Feeding an Adult

[snakemom1961]

I've had Tiaga 3 years now. I feed her 1 small rat every 7 days now, after having ppl look at her and seeing she was thin. My question is 1 small rat doesn't seem to leave much of a lump at all. Is it possible I need to move up to medium rats? or just move her feedings up to every 5 days. Would love others opinions on this.......thanks so much!

[Weebonilass]

I've had Tiaga 3 years now. I feed her 1 small rat every 7 days now, after having ppl look at her and seeing she was thin. My question is 1 small rat doesn't seem to leave much of a lump at all. Is it possible I need to move up to medium rats? or just move her feedings up to every 5 days. Would love others opinions on this.......thanks so much!

I feed my guy a small rat every seven days also and while it seems like a lot, he must have the metabolism of a hummingbird because he's not fat. Are you sure it's really a small rat? Not all rats or mice for that matter are created equal. How many do the rats you feed actually weigh? I found out that the small rats at Petco were more like my local reptile store's pups. He doesn't have much of a lump either afterwards either, but he's starting to look good.

How long has Tiaga been on the rats?

[Nanci]

I think, in an adult snake, people recommend upping the prey size, rather than increasing the frequency of feeds, because once the prey gets "big," it takes a certain amount of time to digest- longer that small prey like pinks and fuzzies that will be gone in four or five days.

Nanci

[Susan]

As mentioned already, not all "small" rats are created equal. Since this topic has come up quite a bit lately, I took a couple of photos showing how I match snake size with prey size. I used to feed smaller items, but didn't get the growth rate many other breeders did. Now that I've increased to larger prey items, my snakes are growing much batter. I have '05s now that are larger than some '04s that were on my old method. These have also been changed and are finally growing at a good rate as well.

This is an '05 female and she weighs in at 220 grams. That is a weaner rat pup, about the same size as an adult mouse. This is about the maximum she will take at this time. It leaves a nice bulge in her belly and she's fed once a week to once every 10 days.

[snakemom1961]

I feed my guy a small rat every seven days also and while it seems like a lot, he must have the metabolism of a hummingbird because he's not fat. Are you sure it's really a small rat? Not all rats or mice for that matter are created equal. How many do the rats you feed actually weigh? I found out that the small rats at Petco were more like my local reptile store's pups. He doesn't have much of a lump either afterwards either, but he's starting to look good.

How long has Tiaga been on the rats?


I've had her on small rats for almost a year I think. Was feeding her live since we got her because that's what the petshop fed. I showed a pic of her on here and most everyone said she was thin.. So I've upped her feedings from once every 2 weeks to once a week, switched to f/t small rats which she takes no problem at all. I will say I think the f/t small rats seem to be smaller and leave less if any lumb compared to the live small rats I use to get for her. Do you think I should move up to medium rats? or feed more frequently, I'm sure she wouldn't be able to handle 2 small rats in one feeding..

[Nanci]

Can you show us a picture of her and the prey item together?

Nanci

[Weebonilass]

I've had her on small rats for almost a year I think. Was feeding her live since we got her because that's what the petshop fed. I showed a pic of her on here and most everyone said she was thin.. So I've upped her feedings from once every 2 weeks to once a week, switched to f/t small rats which she takes no problem at all. I will say I think the f/t small rats seem to be smaller and leave less if any lumb compared to the live small rats I use to get for her. Do you think I should move up to medium rats? or feed more frequently, I'm sure she wouldn't be able to handle 2 small rats in one feeding..

How long have you been feeding at one week instead of 2 weeks? Again, how much do your small rats weigh? Also, are you slitting your prey for her? I know how big my guy is and I don't think he needs a med. rat. So without knowing the size of your girl and her weight I wouldn't be willing to say move up. I know since I went to another food source for the same "size" he's put on a few pounds and I'm feeling better about how he looks. But I changed sources back in Aug and I've just recently been able to notice the difference. It takes time to put weight back on most animals and I assume that snakes would be the same.

[snakemom1961]

I'll try to get a pic of her on saturday which will be feeding day. She's always been a great eater, so that certainly hasn't been a problem at all. Thanks for all the advice. I and I'm sure Tiaga appreciate it.lol