3ys old Blood python...is 4ft & 10lbs...normal for a mainland


This is Akira…those are my legs…Im not huge but Im 5’9. He hit another growth sprut this summer…& is basically always hungry like a boa

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Its my only & ever Blood. Idk if his growth rate is outlining or common for what he is…of course lots of conflicting options Ive went threw now…

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I definitely been told I feed him too often…but if I dont feed every 10 or so…I cant get him out he is upset …with me

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You can feed him every 10 days, just make sure they are appropriate sized rats. They should be around the same size as the snakes body or just slightly bigger. Just don’t feed him huge meals every 10 days, some snakes do better with smaller meals more frequently, which is fine. I’d say his length is fine, can’t really make out girth from the pics., but snakes do grow the fastest within their first 4-5 years or so and then slow down significantly. Nice snake!

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I think 10 days is a bit frequent for short tails. They have a tendency to becomes obese due to there extremely slow metabolism. I would feed it a reasonable sized meal every 3 weeks personally.

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Does the rule of feeding slightly bigger than the body truly still apply on bloods? Especially when they’re this size? That would be like… an xl/colossal rat every 10 days wouldn’t it? Even for balls I don’t think that applies once they’re out of the juvenile phase does it?

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He gets a medium rat that is about 1/2 his grith. He isnt obese currently. He has definition in his spine.

I wouldn’t feed bloods or boas every 10 days but if they say they need to for temperament purposes I would feed same size as body no huge noticeable lump. I feed a lot of my balls weekly even as adults, I just don’t do huge meals ever. Small up to medium rats for the huge females, sometimes I alternate sizes if I think they are starting to get a bit big. I find especially preparing breeders for the season by providing a weekly food source can be appreciated. I know a lot of people only feed slightly larger food sources every 14 days or so which I definitely do with my retics, but Weekly for balls works great for me.

I hope it didn’t come across as me accusing you of poor care/feeding of your animals, it’s more so I don’t own any snakes outside of balls, so I didn’t know if that rule would simply work for other snakes as well. Thanks for the insight, I appreciate it! :slight_smile:

No problem, and for sure I agree with you! Snakes with a slower metabolism should be fed less or smaller meals, especially true of some boas which could also be prone to regurgitation. I have heard of some snake owners complaining about temperament of a individual snake when not fed as often as the snake would like, that was my concern in this case while hopefully not making it too fat. Best of both worlds, have a happy and hopefully healthy snake😄 No problem with anything you said at all! Take care!

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His length and size look just fine from what I can see.

I have encountered SO many conflicting opinions on how often and how big to feed bloods. I feed my yearling blood a medium rat (which is roughly as wide as the thickest part of her body) every 14 days, which seems to be about right. Her weight and growth rate have been good on that schedule. When she gets big enough for large rats, I may decrease the frequency to every 3 weeks, as I don’t want her getting overly chonky. While she does love to eat, I have her hook trained, so I haven’t had any issues with her temperment that would make me consider feeding her smaller prey more often, but I’ll see how things go as she continues to mature. I try to handle her several times a week, so she doesn’t think she’s going to get fed every time I open her tub.

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