Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an adult graybanded kingsnake I've been feeding f/t small rats - he puts them down fine, is not overweight and I thought rats were better for him somehow. Now I see alot of kingsnake owners feed multiple adult mice rather than rats. I'm wondering if there's a reason for that, if I shouldn't be feeding this guy rats and should switch to 2-3 mice instead. Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.
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1.0.0 277 Graybanded Kingsnake, Boris Karloff - R.I.P.
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Hows your snake doing, that's what you should look at. Is it growing well, healthy, etc? Then no worries.

The reality is, snakes have very small stomachs. So the most efficient feeding mode is small items more often. If you feed three mice, they are processed one at a time. If your conditions are not supportive the mice rot in the stomach and bloat, and often regurigatated.

As a keeper, if you feed a snake and the bolus(lump) is larger the nest day, the prey item is bloating and that tells you the prey is too large for the conditions at the time. You can offer hotter temps and/or feed smaller items. or both.

If the bolus is smaller the next day, that's a good sign its being digested normally. Normally a snake consumes a large meal, goes to heat, and breaks down the bolus quickly, as the bolus breaks down, the snake lowers the temps its at. Best wishes