Need Help!!

jay's reptiles · 09-13-16, 11:21 AM

I was wondering what you guys who have retics feed them.

like at 2.6 feet long Im feeding my retic small rats

What should i feed her at 6 feet and how often.

and at 10 feet i could be feeding her 2 big rats or a rabbit. I was just wondering whats the best?

trailblazer295 · 09-13-16, 11:32 AM

Small rats for snake under 3ft seems a bit much. I'll let more experienced keepers chime in though.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-13-16, 11:34 AM

I was feeding my retic rat pups at 3' long, but that was before I moved up to 15-20% of her weight, she could have easily been on weaned rats. At 6' I'd say a large rat. As an adult I would favor a single prey item myself, but you could mix it up with multiple rats and single rabbits.

I fed my retic every 7 days when she was 1 year and under, once she was a little over a year and hit ~6' eating large rats, I moved her to every 2 weeks. I plan on feeding her monthly as an adult.

jay's reptiles · 09-13-16, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I was feeding my retic rat pups at 3' long, but that was before I moved up to 15-20% of her weight, she could have easily been on weaned rats. At 6' I'd say a large rat. As an adult I would favor a single prey item myself, but you could mix it up with multiple rats and single rabbits.

I fed my retic every 7 days when she was 1 year and under, once she was a little over a year and hit ~6' eating large rats, I moved her to every 2 weeks. I plan on feeding her monthly as an adult.

Thank you. I just measured her. She is 3 feet long. And the small rat is about the same size as the largest part of her body. its just a little bigger. It only took her 8 mins to eat it. so i'm guessing She will be fine?

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-13-16, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay's reptiles

Thank you. I just measured her. She is 3 feet long. And the small rat is about the same size as the largest part of her body. its just a little bigger. It only took her 8 mins to eat it. so i'm guessing She will be fine?

I would feed whatever 15-20% of her weight weekly at first, then move to every 2 weeks, and eventually just feed what leaves a lump. My retic was vastly underfed when I got her, so I don't have a reference for whether or not it's right for your retic. See how long it takes for the bulge to disappear and for her to defecate, and then weigh her after she's empty.

jay's reptiles · 09-13-16, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I would feed whatever 15-20% of her weight weekly at first, then move to every 2 weeks, and eventually just feed what leaves a lump. My retic was vastly underfed when I got her, so I don't have a reference for whether or not it's right for your retic. See how long it takes for the bulge to disappear and for her to defecate, and then weigh her after she's empty.

Alright. Because i had her on frozen large mice and the lump would be gone in 1 day and 6,7 hours.

So i moved on to frozen small rats. So ill see how long it takes.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-13-16, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay's reptiles

Alright. Because i had her on frozen large mice and the lump would be gone in 1 day and 6,7 hours.

So i moved on to frozen small rats. So ill see how long it takes.

A jump from large mice to small rats is a big one, but glad to hear she switched fine! I've heard even retics can get hooked on mice. With a proper-sized meal the bulge should only take a couple days to dissipate, and a baby should poop somewhere 7-9 days later. It's not an exact science but that's a rough outline. A bigger, older snake eating rabbits will take longer to poop than a young snake eating rats for example. Definitely weigh her when she poops and find what gram range falls within 15-20% of her weight and aim for rats in that range, whether weaned, small, or whatever.

jay's reptiles · 09-13-16, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

A jump from large mice to small rats is a big one, but glad to hear she switched fine! I've heard even retics can get hooked on mice. With a proper-sized meal the bulge should only take a couple days to dissipate, and a baby should poop somewhere 7-9 days later. It's not an exact science but that's a rough outline. A bigger, older snake eating rabbits will take longer to poop than a young snake eating rats for example. Definitely weigh her when she poops and find what gram range falls within 15-20% of her weight and aim for rats in that range, whether weaned, small, or whatever.

Yeah i was amazed on how much she wanted the rat. She went insane for it. I feed her every 7 days.

jay's reptiles · 09-16-16, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

A jump from large mice to small rats is a big one, but glad to hear she switched fine! I've heard even retics can get hooked on mice. With a proper-sized meal the bulge should only take a couple days to dissipate, and a baby should poop somewhere 7-9 days later. It's not an exact science but that's a rough outline. A bigger, older snake eating rabbits will take longer to poop than a young snake eating rats for example. Definitely weigh her when she poops and find what gram range falls within 15-20% of her weight and aim for rats in that range, whether weaned, small, or whatever.

Update: it only took her 3 days to digest the small rat. She defecated fine.

sattva · 09-16-16, 12:37 PM

I am new at this also... I am feeding George a small rat every 7 days now... He's about 5 feet now; 1 year 3 1/2 months old, and has a girth of about half dollar... I tried backing him down to one every 10 days but he was looking a little underweight to me so I bumped it back up...

I know weighting your snakes is probably more scientific but I think you can tell by their girth and the depth of the spine... I can't get my guys to sit still in my lap, much less on a scale... I guess I could do a large tub and take a tare and all that but then I have to have a place to set this up... I don't know?

I have been buying 16 small rats now at a time, from my local reptile store and then I sort those into small, medium, & Large and George "my retic" gets the smallest of those... It almost creates no lump what so every...But then again I want my guy to stay as small as possible and still remain health... Fred gets the mediums and Moe gets the large ones... I kind have to judge by head size and girth... Moe my JCP who is a few inches over 5 feet with a 3 inch girth diameter and a hug head "about half the size of my fist" when in comparison with Fred who is 6 1/2 feet with a 2 inch girth and a head the size of my thumb... So for me being new and all, each snake being so different, there is a little trial and error... And then there is Crystal who is a whole other topic!

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-16-16, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay's reptiles

Update: it only took her 3 days to digest the small rat. She defecated fine.

Sounds about right, I'd go ahead and weigh her, just in case smalls are still on the large side. Retics digest even large meals with ease.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sattva

I am new at this also... I am feeding George a small rat every 7 days now... He's about 5 feet now; 1 year 3 1/2 months old, and has a girth of about half dollar... I tried backing him down to one every 10 days but he was looking a little underweight to me so I bumped it back up...

I know weighting your snakes is probably more scientific but I think you can tell by their girth and the depth of the spine... I can't get my guys to sit still in my lap, much less on a scale... I guess I could do a large tub and take a tare and all that but then I have to have a place to set this up... I don't know?

I have been buying 16 small rats now at a time, from my local reptile store and then I sort those into small, medium, & Large and George "my retic" gets the smallest of those... It almost creates no lump what so every...But then again I want my guy to stay as small as possible and still remain health... Fred gets the mediums and Moe gets the large ones... I kind have to judge by head size and girth... Moe my JCP who is a few inches over 5 feet with a 3 inch girth diameter and a hug head "about half the size of my fist" when in comparison with Fred who is 6 1/2 feet with a 2 inch girth and a head the size of my thumb... So for me being new and all, each snake being so different, there is a little trial and error... And then there is Crystal who is a whole other topic!

Feeding a snake to keep it small is unethical, and he isn't going to stay small just because you're feeding him less. It will take him a few extra years, but he will get to normal size. If you wanted a smaller retic, a super dwarf probably would have been a good idea, because you aren't going to be able to keep him small without literally starving him.

sattva · 09-16-16, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Sounds about right, I'd go ahead and weigh her, just in case smalls are still on the large side. Retics digest even large meals with ease.

Feeding a snake to keep it small is unethical, and he isn't going to stay small just because you're feeding him less. It will take him a few extra years, but he will get to normal size. If you wanted a smaller retic, a super dwarf probably would have been a good idea, because you aren't going to be able to keep him small without literally starving him.

Don't really want to start a debate here, but I but I am getting different options on this subject... I have to say, it does seem to be working and he is a long ways from me starving him...

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-16-16, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sattva

Don't really want to start a debate here, but I but I am getting different options on this subject... I have to say, it does seem to be working and he is a long ways from me starving him...

I'm not saying you're starving him, I'm saying he won't stay small unless you do. If you weren't prepared for an adult retic's potential size, then maybe a "mainland" wasn't the best choice (using the term loosely here for when Tsubaki gets here lol). It will take him a few years longer, maybe twice as long, to get big as a retic fed regularly, but he will get there in time.

You're also not underfeeding him by all that much, either (actually wouldn't really call it underfeeding but it's not as much as usual). At his size, a regular-sized meal would be a medium rat, and you're still feeding weekly. My retic was 4.5'-5' at around a year and now she's somewhere around 7' and will be 2 years next month. Right now she's in a period of slow growth again, but with another increase in prey size she could grow another half a foot or foot by the time she turns 2. If she grows at the same rate, she may reach 9'-10' by the time she turns 3, and she still has the potential to pick up growth. Feeding conservatively isn't bad, but feeding conservatively shouldn't be with a smaller end size in mind but a healthier, steadier growth rate to get to that point.

sattva · 09-16-16, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I'm not saying you're starving him, I'm saying he won't stay small unless you do. If you weren't prepared for an adult retic's potential size, then maybe a "mainland" wasn't the best choice (using the term loosely here for when Tsubaki gets here lol). It will take him a few years longer, maybe twice as long, to get big as a retic fed regularly, but he will get there in time.

You're also not underfeeding him by all that much, either (actually wouldn't really call it underfeeding but it's not as much as usual). At his size, a regular-sized meal would be a medium rat, and you're still feeding weekly. My retic was 4.5'-5' at around a year and now she's somewhere around 7' and will be 2 years next month. Right now she's in a period of slow growth again, but with another increase in prey size she could grow another half a foot or foot by the time she turns 2. If she grows at the same rate, she may reach 9'-10' by the time she turns 3, and she still has the potential to pick up growth. Feeding conservatively isn't bad, but feeding conservatively shouldn't be with a smaller end size in mind but a healthier, steadier growth rate to get to that point.

Actually I think were on the same page here... For me I would like to see George reach 10 feet... But I am not prepared to keep anything larger... I would have to sell George or move to a bigger place... His father is ten feet and his mother is 16 feet... So if he stays 10 or under I will be happy... I just want him taking his time getting there.... I might be moving in with my kids in a couple of years and my snakes will be going with me... So I'm not sure of my future here...

trailblazer295 · 09-16-16, 07:23 PM

If his dad is 10ft and mom 16ft it is realistic for him to reach somewhere in the middle to low end. Reduced feeding isn't going to stop that, it will only slow it down. If that's too big a snake for you that's fine giants aren't for everyone but maybe it's something best researched prior to purchase.