Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Question for you about dinner time.

I have a couple of big pythons, some BHP's in the 8' range and some olives that are between 8 and 10' now. I have several more that will be in that range within the next year or two.

I have been feeding them med rats (several at a time usually). I know BHP's are a bit more susceptible to issues from excessive fat in mammels then many species, so I have tried to be concious of that and feed higher # of smaller rodents.

Anyway - to the point. I picked up an adult pair of bhps. The female was having some liver and kidney issues. Urates contained bile. Anyway, I suspect that this was due to years of getting retired breeders and/or big fat rodents for meals. The fat took a toll on the organs.

Fortunately it was not to late and there appears to be no long term damage at this point. After a couple hefty vet bills, she is doing better.

So - this brings to mind what to feed her? I am leaning towards sticking w/ medium rats, as the fat content is not to bad at that point. I know rabbits are pretty lean, but none of my big snakes are really big enough to take an adult, so that would mean I would be feeding younger rabbits (good fat and protein levels, but a low dense mass %% on younger rabbits). Foul is not really an option due to the fat levels..

So - what do you feed your adults, how many and how often is the question I am trying to get at? Just a maintenance/off season feeding.

and a pic.. just cause every thread is better with a bhp pic
(obviously not the female referenced above)

I feed/fed my BHPs rats a;most exlusively as adults, although they will eat almost anything. One adult rat every 2-3 weeks. My male is about 8'. My Olives eat the same but ate rabbits when they were younger, but not much smaller. My 11' male Olive has bulked up as most seem to do after 9-10 ft, but they do that with no increase in feeding. I feed my smaller olives every week to 10 days.

I lost a large female olive a couple of years ago to, of all things, gout. 2 weeks after that, there was an article in Reptiles magazine on that problem. She was fatter at 23lbs than the male was at the time, but over 10'. Evidently gout was not as uncommon as I thought in reptiles.
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1.0 Blackheaded pythons
2.4 Woma
3.2 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.3 Bloods
2.2 IJ Carpets
2.0 Coastal Carpets
1.3 Macklotts
1.2 F2 Carpondros
2.0 Jungle Carpet
1.0 Jag IJCP
0.1 Carpondro
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boas
1.1 Striped Bolivian Boas
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

I feed/fed my BHPs rats a;most exlusively as adults, although they will eat almost anything. One adult rat every 2-3 weeks. My male is about 8'. My Olives eat the same but ate rabbits when they were younger, but not much smaller. My 11' male Olive has bulked up as most seem to do after 9-10 ft, but they do that with no increase in feeding. I feed my smaller olives every week to 10 days.

I lost a large female olive a couple of years ago to, of all things, gout. 2 weeks after that, there was an article in Reptiles magazine on that problem. She was fatter at 23lbs than the male was at the time, but over 10'. Evidently gout was not as uncommon as I thought in reptiles.

- Yeah - I know gout can be an issue too with weight/fat, surprisingly this bhp is not really overweight. She is a little on the big size, but closer to a weight you would expect going into the cooling season then "overweight".

Anyway - thanks for sharing your experiences.. I have lots of medium rats in freezer but think I may mix it up a bit and see the larger snakes react to it.

I lean out the meals by feeding chicken/turkey necks with the rats. They're all bone & muscle. Strangely, the BHP's prefer them to the rats.

Doug T
>>Fortunately it was not to late and there appears to be no long term damage at this point. After a couple hefty vet bills, she is doing better.
>>
>>So - this brings to mind what to feed her? I am leaning towards sticking w/ medium rats, as the fat content is not to bad at that point. I know rabbits are pretty lean, but none of my big snakes are really big enough to take an adult, so that would mean I would be feeding younger rabbits (good fat and protein levels, but a low dense mass %% on younger rabbits). Foul is not really an option due to the fat levels..
>>
>>So - what do you feed your adults, how many and how often is the question I am trying to get at? Just a maintenance/off season feeding.
>>
>>and a pic.. just cause every thread is better with a bhp pic
>>(obviously not the female referenced above)
>>

Thanks Doug - that is one thing I haven't thought of yet.. you get the necks from a butcher?

Pooter....did you get my message yesterday?
Let's get on the phone....I'll give you heaps of info about this.
Way too much to type.

Cheers,
D.

Thanks Derek - got it an replied.

I have a cover spot in Sickdrummer Magazine this month.

It's a web based Mag and you can get info here...
www.sickdrummer.com
Anyone can register for a free subscription in about 30 seconds.

Cheers,
D.

COOL, man!
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"He who would stifle debate rather than engage in it, does so at the expense of his integrity and credibility"

Mike Curtin

I just head to the local Safeway store and order a 40 lb box of frozen turkey necks. They'll sell them to me for about $1 a pound. Right now it's tough to go through that many turkey necks since my only animals that can eat them are my BHP's.

I used to have a couple indigos and a Mastiff so I would go through the box in a month or two.

doug T

>>Thanks Doug - that is one thing I haven't thought of yet.. you get the necks from a butcher?