Prey perhaps a little too large?

AndrewM1217 · 06-27-16, 09:26 PM

So after posting a pic of my Spotted Python on here a month or two ago for some second opinions, I decided to move him up to an XL mouse.

I fed him the XL mouse on Friday, and he has been in his hide since then (as expected after feeding). I shined a light in on his hide to see if I could make out the bulge in his stomach, and I saw where the mouse had ended up as evidenced by a bulge and what looks like scale separation. It doesn't look too huge or anything but keep in mind this is two days after the feeding. When eating a normal-size adult mouse, he is usually active again by this point. I took a picture with as much clarity as I could get without disturbing him by movement.

I did notice a newly-passed urate on the other side of his cage though, so I guess he's been active without my knowledge. He also sticks his head out on occasion when I enter the room to see what's going on. Basically I'm just concerned if the food item was too large. I don't fear that he will regurgitate; I feel like he'd have done it by now if he was going to. Just concerned about when the next feeding rolls around if I should opt for a smaller prey item

toddnbecka · 06-27-16, 11:35 PM

Pythons can handle larger prey items than most other snakes. If it takes a bit longer than usual to digest wait a little longer before the next feeding. I recently switched one of my carpet pythons from mice to rats. I had been feeding 2 large mice weekly, but after he escaped his tank and cleaned out a tub of large breeder mice (6 pregnant females and a male) I gave him a medium rat. He was quite active on the 2 mouse diet, not nearly as much after a large meal, so I'm doing 10 days instead of weekly now. My smaller female is taking large adult mice, the bulge is visible but not half as obvious as the larger one after a rat, lol.

jpsteele80 · 06-28-16, 06:29 AM

I usually try to feed my snakes a meal 25% larger than the biggest section of there body, that doesn't always work I feed my female retic 6lb rabbits and she is cruising a week later and it leaves a nice size bump so I have to feed her every week. Just watch for the activity to start up again and you will know when there ready to eat again.

bigsnakegirl785 · 06-28-16, 12:32 PM

Even with pythons I opt for smaller meals, my ball python starts refusing food after a couple meals of medium rats even though they barely leave a lump, he eats regularly on smalls. If my retic took an entire week to get up and cruise around I'd be seriously worried, she's usually back up at full energy by the third day, sometimes still with a large lump, sometimes not. Even if I fed her a rabbit 30% of her weight, she wouldn't be down for a week. Both the ball python and the retic are fed every 2 weeks.

I'd personally wait 14 days not 10 to offer the next meal and go down a size, but that's me. The large meals certainly won't necessarily hurt it as long as you space the feedings apart by an extra week or two and offer smaller prey every once in awhile. Even pythons have limits.

**EL Ziggy** · 06-28-16, 03:56 PM

Do you know how much your snake weighs? My young carpet pythons get fed every 5-6 days until they turn one, every 7-10 days until they turn 2, and every 10-14 days thereafter. I feed them anywhere between 10-20% of their body weight when they're younger and up to to 10% of their body weight when they're adults. I don't think a jumbo mouse is too large of a meal for your snake but you should probably wait until he excretes his last meal to feed him again.

AndrewM1217 · 06-29-16, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

Do you know how much your snake weighs? My young carpet pythons get fed every 5-6 days until they turn one, every 7-10 days until they turn 2, and every 10-14 days thereafter. I feed them anywhere between 10-20% of their body weight when they're younger and up to to 10% of their body weight when they're adults. I don't think a jumbo mouse is too large of a meal for your snake but you should probably wait until he excretes his last meal to feed him again.

Unfortunately I do not possess a scale capable of accurately measuring his weight. Also, where do you make the distinction between "younger" and "adults"? My spotted will be 2 years old in September but in comparing him to adult male spotted pythons on YouTube he seems to be decently small still.

Side note: How long do frozen mice keep in the freezer? I think I might stick to regular adults for another month or two given that the XL seemed to be a little large. I only have 4 XL mice left so it wouldn't be a huge waste especially considering I got the lot of 5 XL for $5.35! But a waste is a waste nonetheless and I would prefer to avoid it if possible.

**EL Ziggy** · 06-29-16, 08:13 PM

Andrew- I consider my snakes adults at 3 years old. I know spotted pythons don't get very large so a large or XL mouse or similarly sized rat will be fine. My snakes did seem to bulk up quickly on rats. I've kept feeders in my deep freezer for as long as 6-8 months. If they're vacuum sealed they could last even longer.