Reptile & Amphibian Forums

right now i have 5 rat pups (15 days old) 7 weanlings( 1 month) and 7 small rats ( 2 months) all frozen....hes 33" now i plan to give him the 5 rat pups until 3' is reached. Then he moves to weanlings until hes 42" then smalls until 4'. My questions is if i feed 1 rat a week and i have a male burm how much will he grow length/girth per month? I want to know this because once he hits 4' i am going to buy rats from rodent pro and i want to know how many to get. I will buy enough to last him until 6 1/2 feet which i will then switch to rabbits.
! more question...sorry if im annoying....How much do they grow once on rabbits 1x every 2 weeks? and finally when does the male burms groth start to slow down?Thank everyone so much you have helped me to raise my burm very well so far.
Jake

First off, you need to understand. My males may grow at a different rate than yours just due to plain genetics.
Next I will say, I think at 33", a rat pup per feeding is insufficient. A breeder mouse is probably a better choice, or why wait until your burm is 36"? Start the rat weanlings now.
Unweaned anything...rats, dogs, mice...have a lot of fat from mother's milk, and the bones have not yet totally begun to calcify.Point here being...less calcium, less protein.
I know if I fed my young burms a rat pup at each feeding, they'd have starved. Don't underestimate the eating ability of a burm. Also...keep in mind as a baby...a baby anything for that matter...growth rates are phenomonal. You need fuel to keep up with natural growth rate.
At 33", I would feed 2 or 4 retired breeder mice to my burms.
As I watched them suck them down while my jaw hit the floor, I knew it was time to move up prey size.
I would have to say, that over time, I estimated that my rate of growth on male burms was anywhere from 4"-8" per month.
And at one and a half years, I was'nt getting as much length, as I was bulk. The burm weight begins to come.
Kind of like a teen filling out.
As far as growth with rabbits. Expect sort of the same as you wont be feeding as often. I dont feed rabbits, I feed jumbo or collosal rats, but I'm guessing thats about the same.
At one point not long ago, I was concerned about size, and posted some questions on obesity here. Seems my growth rates were right in line with everyone that posted.
My advice...keep those rats barefoot and pregnant...you're gonna need 'em!
Burms eat almost as much as I do...and believe me.
I have a serious appetite.