Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My bp is a little over a year old. I'm feeding her every 7 days..is that enough or should I go to every 5 days? I want to feed her enough to encourage good growth but I don't want to hurt her health by overfeeding. What do you guys think? She's getting large mice right now, seh's also eaten rat pups (they end up being about the same size..the pups just a bit bigger). The rat pups are the high end of what she can eat. Usually a day or two before her feeding day she starts getting real active, exploring her enclosure. I appreciate any advice

How big is she now? A good rule of thumb: feed a rodent about the same girth/thickness as the thickest part of your snake. Once every 7 days is fine.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I feed most of my animals on a 5 day schedule. That being said some of my animals go off feed during the winter. This could be a natural method so they don't get overweight or natural turn off for breeding. Also you say your snake is getting large mice or rat pups and is a year old. A food item can be as big around as the snake is in the middle. If the mice or rat pups are smaller than this, you can feed larger items. Most of my animals start on rat pups/weanlings by 3-4 months old and 250-300 grams. There are some that will only take mice but they get multiple mice as they get larger. If your snake is on the smallish side, the prey you are giving is fine. I have a female from 04 that is still small no matter how often I feed her. I also have an 05 female that is already at 800 grams on the exact same feeding schedule. Hope this helps

Josh Hutto
JKReptiles
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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!!!!!

I don't know if she's small, I guess so...a rat pup is about the same size as her width, sometimes a big bigger. I can't find them frozen though locally so I get the large mice which aren't much smaller. Also among my local pet shops there are discrepancies on what a rat pup is...they vary greatly in how big they are. So if I go over the mice/rat pups, the size of the frozen prey jumps a bunch, it's way too big for her.

I got an idea. Go get a measuring tape and measure the thickest part of your snake. It will help us help you. At a yr old, no rat pup should be way to big.
Josh Hutto
JKReptiles
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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!!!!!

Im no expert but I read on this fourm that 20% of your bp's weight is a good way to go as well.
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy