am i feeding too much?

Lrptls · 08-29-04, 09:01 PM

i really dont like it when my snakes are hungry so i feed them when they get active, i also know their hungry when i'm dethawing food for other snakes and they come out of hiding, looking like their ready to strike.

my littlest ball python was eating like twice a week but now i have her eating 2 mice (shes about 2 feet). my bigger BP (about 4.5 feet) was also eating about twice a week, small rats but the other day i offerd him a large rat and he gladly ate it.

my little hognose eats 2 large meals a week, hes around a foot long, quite thin but eating 2 hoppers a week.

lastly my young male red tail boa was very sick a while ago but is comletly better. he wasn't able to keep food down but now he can't stop eating, he use to eat 2 mice a week, now i have him eating a mouse twice a week. i am just about to start feeding him more, i just wanted to make sure he was back to eating well again. i would like to start feeding him 2 mice a week and soon 3 mice a week (hopefully soon small rats) by the way hes about 3 feet.

are my snakes eating good or too much?

Linds · 08-29-04, 09:59 PM

IMHO your snakes are definietly being fed too much. Snakes will move for other reasons than hunting for food, which shouldn't be confused with that (Hognoses are especially active little snakes). They will also come out when they smell food. Snakes in the wild often have to take what they can get, when they can get it, so they will eat way more than they need to to stay healthy in captivity if allowed. While some snakes may eat more than others, it is unlikely that all yours need to be fed that much.

At 3', your boa should definitely be on to larger prey items that mice. Medium rats would be more ideal. Most adult boas and pythons (mid-sized) only require a meal once or twice a month. While each snake is unique in its need, I think a general guideline for you would be weekly for your younger snakes and bi-monthly for your older animals to be safe

mykee · 08-30-04, 11:51 AM

Sounds like you balls are well-fed. If they don't want to eat anymore, they simply won't. I OFFER my balls food every 4-5 days for under 1 year, and once every 5-8 days for older, and if they want to eat, they'll eat. I would ditch the mice, and move on to rats though.

Lrptls · 09-02-04, 06:52 PM

ok, got all that, just one more question...

if i feed my 4.5 foot bp large rats (which is a big meal for him) should i feed him less than once a week?

hooter · 09-03-04, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lrptls
ok, got all that, just one more question...

if i feed my 4.5 foot bp large rats (which is a big meal for him) should i feed him less than once a week?

About every 10 days would be a good when feeding larger items. Also as the snake grows up a bit its not as important to feed as much. Babies need more food to grow and stay healthy because they dont have the fat that older snakes have.