How often to feed pythons ?

[darkness]

Hi,

Glad to finally be able to post ! looks like a great site for info & help for a newbie like me

Anyway, I have 2 snakes, a brisbane carpet python and a jungle python.

The carpet is eating weaners and the jungle is still a baby so is only eating pinky rats.. soon to go up to fuzzies..

But im wondering how often I really should be feeding them, so far I have been feeding them weekly, but after reading some care sheets etc im a bit confused as some say weekly, others say every 2 to 4 weeks..

So am just wondering if weekly is ok, as I dont want to over feed them or cause any harm.

Thanks for any info..
John.

 

[MrBredli]

I would be feeding both snakes 1-2 rats weekly. Adults i would feed 1 rat every 2 weeks or so.

P.S. Welcome!

 

[Brodie]

Once a week is fine until they are older. You might want too try two food items a week tho, they will grow faster.

 

[darkness]

Do you mean 2 rats at the one time ? or 2 rats during a week, like one on monday one tuesday ?

I dont even think the fang (the coatal carpet) would be able to fit 2 weaners at a time but then I didnt think he would be able to eat 1 when I 1st went up in size.

Cheers.

Edit: at what age do they become adults ?

The carpet is about a year and half old
The jungle is 9 months old

Thanks for the info !
Cheers.

 

[MrBredli]

They will be able to take two at once, one after the other, no problems. Snakes generally become "adults" at 2-3 years.

I apologize for the bluntness of my replies... i'm at work, gotta be quick, can't let my boss see i'm not working hehe..

 

[darkness]

hehe thanks mate !

Dont want ya to get in trouble

Cheers.

 

[The Rock]

2 weeks at least for juvs, IMOP most people grossly over fed pythons but you can not tell them this as they wont listern any way.

 

[herptrader]

For young pythons I feed them as much as they want to eat, then wait for them to poop and get a bit active before feeding them again. As hatchlings this cycle is in the order of a week to 10 days but it soon stretches to a couple of weeks. When they are older it can be a month or so between feeds.

My adult childreni only got fed half a dozen times in the last year. It started with a huge feed soon after laying the eggs and large feeds about a month apart after that. They went off their feed early this year so I was expecting eggs early but it seems they will be about a month later this year.

 

[iceman]

i feed my juvs every 2 weeks as well.

 

[darkness]

sigh.. hate when ya hear different things from everyone.

Think I might just go in the middle somewhere and make it every 10 or so days

Even if I left it 2 week should I still feed them 2 items ?

Cheers.

 

[deathinfire]

Gotta agree with you darkness its very confusing when different ppl give different opinions, I guess you've just gota come up with your own routine which works.

Hey ppl as theres already soo many feeding trends i just wanted to jump in and ask for some opinions from ppl bout my feeding routine: My bredli is about 9months old now and i feed him 2 rat pups every 4-6 days, am i over-feeding him? He hasnt refused a feed, and it usually takes him 2-3days to pooped out the last meal, by the 3rd-4th day his active again and his food bludge is gone. Im worried that this routine may get him desensitised from the hunger to feed. Anyways this week im gona wait for at least 8-10 days b4 his next feed just remind him the feeling of being hungery

 

[iceman]

IMO- feeding ur juvie more then onces every 2 weeks an ur adult more then every 6 weeks is POWER FEEDING.

 

[munkee]

Food in relates to growth obtained. I tend to feed my animals when it suits my timetable the bhps never refuse a feed the female mac will only eat a weaner fortnightly whether I try to feed it more frequently or not. I feed the bhps 5-6 days apart but with food items nowhere near what they could eat. They are currently eating weaner and small rats though they could easily eat medium rats maybe a bit bigger. For good growth rates Small regular feeds is better IMO.
For a more realistic feeding pattern (like in the wild) fortnightly or longer won't hurt the animal it will just grow slower. If you want them for breeding you would want them bigger sooner, as pets there no real rush unless you want them bigger.

I'd say to listen to what everyone has to say and draw your own conclusions based on what you think and feel. Cheers

 

[marcus09]

Hi all, just wanting to know if it is true that if you feed them alot to get them to grow bigger quicker you can have trouble breeding them later on cos of how fast they have grown?

 

[glacey]

If you ever get the chance to see the insides of a captive snake - you'll be amazed at the amount of fat throughout it's body. After seeing that, I feed juv 7-10 days and adults monthly.