Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now that I have my little JCP eating, I need to know what a good schedule of feeding is. She's a year old now, but was only force or assist fed for her entire life. I bought her as a picky eater, and she's nothing like that. I don't anticipate any more problems in that respect, so now I want to make sure that I feed her well, but not too well.

She's on mice hoppers, teeny tiny ones at that, for the moment. In the fall I will start raising rats and at that time I will try to convert her over to rats. But until then she's on mice only.

I would like her on a diet that allows her to overcome her slow start, but not enough to make her a big lazy pig. With colubrids, especially if I want to see if they can obtain breeding size by their second summer, I feed them small meals often (a couple of mouse pinks twice a week). I won't be breeding my little Dreamer for a long time, if ever. She's very beautiful though, at least to me, and I want to do right by her.
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~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

My JCP is about to be 1 yr old--I am feeding 1-2 rat fuzzies every 7 to 8 days and I think my JCP is growing well and has healthy weight (pics a few threads down). Since you are on mice, I guess the equivalent is 2 mice hoppers. Switch to rats ASAP. As for overcoming the slow start, I think that will/should happen slowly with a healthy diet. I wouldn't try to compensate for this in a short amount of time. Maybe try a larger meal once a month. As I am sure you already realize, people on this forum use different feeding techniques. I monitor growth and weight, and customize my schedule accordingly. Hope this helps.
Brian

np

Hi.

Let me jump in here for a minute.

I just got a yearling female JCP and I'd like to switch it over to rat pinks or pups.

How did you do it?

Bill

Bill,
There are several techniques that I've learned/read about from folks here and on moreliapythons. I think some are to be used with tough feeders and others are unnecessary. My JCP switched over at about 7 mos. I thawed pinky rats with the adult mice I was feeding my other snakes and the transition occurred immediately. My JCP has never had feeding problems with mice or rats. Now I thaw rats alone and my JCP loves em. If your JCP won't switch easily, you can try prekilled, a small dark feeding box, scenting, braining, sowing mice on rats, and more . . . I would try the easier techniques at first and see where it gets you.
Brian

I was either going to feed her once or twice a week. I'll put her on the same schedule as my adult colubrids, a couple of hoppers a week, and as she gets larger, increase the size of the food item. When I switch to rats, I'll work on switching her to rats.

thanks for the advice. Once it's time to switch to rats I'm sure I'll be reading everything about that topic all over again, but as long as I overproduce mice it won't be a huge issue. (well it might to the four extra mice, but not to me).

I'm just so glad I got her to eat without any effort at all on my part. She's sure nippy, but has only drawn blood once. I think she'll be a very sweet snake, she's already becoming my favorite. I have no idea what she will look like as she grows up, but I'm sure she'll always be beautiful to me.

Question, any good guidelines on, say, average length etc for a yearling, two year old, etc?

If I ever wanted to breed her (distant future) is there a length/weight consideration that makes her "breedable"? I know with colubrids it depends on size more than age.

I won't be getting another JCP at the very least until next year (or this fall during a reptile show, or this summer after I sell some of my hatchlings...). I hope that I make some good choices. But I might just leave it at the one and enjoy her beauty.

~Sasheena
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~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

Sasheena,
A while back some of use were comparing lengths of our 02 JCPs and they varied greatly. I haven't measured in a while but I guess that at one year it will be a few inches short of 3 ft. I will check on that in a month or two. I don't know about breeding weights but I'm sure that others here have recommendations. I think you will be fine with your feeding schedule--keep us posted.
Brian

WOW yours is so much more HUGE compared to mine! Hard to believe they are the same age. The pic I'm including was taken last week when she arrived. Of course all the snakes I got were closer in size to hatchlings than to yearlings.

With the schedule of feeding you are on, and your picture to compare to, I think that will give me a good idea. And I think that when in doubt, don't overstuff, just feed enough... she'll grow perhaps slower, but lots healthier.

Thanks for your input!

-----
~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

np