Hey Sara!
Just to make sure you're on the right track, what some people call "pinheaded" isn't anything that affects the size or features of a snake's head, it's the appearance of the head in relation to the rest of the body.

When snakes are overfed they're bodies become big, obese, but their heads don't grow to match their body size. It's more common in heavy-bodied snakes like Burmese Pythons.

Like Josh said, your snake is a bit on the small side but it's not severely undersized. I've got a 3 or 4yr old burm (het labyrinth) that I just recently got and it's only 4ft long. The guy was too worried about "powerfeeding." His feeding rate confusion is pretty common.

There's more to proper growth than just feeding, cage temperatures play a big part as well. Remember that Burmese Pythons are naturally heavy-bodied snakes and not sleek, slender, like reticulated pythons or colubrids.

I see where someone stated that boids can handle a prey item up to 3 times the size of their girth. While that may be true it doesn't mean that it's good for them to do so. Two smaller prey items are much better, easier on the digestive system, than one very large prey item. Without a doubt. Hands down.

I suggest you slowly increase either the amount of prey items or the size of prey items (sometimes it may require both) and keep an eye on your snake's girth. You may also need to adjust the frequency of feeding. If your snake moves about it's cage after a meal as much as it did before the meal, it's not getting enough to eat.

For instance: At just over 6ft you should consider trying to feed it about 3 medium rats or 2 large rats every 7 - 10 days for a couple of weeks straight & go from there.

Actually, you said it just ate it's first rabbit, that's great! In that case, I wouldn't go back to feeding it rats if it will rabbits readily. Just try to match a rabbit's (or more than one rabbit) mass size to the mass size of the number/size rats I just mentioned. I don't weigh my rabbits so I'm not good with the weights of them.

As for rabbits being expensive, I don't think so. I went in a Petsmart the other day & them goofballs were charging $10 for a large rat. I about had a heart attack! I can get 7-pound rabbits for $5 - $7. There are whole lot more rabbit breeders in our neck of the woods than there are pig farmers. I'm a hillbilly but I don't feel like raising pigs. I raise rabbits, no problems. I can even raise Flemish Giant rabbits that weigh 22 pounds or more.

Stick with rabbits. You're way ahead of the game in that area already.

Good to see you again!

Take care!
Mike
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American


www.natures-signature.com

[ Show Entire Thread ]