Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I fed my 7"er a 5 lb rabbit and took nearly 4 hours.
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Justin

Justin,

You fed your 84" burmese python a 5# rabbit? Would it seem to you then that I am under-feeding my burm, who is currently somewhere between 126" and 132", and eating 900g meals (1.98 lb)?

Could anyone else share with the forum your feeding regime (as it relates to size of the meal vs. size of the snake).

Thanks,
- Mark
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I realy do not think it would be under feeding it unless you feed it like every few eeks or so. As long as the snake has a good proportion and not just "fat" it is fine. Only reason I am feeding it such big rabbits is because they are the only ones that I have right now. I am currently trying to breed them and am expecting some babies real soon (rabbits) so I will cut it to about 3 lb rabbit ro so. I realy do not go by how many weeks between feedings. i just wait till it craps the last big meal out and is looking like it can be fed. (aquired thing you learn after working with them). It has been about 3 weeks since he ate the last rabbit which was about 4lbs so it has passed thru.
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Justin

I feed my 15' female at least 15lbs of rabbits every 10-14 days. She is fattening up for this season. Normally I would feed her 7-10lbs of rabbits bi-weekly.

I feed my 13' female about 7lbs of rabbits every 10-14 days, usually 3 at a time. She only eats them live and will not eat 1 big one. I think she is scared.

I feed my 12' female 7-8lbs of rabbit every 10-14 days.

All three of these females normally eat between 5-10 lbs every10-14 days when not fattening up for this season.

Jason

I have a large male.he is between 80-100 pounds...any ways..casue my rabbit supplyer..only had 4 pound rabbits..i bought about 10 of them...so i feed my burm every week..( every monday..)..a 4 pound rabbit..i think it is kinda underfeeding him..but he's fine..i'm just gunna keep him on this until i cant get 10 pound rabbits for him

That is another reeason that I am trying to fatten him up is I plan on cooling him and breed him next year to a female. I think I am just going to cool them down during the cold months ( duh I know) I mean I won't start cooloing him till about november and I'll stop about march ( ususaly when it warms up here). I am not 100% sure when most cool them and wamr them up so that may be the usual. It will be easier to do the whole cooling thing because my animal building stays about 75 degrees during the winter so i will be about right, after I take down their basking spots temps.This will be my first tiem to breed "big snakes". I hope I will find a big albino female for a real cheap price ( Won't hurt my feelings if it was given to me lol. ) and I will get a nomral female too. Mayeb if that guy gets back to me about those retics ( on the retic forum just read ) I might try making some bateaters.
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Justin

Jason, you ever get all 3 out, with help of course, for a photo? That sounds like a great shot! If you have any I'd like to see them.

DZ

Antegy:

I'm totally with savvgawd -- your lab looks fantastic. Don't worry a stitch about underfeeding.

Boots (9 ft/2.7m on the button, circa 45 lbs./20kg) only recently switched to rabbits ("switched" is a bit of a misnomer: she still won't eat plain rabbits), but she was doing quite well with one two-pound Guinea pig every week. I plan on keeping her on 2.5 - 3 lb./1 - 1.2kg rabbits once every 7-9 days.

For a reference pic, check out

www.lib.uconn.edu/~swieda/BootsAndJackson_01.jpg

As you'll see, she's a pretty healthy, thick-bodied specimen, even with her relatively mild eating regimen. She's also a helluva guitar player.

For the record: When she refused the switch to rabbits, she starved herself for one month. After finally reaching the "rabbit breakthrough," as I'm now calling it, she went through 7.5 lbs./3.5kg of rabbits before her behaviour returned to normal. We're now back on a normal feeding schedule.

Also ... forgive me, Justin, but when I first read this post, all I could think of was Spinal Tap's "Stonehenge," 'cause ya wrote that your seven INCH snake ate a five pound rabbit. THAT would be something to see!! Tee hee.

--jr

Boots is a great looking normal phase (normals are still my favorite by far). I'd like to hear him play sometime.

I thought that sounded a bit funny too - that is, in the original thread here, having a 7 inch snake eat a 5 pound rabbit. I'd like to see that - or, wait, maybe I wouldn't...

- Mark

>>Antegy:
>>
>>I'm totally with savvgawd -- your lab looks fantastic. Don't worry a stitch about underfeeding.
>>
>>Boots (9 ft/2.7m on the button, circa 45 lbs./20kg) only recently switched to rabbits ("switched" is a bit of a misnomer: she still won't eat plain rabbits), but she was doing quite well with one two-pound Guinea pig every week. I plan on keeping her on 2.5 - 3 lb./1 - 1.2kg rabbits once every 7-9 days.
>>
>>For a reference pic, check out
>>
>>www.lib.uconn.edu/~swieda/BootsAndJackson_01.jpg
>>
>>As you'll see, she's a pretty healthy, thick-bodied specimen, even with her relatively mild eating regimen. She's also a helluva guitar player.
>>
>>For the record: When she refused the switch to rabbits, she starved herself for one month. After finally reaching the "rabbit breakthrough," as I'm now calling it, she went through 7.5 lbs./3.5kg of rabbits before her behaviour returned to normal. We're now back on a normal feeding schedule.
>>
>>Also ... forgive me, Justin, but when I first read this post, all I could think of was Spinal Tap's "Stonehenge," 'cause ya wrote that your seven INCH snake ate a five pound rabbit. THAT would be something to see!! Tee hee.
>>
>>--jr
>>

Lol. I did not catch that. I would like to see a 7" snake it one too. I meant 7'. Actually he is about 7' 5"- 6".
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Justin

Heck ... a seven foot snake eating a five pound bunny is still pretty amazing when you think about it. It's pretty hard to imagine a snake two feet shorter than mine eating a rabbit two to two and a half pounds larger than what she eats.

Mark: It's funny that normal phases are your favourite ... I originally intended to get a lab, but the clutch was late from the breeder and I couldn't pass up the price on Boots ($25.00 and I took her home from the White Plains Reptile Show in a small deli container).

I'd have to say my fav is the pure Indian python: the light colouring and the near-perfect symmetry of their patterning is pretty breathtaking.

--jr

Antegy, from the pictures you post your burm seems very well proportioned, I dont think there is anything wrong with your feeding schd. Ofcourse you know your burm and how he can eat better than anyone. Now justin, feeding your 7 ft burm 5 lb rabbits ever few weeks is real close to a power feed. You should stay with rats, maybe 2 per feeding rather than giving him the smallest rabbits you can get, or give him the rabbit every month. I feed my 11 ft adoption who has feeding problems a 5 lb rabbit whenever he can take it because he is too thin, my 7-8 ft burm eats 1-2 jumbo rats every 7-10 days.

Here's a recent shot of the adoption doin real well, 7 lbs of rabbit with the past 10 days....

Well, you know he is just now getting in good shape. That is the one who was realy underweight when I got him. I do not like feeding him a food itemt hat big but it was the only rabbit i had for him to eat at that size. It should be the last one that he has to eat that is that big. I will then switch to about a 2lb rabbit or 3lb or something. As for the rats 1.) they are pretty expensive and hard to get for me right now. 2.) I'm working on breeding them again. So I should have a good supply of feeders in a few months. You do not realy have to worry about me powerfeeding. I stay far away from that. I just do not think 2 or 3 bigger rabbits will do much harm to him especially if they are spaced far between. Thanx though.
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Justin

feeding the animal 5 rats weighing 1 pound each? Bet it wouldn't take more than a half hour.

From your statement, though, it wasn't clear to me how you viewed the 4 hour ordeal. A good thing? A bad thing? A necessary husbandry practice?

-Joan

>>I fed my 7"er a 5 lb rabbit and took nearly 4 hours.
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>>Justin

I did not sit and watch the whole thing. That would be pretty much pointless. I would check it every 20-30 minutes, to make sure there were no problems. The only reason I fed it that was because it was time for a feeding, it had not eaten in 3 weeks or so, it was still a tad bit under weight, and it was the only rabbit I had available (smallest anyways) that was on death row, so to speak. I will probably go in a few weeks to get me some more rabbits, a lil smaller. I need some more female breeders anyways. I only have 4 females that I'm breeding. I have pics of the lump from like wednesday. The lump is almost gone now. In only 4 days!! There is a nice bulge that I think is the skull, but that should be gone in another couple days. I am tryign my best to switch to rabbits so I only use rats for scenting the rabbits.
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Justin