Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm wondering how much you guys/gals would reccomend feeding a 5 year old, 5' Brooksi male.

He'll eat as much as I want to feed him, and I usually feed him a medium rat once a week. This winter with the cooler temps here in MN I fasted him 5 weeks and have been feeding him about once ever week or two.

Do your snakes at this age/size still grow much? - I am asking this whole question because I'm thinking about feeding him 2-3 rats a week and see if he starts to grow even more. I'll have to weigh him sometime soon =]. I will keep an eye out for obesity, but I fed him heavily over the summer and he is still all muscle.

Here's some full body pics of him from last spring...he's even bigger now, but no official measurements have been done.

Thanks for your inputs!

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Matt from Minnesota

When snakes get fat they don't get soft like an obese person would. Your snake will feel muscular even if it has a very high body fat percentage. Your snake will continue to grow very slowly for the rest of its life but at this point you will not see a noticeable growth spurt with more food. He will just get fat, and from the looks of the pics, he is a hefty boy already. One rat a week or even 10 days sounds like a great maintenance diet for the summer months. Beautiful snake by the way.

Thanks for the reply. I figure snakes hold most of their fatty deposits under the muscle and in the body cavity. I think a lot of people have fat snakes, especially these Getulas that are garbage disposals. You're right in that they still feel hard and toned.

I can't wait to take more pics of him, but indoor lighting and flash photos just don't do him any justice!

He is a great snake, with an outstanding disposition.

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Matt from Minnesota

We feed our huge MBK two large mice every 7-10 days. So far that's been just about right for him. He seems to be holding an excellent weight.

Steve

What percentage of his body weight do you feed? I'd expect two large mice to weigh about 35 to 40 grams each, but I don't have that much experience with them. How much does your snake weigh?

My California Kingsnake weighed around or maybe just over 300 grams when I bought him in October. He was about 38 inches long. I fed him mouse fuzzies at first becaue the pet store fed him fuzzies. I moved him up to adult mice within a few weeks to a month or so. He's now about 41 or 42 inches long and weighs around 375 grams. He's generally eating one 20 to 30 gram mouse each week. Is that a pretty good feeding rate for him? Does anyone know what is overweight/underweight for a 42 inch long California Kingsnake? My vet thought he looked okay, but I'm wondering what other snakes' numbers are.

Thanks,

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

That guy is amazing. Thanks for your help. How old is that snake?
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Matt from Minnesota

>>That guy is amazing. Thanks for your help. How old is that snake?

Is plenty enough. My biggest kingsnake is actually pretty thick (for an eastern) - All that with only one medium rat a week. Sometimes I even skip a whole week. ( I currently have 5 Kingsnakes that are rat eaters - mainly 5.5 foot and up)
(My 2 year old, six foot Eastern Indigo eats about the same, but his metabolism is a lot higher than a kingsnake and he's still growing without looking skinny at all.)

So I figure that two to three rats a week may be a bit much, unless your brooksi is a 7 footer? With the way my snakes look, grow, and maintain a nice thick body on one rat a week, it seems to be working out okay for me . . . Here's one of my six footers:

Zee

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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

Thanks for your input. Awesome snake, and it's really nice to hear how your large guys are doing on that routine.

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Matt from Minnesota

That snake is awesome.

Awesome Brooksi. I remember seeing that snake here in the past.
How long is he and how old? That snake and Keiths hugh Brooksi are the biggest I've seen to date. I'd like to see pics of huge Brooksi?

Thanks! ...I'll have to use serp-widget on him this week, but he's gotta be about 5 feet. He's 5 years old. He says thanks for the compliments!! This pic is about a year old. I'm 6'3 for perspective.

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Matt from Minnesota

He is a big Brooksi for sure! You're 6'3" and that snake still looks big next to you.
Great pics.

has a picture of a 6 foot Floridana. Maybe he'll post it for us. If I remember it wasn't just big or huge, it was a MONSTER!
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Matt from Minnesota

That snake was a beast!