Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question. I have a burmese that is about 4 feet long, maybe a little bit longer, and he has been eating medium rats for about a month now, one every 5 days. He is ready for a second medium, but I was thinking about skipping the second medium and giving him one large instead. His girth, at his largest point is about 1 1/2" to 1 3/4". Do you think he will have a problem digesting this. He is about 4-5 months old.

Thanks,
Jason

Yes, certainly you can up the size of his meals without adding any undue stress or effort on the snake to swallow and digest it. And a second medium would work fine too, but you will get a better growth percentage (inches to pounds of food) with larger meals as they have much less roughage (hair, skin, nails and teeth) than multiple, smaller meals. Plus it is certain to cost you less to buy larger prey items.

>>I have a question. I have a burmese that is about 4 feet long, maybe a little bit longer, and he has been eating medium rats for about a month now, one every 5 days. He is ready for a second medium, but I was thinking about skipping the second medium and giving him one large instead. His girth, at his largest point is about 1 1/2" to 1 3/4". Do you think he will have a problem digesting this. He is about 4-5 months old.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jason
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores. Heck, much less if some live in the same states as others" Mia Myselfani

"All deeds be they good or bad shall be repaid one hundred fold." Yers Troolie

I understand what you are saying Brian, and I agree with you 100%, but I don't want to push him too hard. I am not really looking at beefing him up really fast. I just was wondering what would be best for him, and cause as little stress as possible. From eat to digest is now at 5 days, and I feed him the day after he poops. Is that about right?

There really isn't a single "right" way to feed pythons. There are many right ways. One could feed a python small meals once every two weeks, or a large meal every 5 days and everything in between and it's all good. The only diffence in the outcome is the different growth. So if you feed your guy relatively steadily and with adequately sized meals then, yes, it's correct.

>>I understand what you are saying Brian, and I agree with you 100%, but I don't want to push him too hard. I am not really looking at beefing him up really fast. I just was wondering what would be best for him, and cause as little stress as possible. From eat to digest is now at 5 days, and I feed him the day after he poops. Is that about right?
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores. Heck, much less if some live in the same states as others" Mia Myselfani

"All deeds be they good or bad shall be repaid one hundred fold." Yers Troolie

Thanks Brian, I appreciate the advice. I know that there is no 'wrong' or 'right' way to feed snakes, but now I am wondering you YOU personally feed your animals, if you have had any babies lately, what did you feed them at 4 foot? I am just used to Ball Pythons, and this is my first venture in Burms and I know they can take alot more than Balls by the first months that I owned him he went from mice to medium rats. What do you feed yours at 4 foot, if you have had any that small lately? What do you personally recommend? Not that what you say is law, I just would like to have your personal opinion and not what you have read or what is posted on the internet.

As always I am flattered that someone is interested to know what I do and how I feed my snakes.

I always feed females and males way differently. Males, unless needed for breeding in less than a year are fed a very modest, "maintenance diet" of a small (in accordance with their size/length) meal every week or two. I try to keep my males under 10 feet for the first number of years and this works perfectly while maintaining a terrific health and body weight. My three year old burm males average about 7-8 feet and about 3 inches in diameter.

The females I raise to breed get a much different feeding schedule/routine. I feed them what I call, "Max meals", which are meals that are about as large as they can consume safely and comfortably about every week until they are about 11-12 feet and one year old. At this point they begin to slow down in growth in terms of overal length and begin to put on serious weight. I generally put them on a crash diet to lean them down a bit for two months and then on more of a maintenance diet of a good sized rabbit (8-12 lbs) every two to three weeks. I do these last two processes to avoid them becoming obese, but to ensure that they have a decent body weight as well as a normal high-fat reserve for a possible 18 month breeding.

When females (and males) are fed a lot like above you can expect 12 to 18 inches of growth per month for the first 4-6 months. This will gradually become less as each month passes until the monthly average is maybe 4-6 inches per month toward the year mark. But like all else not every snake turns out the same way. Some may be more finicky and some may refuse meals more often, while others may have a weak stomach and puke easily, thereby requiring much smaller meals and thus cannot be on a mass growth program. Some females may be 8 feet at a year and others may surpass the average max and be 13. But the average is about 11.

Now, I am not suggesting that one feed their python this way. While it can be just as healthy as less extreme feeding regimes, it is just unnecessary if one is not a breeder. Moderation is always the best way to err on the side of safety. Fed moderately a burm should be about 6 to 8 feet at a year and 8 to 10 on it's second year, and so on.

I feed my 4 foot female burmese females jumbo rats or one pound rabbits, my male burmese medium rats. I would suggest medium rats once a week to 10 days and large rats as soon as he hits the 5 foot mark. Start him on one pound rabbits at 6 foot if you can manage, otherwise jumbo rats.

Word to the wise to all snake owners,... an occasional fast is always a good thing for all captive snakes. This is a terrific preventative measure against possible obesity. Every now and then allow them to skip a meal or two. Like every two or three months. Mostly once they are sub-adults and adults. This is not necessary when they are babies or juvies as they lack the massive fat reserves of older individuals.

>>Thanks Brian, I appreciate the advice. I know that there is no 'wrong' or 'right' way to feed snakes, but now I am wondering you YOU personally feed your animals, if you have had any babies lately, what did you feed them at 4 foot? I am just used to Ball Pythons, and this is my first venture in Burms and I know they can take alot more than Balls by the first months that I owned him he went from mice to medium rats. What do you feed yours at 4 foot, if you have had any that small lately? What do you personally recommend? Not that what you say is law, I just would like to have your personal opinion and not what you have read or what is posted on the internet.
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores. Heck, much less if some live in the same states as others" Mia Myselfani

"All deeds be they good or bad shall be repaid one hundred fold." Yers Troolie

I could not even imagine a 4 foot female eating a jumbo rat. That is crazy. My male will begin eating his first large rats next week since I have already bought 2 mediums for him this week. Thanks for the advice and am always interested in what your opinion is and what works for you. Thanks again, and I am still waiting on those new pics of the Ceylonese(sp?) Just Kidding, I know you are a busy man.

Thanks again,
Jason

Na, I'm not really all that busy. Just lazy. Here's a pic I took last night of a pair of ceylonese. The male is on the right side. Let me know what you think.

>>I could not even imagine a 4 foot female eating a jumbo rat. That is crazy. My male will begin eating his first large rats next week since I have already bought 2 mediums for him this week. Thanks for the advice and am always interested in what your opinion is and what works for you. Thanks again, and I am still waiting on those new pics of the Ceylonese(sp?) Just Kidding, I know you are a busy man.
>>
>>Thanks again,
>>Jason

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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores. Heck, much less if some live in the same states as others" Mia Myselfani

"All deeds be they good or bad shall be repaid one hundred fold." Yers Troolie

Damn, those are some awesome looking animals. When you have some animals hatch, could you please send me a list of what you have available? My email addy is gamerjjt@yahoo.com.

Thanks,
Jason