Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know that Burmese will eat almost any time you offer them a food item. My 7ft Burmese currently eats a number of jumbo rats or a rabbit at each feeding. She currently will eat weekly with no problem, however she does not always defecate between feedings and sometimes due to the lump in her body, I can tell she is still digesting her meal from the week before. Is it ok to be feeding her weekly, or should I always wait until her last meal is almost totally digested and she has defecated before feeding her again, even if it means I have to start feeding her every 10 to 14 days? Any and all advice is welcome. Thank you. David

I like to see the meal from the prior feeding before i feed again. I'm surprised that you can still see a lumpo after a week. That may mnean you are feeding too much. I hardly ever see a lump after 3 days. There is nothing wrong with a 14 day feeding cycle. I have all my snakes on that schedule now ranging from a 2 foot rainbow boa to my 11 foot male burm. Theya all seem pretty happy and almost always unload before their next meal. A 7 foot burm could eat a 1.5 to 2 lb rabbit every 14 days and be happy.

We feed our young adult and adult burms twice a month (on average) and they in absolutely perfect physical condition (check archives for a picture our our "Big Bertha". That's still more than they would probably normally eat in the wild. For young and growing burms, a weekly feeding is fine but even then, I have found they they do fine on an every other week feeding regimen. Obviously, the higher the quality of food, the higher quality of health of your burm.

You said you feed him a number of rats or rabbits per feeding?Dont.only feed him one appropriatley sized prey item per feeding,unless you have to do otherwise.and after just like 2 days the lump should be gone.If you are worried about them deficating before you feed them again,put them in lukewarm water in the bathtub,they should deficate the,mine ALWAYS does usually after maybe 5 minutes,but they can also go a long time without using the bathroom.