Food too large for snake?

[pirate_reps]

Hi guys.. I need some advice on food size for my children python. This is a video of me feeding her a hopper rat. I have had an experienced reptile keeper tell me the rat is too large and can cause stretch marks and is bad for its digestion and health. Ive also had someone else say snakes are supposed to handle very large food that may seem too large to us.. and that size is fully okay. Please can i have some advice on this one? Very much appreciated!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh09NRgXD-o

 

[baker]

That size is perfectly fine for that size snake.

Cheers, Cameron

 

[Burgo89]

rule of thumb I go by is not much larger than the snakes thickest part you should only see a slight bulge when it's been completely swallowed. In saying that if it's happy taking food that size and you don't over feed (every 3-4 weeks with an item that size) should be fine. I have couple stimmies maybe a little larger than yours and feed them one adult mouse every 7-10 days.

 

[arevenant]

The previous rule of thumb is not a rule of thumb.
The size is fine for your stimmy.

 

[pirate_reps]

oh good! thanks all. I want to get my children up to breeding size for next breeding season. Could I possibly even up the size of the rat? or should I just stick to hoppers atm... also how often would I feed it a rat this size? Thanks again

 

[ronhalling]

Lol i have never heard of Snakes getting stretch marks, as far as the size of the rats you are feeding it at the moment they are fine, i would not go any bigger than that for the time being as it might put your Childreni off its food if it finds it too hard to get the rat down, I feed my Spotties (which are about the same size as your Childreni) the same size Hoppers and they thrive on them and take/swallow/digest/ them just fine. As far as frequency is concerned at this time of the year 1 every 14 days will be fine, when the weather heats up later in the year you could look at 1 every 7-10 days, IMO 10 days is probs the better idea. You have not included what age your Childreni is so no one will be able to tell you what you will need to do before the next breeding season, hope this helps. .........................Ron

 

[pirate_reps]

Thanks Ron! helped out a lot actually. I bought them recently and they are 18months. I think they are a little small for their age so hopefully I can get them growing healthy and big for next year Cheers mate!

 

[pirateherps]

It looks fine. Nothing bigger though i would say.
Cool video though

 

[pinefamily]

Keep on the size you are using; its not too big as others have said. You don't want to power feed as this can lead to health issues down the track.

 

[Dopamel]

size is fine but i'd recommend feeding her/him in a wide box on the floor because she/he could break her jaw if snapping at food...when i fed my Ball i just put her on the floor so she had plenty of room to roll around

 

[Newhere]

I used to be fussy about the food size I gave my python until I seen him eat his rat sideways one day. Holy hell I thought he was going to pop!

 

[PythonLegs]

Makes you wonder how any snakes survive in the wild, what with all the measuring they need to do before they eat anything.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

size is fine but i'd recommend feeding her/him in a wide box on the floor because she/he could break her jaw if snapping at food...when i fed my Ball i just put her on the floor so she had plenty of room to roll around

Ball as in Ball Python? In the ACT.
So much wrong with this post but I'm guessing this is just another troll.

 

[pinefamily]

Ball as in Ball Python? In the ACT.
So much wrong with this post but I'm guessing this is just another troll.

No mate, I think she's genuine, judging by her other posts.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

No mate, I think she's genuine, judging by her other posts.

Thanks Pinefamily.
Admin, Is this ok with you?

 

[ronhalling]

[MENTION=32852]Pauls_Pythons[/MENTION], after reading a few of Dopomel's posts i think before she moved to the ACT she lived in the good ole USA, hence the keeping of Ball Pythons. ..................Ron

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Thanks for that Ron.
Seemed a bit strange at first.

 

[ronhalling]

Hmmmm, knowing that Ball Pythons are illegal in Oz i think Dopomel should have elaborated in her post that she used to live in the USA, when i first seen her mention the Ball python the first thing i thought of was "oh ohh" thinking that the next 2 pages might be filled with righteous indignation about owning a Ball Python in OZ. .......................Ron

 

[pinefamily]

[MENTION=36030]ronhalling[/MENTION] Dopamel does mention that she used to live in the US on another thread; but yes, perhaps more elaboration would have been good, at least until she is more well known on here.

 

[ronhalling]

[MENTION=38465]pinefamily[/MENTION], yup yup yup ......................Ron