is this a big enough meal?

[asgrande]

im just curious if this is a big enough meal for my 4 ft dj carpet.
http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/asgrande/IMAG0198.jpg
http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/asgrande/IMAG0197.jpg

[youngster]

Looks like it, he could easily go bigger though. Also why chicks?

[asgrande]

Looks like it, he could easily go bigger though. Also why chicks?
because when i got him in march he/she didnt eat for 4 weeks and chicks were the only thing it would take at first so i stuck with them to establish its eating habits. once i run out of them im going to try and switch it over to rats.

[bladeblaster]

looks ok. I would try and switch to rats while you still have chicks to scent the rats with.

[Will0W783]

I don't think it's a big enough meal. There isn't much meat on chicks, regardless of their overall size. For comparison, my 4-foot jungle carpets eat good-sized medium rats. Carpet pythons can take much larger meals than you'd think.

Also, feeding poultry can cause salmonella, diarrhea, and particularly foul-smelling poo. I would get your carpet eating rats. It will be much healthier for him/her in the long run.

[Terranaut]

I don't think it's a big enough meal. There isn't much meat on chicks, regardless of their overall size. For comparison, my 4-foot jungle carpets eat good-sized medium rats. Carpet pythons can take much larger meals than you'd think.

Also, feeding poultry can cause salmonella, diarrhea, and particularly foul-smelling poo. I would get your carpet eating rats. It will be much healthier for him/her in the long run.

Yup not big enough. Get on the rats now. A carpet can eat a meal 2.5 tumes as fat as the snake. Not saying you need to go that big but they can eat huge prey so don't be shy. Also if you get bigger prey they can wait longer between meals.
I feed my carpets every 14-21 days depending in what they ate the meal before.
If you can't still see a bulge from the prey 48 hrs after the snake eats it the prey was not big enough. Some people on here feed their carpets multiple smaller prey but some of us feed them as big as we are comfortable feeding them and just wait longer periods. My yearling Jag eats weekly , my 5.5 ft male JCP eats a large rat every 2 weeks and my 7.5ft JCP female eats a jumbo every 2 weeks or a 1.5lb bunny every 3 weeks.
Carpets stretch like rubber so go for it with a rat.


Also about picky feeders. My males will not eat in front of an audiance. I put it in their viv and walk away. Go back in a half hour and its gone. Be patient. They will eat eventually. They always do. If they won't take the rat at first try feeding a rat scented with chick , right after a chick.
Good luck. Nice carpet!!

[Lankyrob]

My jungle easily eats prey 3-4 times his girth every 14-21 days, he eats the same size rats as my sd retic who is girthier and a good foot or so longer than him. :)

[Rogue628]

Definitely not big enough. Start trying to switch as soon as possible. From what another keeper on the forum told me, it's common for people who don't know these animals feeding habits well to underfeed them. I adopted a carpet a couple of months ago and she's a little on the lean side, yet still healthy. She's pushing 6' and I have her on one jumbo rats.

Good luck with switching! I had a problem switching one of my animals as well so I know the pain. It took me months to get her on what she needs but she's growing like crazy now :)

[emmabee]

hiya, i would say no but then agian i dont know your circumstances!

if its a funny eater then yes! i have a DJJ sib here that would only eat chicks and she is 3 years old. i now manage to get her to eat a chick first and then i can get her to eat jumbo mice. she is taking 1 chick and 3 mice at the moment, total pain to feed but we are getting there. i would love to get her onto rats but she just wont so as long as she is eating something i figure its better than nothing.

i use chicks to kick start feeding response in PITA feeders but as soon as it is down offer a second item (mouse or rat) immediately after. 9 times out of 10 they will take :)

[Brently]

because when i got him in march he/she didnt eat for 4 weeks and chicks were the only thing it would take at first so i stuck with them to establish its eating habits. once i run out of them im going to try and switch it over to rats.

Just a thought and I am not sure if this is necessary, but maybe you should get some rats or whatever before you run out of chicks. That way if he/she doesn't take them you can scent them with the chicks to establish that food source.

[asgrande]

Well its gotten to the point now that it strikes as soon as it sees something it thinks it can eat. Doesn't even small it. So ill try the rats before I run out of the chicks. Thanks for the advice.

[Terranaut]

Well its gotten to the point now that it strikes as soon as it sees something it thinks it can eat. Doesn't even small it. So ill try the rats before I run out of the chicks. Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like he is very hungry. If he is striking at anything he will take a rat.
Good luck with it.

[asgrande]

What size rat should I try? The chicks are around 30 grams. Small rats are 45-84 grams and mediums are 85-174. Which should I go for?

[Little Wise Owl]

Why not try both sizes out?

[shaunyboy]

because when i got him in march he/she didnt eat for 4 weeks and chicks were the only thing it would take at first so i stuck with them to establish its eating habits. once i run out of them im going to try and switch it over to rats.


i would forget the chicks and get it onto rats straight away,its really hard to get carpet pythons off chicks

imo 4 weeks without eating is nothing to a carpet python

now you have it on chicks,you will have to scent the rats with chicks

then wait on it taking rats,whatever you do don't go back to chicks once you start trying rats

it may take a month or two ( or even longer ) to get it feeding on rats

carpet pythons can go months without food,with no ill effect

cheers shaun

[asgrande]

well i tried a small rat tonight and it took it without hesitation. For now i think smalls, or mediums are as big as ill go. but it took the small like a champ.

[Rogue628]

Congrats! It's always nice when they switch easy for you. Now your animal should start filling out nicely :)

[Terranaut]

Yup. Awesome. Good for you!!!