Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My retic pythons, specially my bigger one approx 3 ft long are voracious eaters.THEY EAT A LOT. Caara (the 3 footer) she eats about 3 adult mice every other 3 days now and she defecates every other 3 days after her feed (is that normal?). I feed her every after she poop which causes me to feed her about 3 adult mice in one sitting 2 times a week (6 mice a week). I feed her 3 mice in one sitting because that is the number that usually satisfies her (she doesn't push after the third, she just heads back to her sleeping spot. But having 2 mice is much different). I really do not want them to grow too fast. but i do not want them to starve because last time i tried feeding them 2 mice every other 10 days, they pushed so much damaging their snouts. Now that they shed their wounds off, i am afraid that the damaged snouts would happen again. what is the normal or minimum feeding rate for retics which cannot result to retic mishaps? Is my feeding rate and amount alright?

OTHER QUESTIONS:
- (need expert advice or experience) can feeders of different types (poultry, mice, etc...) effect the growth rate of snakes differently? is there a nutrition fact of table available?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

there really is no minimum feeding rate for any snake other than feeding it enough so it doesn't die. However this is not healthy for you or your snake. I do not keep retics anymore but had several in the late 90's and found that juvies on a 5 day feeding schedule did very well. During this time I did feed them fairly large prey items for their size to avoid having to feed multiple items. I would think a weaned rat would be equivalent to 2-3 mice. You must realize that no matter how much you feed your snake it is going to grow and if you aren't prepared for a 10 ft snake in 1.5 yr then you might want to consider selling or giving it away (if you can find someone that will take it). You must also be prepared to have a snake that in 3-5 yrs will be eating very large rabbits, small pigs, small goats or some form of poultry (which ever you can get cheapest). Always remember that retics have a huge feeding drive and if you don't satisfy it, the snake will. That could include you, your pets or any other animal around.
The giant snakes aren't for everyone and these are some things you should have thought about before hand. Like the saying goes, you can't keep a big dog down. that goes for snakes too.
Josh Hutto
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2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, gulf coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(gulf coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (gulf coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

One other way that you may be able to solve the pushing problem is to cover the outside of the cage with some sort of opaque material. My retics, at least, are very curious, and they'll push on the sides of their cages just to see what's out there if they see me or anyone else walking around. So unless I plan on interacting with them, I usually keep the front glass covered.
Also, if I were you, I'd try rats instead of the mice.
Good luck.
Robert