Too Soon to Feed?

[AjaMichelle]

Hey

I have a Burmese python and I want to put some weight on him (for those who haven't seen my other threads). I fed him a 7 to 8 pound rabbit on Friday night. The lump is gone and he's pooped.

I'm having more rabbits delivered today and am wondering if it's too soon to feed again. I prefer to feed pre-killed over F/T and the rabbits I'm getting today will be pre-killed. I can't leave one out until I was planning to feed (Monday- 10 days since last feed). I would prefer not to freeze it then have to thaw it for Monday but will if you all think it's too soon to feed.

These bunnies are about 5 pounds.

Thanks!

[MoreliAddict]

4 days may be a bit too soon. Alot of keepers will feed every week to 3 weeks depending on food size and age of the snake.

[shaunyboy]

how old is your snake ?

every 7 days would be the most i'd feed any snake

cheers shaun

[AjaMichelle]

He's 15 to 20 years old, 15 feet, and 60 to 70 pounds. :)

[shaunyboy]

have you had him all that time ?

and what is his usual feeding schedule ? (prey size and days between each feed)

imo you have 2 choices.....

1.increase the size of the prey and keep to the normal schedule

2.reduce the time between feeds

cheers shaun

[AjaMichelle]

I've had him for a little over a year. I've been feeding him one 7 to 8 pound rabbit every three to four weeks for the last few months. As per the other thread I'm going to start offering the same size meal only every two weeks so he'll gain instead of just maintain.

Because I'm getting pre-killed rabbits today and they're what's preferred to feed, I wanted to take advantage instead of waiting and feeding him F/T. But it sounds like I should just wait another week and a half. That's fine of course but I figured I'd ask. Thanks for your help! :)

Also, why is it best to feed in increments of weeks? I hope I'm asking in a way that makes sense! :)

[millertime89]

Bump it to ten days, I wouldn't do more frequently than that just as a precaution, I'll add you to a FB group in the morning and you can ask them if you want.

[Rogue628]

What kind of facebook group do you have going, Kyle? :D

[shaunyboy]

I've had him for a little over a year. I've been feeding him one 7 to 8 pound rabbit every three to four weeks for the last few months. As per the other thread I'm going to start offering the same size meal only every two weeks so he'll gain instead of just maintain.

Because I'm getting pre-killed rabbits today and they're what's preferred to feed, I wanted to take advantage instead of waiting and feeding him F/T. But it sounds like I should just wait another week and a half. That's fine of course but I figured I'd ask. Thanks for your help! :)

Also, why is it best to feed in increments of weeks? I hope I'm asking in a way that makes sense! :)

i only use increments of 7 days with hatchlings until they reach adult hood,this gives them enough food to grow at the fast rate they do when they're young

i would not feed any quicker than 7 days,to allow proper digestion of their last feed

as has been said,i'd feed your burm every 10 days if you want to put some extra weight on him

larger prey items take longer to digest so 10 days imo is more than enough time for digestion

have you got pictures of your burm ?

cheers shaun

[millertime89]

Nevermind Aja, you were a member there before and left or were booted or something, won't let me add you.

Rogue, its a Burm owners group.

[AjaMichelle]

Hey I know what group you're talking about and I left because I didn't like it. It seemed like a popularity contest more than an effort to improve the reputations of large snake species and their keepers, and to be honest, the spelling errors really bugged me. That was just my impression so I left. Then some of the members invited me to be friends and one of them posted some really racist comments on his feed and I asked him if he was being serious. He wouldn't answer and deleted me so I guess that's a yes? I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not allowed to join the group anymore lol :) and I have some other buddies who had problems with that group too (they keep retics)

[AjaMichelle]

i only use increments of 7 days with hatchlings until they reach adult hood,this gives them enough food to grow at the fast rate they do when they're young

i would not feed any quicker than 7 days,to allow proper digestion of their last feed

as has been said,i'd feed your burm every 10 days if you want to put some extra weight on him

larger prey items take longer to digest so 10 days imo is more than enough time for digestion

have you got pictures of your burm ?

cheers shaun

Thanks so much Shaun! That was incredibly helpful. :)

Here are some photos of Monty. These were taken recently.
http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/F6F7B033-52E9-4649-95FB-7234F26EA154-3595-000002F623857A77.jpg

This is the meal from last Friday. :)
http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/F4BA8C98-5760-41D0-9FF5-4B29289EB158-130-000000074B57B4D2.jpg

http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/D0634302-78A6-4E24-B6C9-68295AF4D27A-130-0000000777A35CD1.jpg

http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/76A6490E-7204-45A3-84D0-192B913FAADB-130-000000079E22661C.jpg

http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/061C8633-E057-4AFF-987A-C5F61F6A42A5-130-00000007BFB6097F.jpg

http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/62021800-3E7F-400F-AFDC-57EB1CC7D610-130-00000007D302DE4F.jpg

[shaunyboy]

i'm not up on burm's but he does'nt look too bad girth wise

go with every 10 days and you should see a good improovement,after 5 or 6 feeds,as imo he won't need much to get up to a nice chunky looking burm

cheers shaun

[millertime89]

Hey I know what group you're talking about and I left because I didn't like it. It seemed like a popularity contest more than an effort to improve the reputations of large snake species and their keepers, and to be honest, the spelling errors really bugged me.

They deleted a lot of people in the past few months and they now have several mods to handle the wide range of people in the group from all over the world.

[AjaMichelle]

i'm not up on burm's but he does'nt look too bad girth wise

go with every 10 days and you should see a good improovement,after 5 or 6 feeds,as imo he won't need much to get up to a nice chunky looking burm

cheers shaun

Thanks Shaun! :) it sounds like the weight gain shouldn't take as long as I thought based on your estimates. :)

They deleted a lot of people in the past few months and they now have several mods to handle the wide range of people in the group from all over the world.

It sounds like they've gotten a much better handle on things. :) it was essentially a brand new group when a friend sent me the invite.

[shaunyboy]

Thanks Shaun! :) it sounds like the weight gain shouldn't take as long as I thought based on your estimates. :)


i'm basing it on how an adult carpet python,would pile on the weight if i upped its feeding,to big prey every 10 days

a burm owner may be able to tell me if burms are the same,i assume they will be

remember pictures once he gets his figure back pal ;)

cheers shaun:D

[AjaMichelle]

I would expect that you could extrapolate the rate of increased girth for a Burm. I understand that it's not exactly the same, and figured since you mentioned you don't keep burms that you were estimating based on a constrictor you have. :) I've just been trying to rehab him since he was 23 pounds when I got him and had scale rot. But I thought it would take months and months for him to grow lol :)

[shaunyboy]

i've found even the larger of my carpet pythons,quickly pile on the pounds,when i up their feeding,after i have cut their feeds down to 3 or 4 at most,during winter season

i give all my carpets,seasonal temperature and feeding schedule changes,according to which season it is

cheers shaun

[Aaron_S]

If you wanted to feed him the meal a little sooner than just space out the next one a few extra days to offset the increase in food.