Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi ive had a few problems feeding my female royal and at present she is 2 and a half years old but only weighs about 850g is this an exceptable weight for her age? ( shes not more than about three feet in length) my second problem is that she refuses to move on to rats and will only eat mice i'm feeding her about 6 large ones a week, is there any way to tell how much i should feed her other than a prey item the size of her girth? any help would be much appreciated!

Don't let anyone tell you that this snake is small for its age...it is probably growing at a far more natural rate than the many power fed animals I see on these forums. Sure, it could probably be a little bigger and heavier but by what parameters are we basing this on? Your snake will live a much longer and more productive life if you prevent overfeeding it. Having kept and bred bp's for most of my life, I have found that some will just steadfastly refuse to take rats and prefer mice. I have a HUGE, 38 year old male (nearly 6') that will ONLY take mice. I've tried all of the various tricks to no avail throughout the years; he just likes mice and that's what I feed him. I will give him 4 at a time and feed him twice a month and he does just fine. I have other bp's who hold out for rats and that's what they get. Some take either and in those cases, I like to mix it up a bit. Some relish the occasional quail and I enjoy giving them a little variety. There are MANY factors that will dictate how much you should feed your ball: 1) is this a cyclic feeder that goes on long self imposed fasts? If so, then you want to keep it on an optimal feeding schedule, weekly feeding, during the times when it is most active so that when it shuts down, the snake will have plenty of fat reserves, 2) does this animal eat year roun? If so, feeding an adult twice a month is plenty. 3) is this a female that is being prepared for breeding? If so, then you want to increase caloric intake to ensure optimal levels of nutrition for egg production. 4) is this a hatchling, juvie, adult, or older adult? Obviously, the younger the snake, the faster it is growing but you still want to guard against overfeeding, 5) genetics - some bp's, just like people, just need more food to keep them in good health. Knowing what a healthy ball looks like from an obese or underfed ball is important.

I hope this helps.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>hi ive had a few problems feeding my female royal and at present she is 2 and a half years old but only weighs about 850g is this an exceptable weight for her age? ( shes not more than about three feet in length) my second problem is that she refuses to move on to rats and will only eat mice i'm feeding her about 6 large ones a week, is there any way to tell how much i should feed her other than a prey item the size of her girth? any help would be much appreciated!
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I have a 3 1/2 year old male that has never been fed more than
*2 MICE* in a given week. He currently weighs about 1300 grams and has been over 1000 grams for at least 1 1/2 years. He also fasts for 2-3 months every year, but then goes back to eating 1 or 2 mice a week. It's hard for me to imagine feeding 6 meals a week, I am not sure that is anywhere close to natural or necessary. It might be a good idea to have a fecal test for parasites done. Internal parasites can significantly slow down the rate of growth.

I tend to agree. My rule of thumb is that any new animal that comes into my collection, or, my wildlife museum's collection, they go into a 60-day quarantine area and must pass 3 consecutuve fecal exams (probably more than the average hobbyist but even doing an initial fecal can save a lot of grief).

>>I have a 3 1/2 year old male that has never been fed more than
>>*2 MICE* in a given week. He currently weighs about 1300 grams and has been over 1000 grams for at least 1 1/2 years. He also fasts for 2-3 months every year, but then goes back to eating 1 or 2 mice a week. It's hard for me to imagine feeding 6 meals a week, I am not sure that is anywhere close to natural or necessary. It might be a good idea to have a fecal test for parasites done. Internal parasites can significantly slow down the rate of growth.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Could you post a picture of your 38years old bp Rob?

daniel

Some/most people here seem to think it is perfectly healthy to feed a Ball 3-4 times weekley....LOL. I agree 100% with what you said.

BTW: Yes, my O. hannah were CBB animals. Good luck with yours.
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Chad Bachman

pinheads........400 gram breeder males...........1200 gram can I breed it yet feamles.....@ 15 months........and fed large rats?........

yea.....

I got BIG males that eat mice mostly....1 or 2 huge mice at a time..4 times one week.......one at a time....then maybe 2 for 2 times a week...then maybe miss 4 or 6 months with not eating....

.....

......fed 2 little meals a week till adult......then once a week or twice a month is fine.......as Rob says......

........and I never fed a large rat to any ball........not even my little monsters........

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>>and I never fed a large rat to any ball........not even my little monsters

Why not? It's neat to watch them almost explode...LOL.
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Chad Bachman