Will blood python over eat??

[Katty]

Hi,
like to know whether will blood python over eat themselves if lots of mices r available for them?? Just like a gold fish?? Thanks

Just me,
Katty

[BurmBaroness]

Any animal has the propensity to overeat, which could cause regurge. By "lots of mice" available to them, I hope you're not talking about LIVE ones?? They can seriously injure or kill your blood. The rule for feeding is one prey item per feed, no larger than the largest point of the snake's girth. Also, with a blood, you may not want to feed too close together, as their metabolism rate is relatively slower than some of the other boids. I'm sure JPaulson will be along shortly with more details on how often to feed.

[Linds]

Snakes have the ability to regurgitate (puke :medpuke: ) any excess food, unlike goldfish which will ultimately perish. Snakes can and will overeat, however they won't die like goldfish ;) It's up to you to make sure your snake eats an adequate amount of food, as your snake will eat and eat which can lead to problems ranging from regurgitation, obesity all the way to excessively fast growth resulting in organ stress and shortened lifespan. All snakes have individual feeding requirements, they can't all be on the same schedule. However, for babies you generally can't go wrong by feeding once a week. I feed my 11 month old female one appropriately sized rat every 7 days, and I feed my yearling male one appropriately sized rat every 14 days. Hope this helped :)

[Katty]

Thanks. I will stick to the feeding schedule.

Just me,
Katty

[jpaulson]

Yes, bloods do have a much slower metabolism than other species of snakes, such as boas or colubrids. Whereas most bloods will eat whatever you put in front of them, it is not recommended. They can get obese very easily. They normally just lay around and wait for prey to walk by them, therefore causing them little effort. Stick to your feeding schedule of one prey item per week, or you can even go every week and a half. My blood will sometimes skip a meal--fine by me. Also, make sure you let her out to stretch and get some much needed exercise.