advise needed

[ikke]

well..

I have a 8 month old gtp ( most of you prob. know what he looks like )

and I havent got a clue what 2 feed him..
he is on rat pups now.. but although they fill him up really well.. he already poops after 3 days.. and after that goes into normal feeding mode..

but it seems a bit much to give two rat pups, to a 8 month old gtp..

tell me what you think.. what I should do because this just doesnt seem enough

thx

xx
diana

[Memnoch]

In my opinion the 5-7 day rule is just a rule of thumb. B/c they (GTPs and ETBs) have slow metabolisms the concern is the food rotting in their stomach. So if you are finding that his stomach size is going back to normal, I don't think that there is anything wrong especially since he is defecating regularly.

Usually you can't "power feed" ETBs and GTPs b/c their metabolism is too slow as it is, but there is always the exception... Just make sure that he is defecating regularly and you should be fine.

[Syst3m]

I'd step it up to a larger meal if you could only feed it every 7 days or more. GTP are very sedentary animals. They don't do well on power feeding.

[ikke]

ok thx,

I didnt meen to power feed, I just leave him on this 7 days rule.. I'll see if I can get a larger meal, but I doubt it...

thx anyhow

[zappaguy]

i have and keep numerous gtp's and if you have a baby that is eating rat pups i would try and switch over to same size mouse...better food item..ie:more calcium,more substance..rat pups like most young prey items are mostly water hence the fast processing..still stick to the every 5-7 days tho.

[Dark_Angel_25]

zappa: I have to disagree,,, RATS are way better for Snakes than Mice.. you should get your snakes on RATS ASAP. they have more nutrition than Mice, I don't know where youheard different...

Just my 2 cents

[zappaguy]

i didn't say rats are a bad food source,i said rat pup's. and yes you do get them to rats asap.

[Dark_Angel_25]

oh ok then, It is just that once you get your snake to take Rats, you really shouldn't change them back to mice, you may never get them to eat Rats again... sorry zappa, I didn't mean my post to come off so harsh....darn typing looses all tone!!

[zappaguy]

no hurt feelings here....just good discussion and sharing idea's and opinions.a closed mind is a terrible waste ya know.

I use a more scientific method for feedings, if the animal shows greater than 25% growth annually I believe it should be fed everything it will eat, when growth drops below 25% I think feeding should be reduced, when growth drops to 10% or less I think feed should be further reduded.

[Syst3m]

Actually Rev GTP are the exception to the rule in most cases.

These are the words from Greg maxwell at fine GTP's, he is very well known and respected.

Unlike most colubrid snakes, Green tree pythons should not be power fed to induce rapid growth. Keep meal sizes reasonable. A meal that makes a noticeable swelling, but not a huge lump, is about right. Baby chondros should eat every 5- 7 days, and every 7-10 days from 12 months and older. Large adults, especially females during non-breeding periods, may only need food every 12-14 days. Prowling for food, growth rates, and defecation cycles, can help determine frequency of feeding.

"I think that if you keep to this feeding schedule you will not have any problems. Feeding them to often can cause these already skiddish animals to regurge quite easily. " -- end Greg Maxwell quote

As far as feeding it 2 rat pups, mine is a yearling and he is taking juv rats. Its a stretch for him but maybe you should step up to a fuzzy or a hopper rat. Its always better to feed one large prey then 2 small prey.

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Syst3m

As far as feeding it 2 rat pups, mine is a yearling and he is taking juv rats. Its a stretch for him but maybe you should step up to a fuzzy or a hopper rat. Its always better to feed one large prey then 2 small prey.

Now isn't that bordering on the definition on power feeding? (unless you meant 2 small prey items at the same time)

As I said originally, the reasoning behind the 5-7day etc. rule of thumb is to ensure that the food is not rotting in the snake's gut.

That means that feeding them larger may increase the chances of the food actually rotting in the snakes gut.

Therefore, with that said, a smaller prey would be digested faster hence minimizing the risk of it rotting. The downside is that you have to feed more often. And to reemphasize, often is not bad. What is bad is stuffing the snake full of food, to the point it's own body cannot keep up with the digestion. Which is what I think Rev. was trying to say.


Memnoch

[Syst3m]

What I mean is that its better to feed one appropriate sized prey then 2 smaller prey. And whats the difference between 2 small prey that equal the same mass as one food item as far as digestion time?

[Memnoch]

What I meant is to decrease the amount you feed in one shot, but increase the frequency of the feedings.

So instead of 1 hopper / week, do 1 fuzzie every 3 days.

The smaller prey would be easier to digest meaning it won't be in it's stomach as long...

BTW, I actually stumbled across an interesting study showing that ETBs would rather take down smaller prey and hunt more frequently rather than taking down larger prey. This study may shed some light on the regurgitation problem with ETBs. They may regurgitate in captivity partially because of overfeeding which is also related to temperature regulation. Also in the wild, if the ETB were to take down a large prey they tend to seek out a spot where it was significantly cooler (maybe to avoid regurgitation).

I'm not sure if it's appropriate to draw correlations between the two species, but that is the basis behind my argument of smaller meals that are more frequent.

[lilyskip]

feeding larger/less often is usually a better rule of thumb. the snake gets more nutrients from meat, and there is less wasted digestion energy on hair, etc. the bigger the food item, the more nutritious it is. fuzzies are like sticks of butter for snakes. full of fat/still nursing on milk, with very little nutrition.