guess if you have to give 3 mice per feeding. It might also be a good idea to start on small rats for a couple weeks before feeding medium rats. Measure the girth of the snake and the rat too, it's a lot more reliable than eye-balling.

Hope this helps, and hope if I made any mistakes someone with more knowledge will be able to correct me.

[LostNFound]

the "large" mice ... maybe four to equal a med size rat, her girth is just about 11 inches around ... I am stopping at the 2 "large" mice I won't be feeding her again until next monday ... it's already marked in my planner. Thank you SOOOOO much for the input!!

[ev477]

I just took some measurements and I am really unsure of my suggestions now. My boa is 6 and 1/2 inches around (and it had just fed), and it is eating medium sized rats. The "medium rats" I've been getting are about 5 and 1/2 inches around. If you're boa is really 11 inches around, it really should be getting more than a medium sized rats or that equivalent in mice.

I'd suggest measuring with string of some sort wrapping it around the fattest part of it and marking it with a permanent marker then measuring it when it's straightened out. On the pictures in your other thread it doesn't really look VERY big, but the pictures might be misleading.

Good luck.

[grammie]

she just fed it, how accurate are the measurements going to be?

[LostNFound]

the mice are so small compared to her there isn't even a bump ... not even a tiny one ...

[starmom]

I don't know how you measured the boa, but in the pictures you posted it looks like a yearling (or so) to me. Also, it looks like she could eat a medium rat, but nothing larger (about 80g or so).

As was mentioned, the pictures could just be misleading (as they often are) but the snake really doesn't look very big.

Also, the snake really looks to be in very good shape!! Have you taken the snake to the vet for a parasite check and general check up? This might be a good idea since its origins are unknown. The vet could also tell you if you have a male or female!

EDIT>> Ooops, I just read in another post that you were taking the snake to the vet on Wednesday. Sorry. Also, if the rice packs hold heat for long enough before starting to cool then that ought to be fine. Just put the rice pack into a sock and the snake into a snake bag so that the snake does not get burned accidentally.

[Darkice]

I get all my frozen rats online from rodentpro but shipping can be expensive.
You should be able to feed her medium sized rats no problem. If you want to feed her 2 of them dont shotgun the second one. Let her swallow the first then give her about five minutes to get it down. Then give her the second one. You shouldn't have to give her 2 though. I feed my younger boas 2 small rats every 5 days because i want them to grow up fast. And adults 1 large rat every 7 days because i dont want them to get too big. If you want her big for breeding give her a couple rats a week. If she is just a pet then 1 rat a week is fine.

[Darkice]

Did you see my post about the gel heat packs used for food dishes? Just nuke them in the microwave and they stay hot for a while. Wrap it in a towl so it doesn't burn your snake.