A little help please

[larrisa]

hi every one,

I just need a little bit of help if possible yesterday i purchased me very first snake yay me:lol: been wanting one for a good 10 years lol
i now own a spotted python and he is 15 months old

the thing i need help with is i am not sure if i am feeding him the right amount the pet shop sold me velvet rats and he had one yesterday afternoon as the feeding record i was given said he hadnt been for a week now today everytime we walked past him he took a strike at the cage so we decided to try to give him another velvet rat which he took straight away and now looks very happy and content should i maybe upgrade his food to a bigger rat or not please any help or advice would be really really helpful thanks larrisa

 

[sharky]

Best option is to weigh him. Take 15-20% of his body weight and that is the ideal sized prey item

 

[joelysmoley]

Yeah i agree with sharky, and if he striked at you inside his cage, he is probably stressed not hungry, just leave him alone in a quiet place for a week or so and he should settle in fine

 

[larrisa]

thank u thank u for the such quick replies i am so learning as i go lol
after he took the second rat my partner made him a little cave for him which he went straight in side and looked very happy as he is still in the tub i bought from the pet shop until we get his nice new home on tuesday i just want to do the right thing by him

 

[Ambush]

Welcome

 

[Riffherper]

A good rule of thumb for beginners. A snake can eat a rat roughly 1.5 times the thickness of the fattest part of the snake's body.

 

[Gruni]

Apart from the sizing advice... let it settle in for two weeks, curtain of the enclosure for a week and offer him a decent feed. Leave him for another week before you worry about handling him. Once settled weigh him up and get an idea of feed size. At that age a feed every 10-14days.