When to feed biweekly?

[Jules1618]

Hey everyone
I have Cleo who is a 1 year old IJ carpet. She is eating a med rat once a week. I was wondering when you switch to biweekly?

Thanks

[Mark Taylor]

I would do that when it's the right time to up the food size, with out knowing more details.:)

[Jules1618]

Pardon Mark
I'm a little lost with your suggestion

[RyanReptile]

At a year of age I would personally feed every week.

[Mark Taylor]

Sorry but I thought it was clear.

When a medium rat is no longer the appropriate size and you move up to a large rat I would then start to feed every 2 weeks.:)

[KORBIN5895]

I switched my female bci to biweekly feedings at 8 months old. She was getting a bit fat but I've noticed lately she is looking for food more often to I may put her feedings closer together.

[Lankyrob]

I did it at a year for my jungle

[Amadeus]

All my snakes get fed every 10-14 days except my pissy little garter.. Dum- Large rat, Hogg-Mediums, Python Large.

[franks]

You dont have to go right to 14 days you know? You can start by feeding every 9-10 days and see how she handles it.

[Jules1618]

As some of you may know i recently took in a overweight corn whom I have named thunder
I just don't want the same to come to my other babies as I have only been in the hobby a year now.

[Dave Kelley]

I'd do it now. Carpet pythons don't need to be large animals at all. Getting a medium rat already at one year old, I'd cut that snake way back. That's HUGE for an animal that young. They don't need large or frequent amounts of food to survive as they are ambush predators. Carpets are made to sit in one place for as long as possible to wait for a meal, and that could take a while to happen. Being an ambush predator as aforementioned, she will respond to food as often as possible because the snake doesn't know when the next time it will get food is. Basically, she is operating as if food would suddenly become scarce, so she better eat whatever comes by.
For reference, all of my yearling carpets are getting large mice every 1-2 weeks (sometimes up to 3). Most breeders I know feed about the same way.
Just because she looks hungry, doesn't mean she is.

[charlesc84]

I'd do it now. Carpet pythons don't need to be large animals at all. Getting a medium rat already at one year old, I'd cut that snake way back. That's HUGE for an animal that young. They don't need large or frequent amounts of food to survive as they are ambush predators. Carpets are made to sit in one place for as long as possible to wait for a meal, and that could take a while to happen. Being an ambush predator as aforementioned, she will respond to food as often as possible because the snake doesn't know when the next time it will get food is. Basically, she is operating as if food would suddenly become scarce, so she better eat whatever comes by.
For reference, all of my yearling carpets are getting large mice every 1-2 weeks (sometimes up to 3). Most breeders I know feed about the same way.
Just because she looks hungry, doesn't mean she is.

I know about to swing the discussion a bit off topic, but what you said brought to mind something I was wondering about. Often times at reptile shows and in pics, I see adult carpets that are very small. Recently at White Plains I saw a 4 year old Diamond Python that was really tiny. Didn't appear any bigger then 4 feet or so, but of course its difficult to estimate. It seems that some breeders keep their carpets smaller then Ball Pythons. On the other hand, I've seen pics of wild carpets that are huge.
I was wondering why that is and if you know if breeding such small animals has an effect on their offspring.

[Jules1618]

I don't want her to be small. I want her to grow to her full potential

[Dave Kelley]

I know about to swing the discussion a bit off topic, but what you said brought to mind something I was wondering about. Often times at reptile shows and in pics, I see adult carpets that are very small. Recently at White Plains I saw a 4 year old Diamond Python that was really tiny. Didn't appear any bigger then 4 feet or so, but of course its difficult to estimate. It seems that some breeders keep their carpets smaller then Ball Pythons. On the other hand, I've seen pics of wild carpets that are huge.
I was wondering why that is and if you know if breeding such small animals has an effect on their offspring.

Well for diamond pythons, it probably has to do with the fact that they need to be grown smaller. They live in a harsh environment in the wild, where summers are mild and winters are frigid (into the 40's-50s on average). They don't get access to food for a good portion of the year, so when winter hits, although they may come out to bask, from what I've been told, they essentially have their metabolisms slowed and are spending most of their time coiled in a tight ball in a burrow/rock crevice/attic etc.

For other carpets, it seems that people have just begun to realize that the amount of food we offer our animals is significantly higher than they actually need. Carpet pythons aren't being bred aka "farmed" like ball pythons are, and most people are trying to keep their snakes on a more healthy schedule as opposed to overfeeding for early production.
Carpets really aren't huge snakes, save for maybe the old adults that are nearing the end and have years of growth behind them.
Also, carpets lay good sized clutches compared to say, a ball python. Whereas a Ball python may lay between 4-10, a carpet can hit between 10-30 depending on feed schedule, size, age etc. I don't know about you, but I like to manage several projects...having 4-5 females lay huge clutches isn't something I'd really prefer. Having small females means having smaller clutches, which means you can work more projects at once. I'd hazard to say that the average carpet is between 4-6 ft.

I don't want her to be small. I want her to grow to her full potential

Full potential and overfeeding are two different things. I'm not trying to sound harsh at all, just letting you know that feeding a snake that large of a meal that often can lead to obesity and shorten life. If you want her to reach full potential, I'd cut feedings back to every 2-3 weeks but continue to offer a medium rat. Feeding more frequently may seem like it's good for the animals, but it's more in line with "killing with kindness."

[ra94131]

To the best of my ability I feed the snake on it's schedule. (Normally averages to between every 9 and 14 days.)

Generally I give him 3 days of active nighttime hunting before feeding. This of course could vary by animal as I've know some have less obvious hunting mannerisms or just different activity levels/patterns. All that said, with my single JCP it is normally quite clear when feeding time should be.

If I had a large number of snakes and could not monitor so closely I'd probably do every 10 days with year old Jungle Carpets.

[shaunyboy]

i usually feed them less often once they are around 3 to 4 years old,that said if i saw them getting fat,i would feed less often.....

i go by how each individual looks regards how often i feed them

cheers shaun

[charlesc84]

Well for diamond pythons, it probably has to do with the fact that they need to be grown smaller. They live in a harsh environment in the wild, where summers are mild and winters are frigid (into the 40's-50s on average). They don't get access to food for a good portion of the year, so when winter hits, although they may come out to bask, from what I've been told, they essentially have their metabolisms slowed and are spending most of their time coiled in a tight ball in a burrow/rock crevice/attic etc.

For other carpets, it seems that people have just begun to realize that the amount of food we offer our animals is significantly higher than they actually need. Carpet pythons aren't being bred aka "farmed" like ball pythons are, and most people are trying to keep their snakes on a more healthy schedule as opposed to overfeeding for early production.
Carpets really aren't huge snakes, save for maybe the old adults that are nearing the end and have years of growth behind them.
Also, carpets lay good sized clutches compared to say, a ball python. Whereas a Ball python may lay between 4-10, a carpet can hit between 10-30 depending on feed schedule, size, age etc. I don't know about you, but I like to manage several projects...having 4-5 females lay huge clutches isn't something I'd really prefer. Having small females means having smaller clutches, which means you can work more projects at once. I'd hazard to say that the average carpet is between 4-6 ft.



What you're saying makes sense to me. Personally, I feel out when to feed my two adult Carpets. They eat a big meal every few weeks, and just refuse food when they're not hungry.

What bums me out though is that I often read people saying that they're "growing (insert snake here) out slow". I've also seen people concerned that their snake is "growing to fast" and look to feed the snake less to slow down the growth of it( well, actually we all see this). Ultimately, I was concerned that breeders are deliberately not feeding their snakes to keep them small.

[Jules1618]

Thanks everyone:) ill extend from 7 days to 10 for now