Rat Pinkie too big for weekly feed?

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rhoadesSHMOADES

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Last week was my jungle's 3rd feeding in my care and, since I don't want her getting addicted to mice, I fed her a rat pinkie. It was twice her girth, maybe a little more, but she got it down just fine. I heard jungles take large meals better than other pythons so I wasn't too worried. Should I still feed her weekly if it took 4 days for the lump to go down? I don't want to end up powerfeeding her on accident but she's only 5 months old so I don't want to deprive her of any nutrition either. She's 20 in. long by the way, to give you a size reference. Thank you.
 
Sounds good 1.5-2x its girth at the thickest part of the snake.



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I heard jungles take large meals better than other pythons

Where did you hear that? I have always been under the assumption that is better to feed arboreals to small of a pray item then it is to feed to large of a pray item. Carpets like most other arboreal snakes are more slender. Feeding them large pray items will not only make them sluggish, it will make it really hard for them to properly climb. I have always fead my arboreals smaller food items compared to a terrestrial snake of the same length.
 
Where did you hear that? I have always been under the assumption that is better to feed arboreals to small of a pray item then it is to feed to large of a pray item. Carpets like most other arboreal snakes are more slender. Feeding them large pray items will not only make them sluggish, it will make it really hard for them to properly climb. I have always fead my arboreals smaller food items compared to a terrestrial snake of the same length.

In terms of Australian native pythons Morelias can ingest wider prey items when compared to other genuses due to the width of their jaw.
 
Last week was my jungle's 3rd feeding in my care and, since I don't want her getting addicted to mice, I fed her a rat pinkie. It was twice her girth, maybe a little more, but she got it down just fine. I heard jungles take large meals better than other pythons so I wasn't too worried. Should I still feed her weekly if it took 4 days for the lump to go down? I don't want to end up powerfeeding her on accident but she's only 5 months old so I don't want to deprive her of any nutrition either. She's 20 in. long by the way, to give you a size reference. Thank you.

At that age and size , I would suggest feeding it on Pinkies is actually depriving it nutrition , get it onto fuzzies as pinkies do not have a lot of substance in them , in most cases pinkies would only need to be fed to a snake for a few weeks , not 5 months.
 
Going by how I did things with my Diamond, swap to mice of roughly the same size (so they get the nutrition of more bones and fur) and swap to rats once it gets big enough to down a rat of decent age.
Once my girl was on adult mice I swapped her across to Weaner rats and now Hopper rats!
If it's leaving a sizable lump for more than 3 days perhaps feed it once every week and a half, rather than every week.
 
I agree with ubermensch - stick to mice for a while. There is more calcium in well-developed bones and more roughage (fur). I recommend that people feed mic until they get to adult mouse size, then swap over to hopper rats. If you are worried about the transition, just cross scent. I start all of my hatchlings on cross scented mice (one big thawing bucket), so it makes the transition easier later on.
 
Thanks everyone! The developed bones/fur statements make perfect sense. & thanks for clearing up the larger prey item thing, I had my assumptions why but now I know the actual reason. I'll be feeding her a mouse the same size as the rat pinkie then next feeding day :) my girlfriend wasn't too fond of newborn rats being eaten anyways lol
 
New born or week old it's still being bred for food... Funny how some snakes are fussy about the change over and some aren't. My Mac has been fed on mice all along and I recently offered her a hopper rat, she couldn't hit it quick enough! :lol:
 
My Childrens is 5 months old and still on pinkies, but they look too small. Only a day after being fed you cant tell he's eaten. Should i move him up to hoppers or fuzzies? The pinkies are about the same girth as he is.
 
I would move him up a size to fuzzies at minimum. It would be good to get a few feeds in before the cooler months also. :)
 
Your food should be somewhat wider than their widest body part. Also if you still have pinkies left feed him 2 instead of just one until you have usd them up. Get a set of kitchen scales and work out what 20% of his body weight is as that is how much he should realistically be eating either in one item or multiples, mine gets 2x50g rats now but I have been told by the breeder I could offer her a single 95-100g rat and she would manage it even if it takes her a while.

I had actually forgotten about this thread and the OP's comment about 'addicted to mice'. I know some snakes can be fussy but my pig will chop and change betwen rats and mice... and my hand given a chance (don't reach across infront/above the rat you are offering, it doesn't end well :lol: ).
 
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