I could some Knowledge please!

I have my juvenile BP on a feeding schedule of once every week. Usually I feed her every Wednesday… I notice she is looking for food by Monday ?? Is that normal? Or should I be feeding her more than just one time a week?

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I wouldn’t say that she needs it. She is a wonderful body shape! What are you feeding her? Snakes are opportunistic feeders, so that means they’ll eat any chance that they get even if they’re overeating. Just keep feeding her once a week on that size, and later in life, you will be able to switch her to once every two weeks.

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I feed mine every weekend, days later they want food. They’re pigs :joy:
Hideyoshi will literally be waiting for food by Thursday after being fed on a saturday/Sunday.
He’ll be out waiting, as soon as he sees the rat on tongs he’s a very excited boy :sweat_smile:

Your girl looks perfect :heart:

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Thank you! And I feed her fuzzy rats . And thank you for the info I just wanted to be certain if I have her on a good feeding schedule .

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Oh wow! I didn’t realize how hungry they can be! and I enjoy watching her feed. The way she strikes is just awesome! I need to try and get a video of it…I just don’t want to disturb her lol

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The snake looks a bit big for just a fuzzy rat weekley, maybe thats why its hungry.
i would guess a fuzzy rat would be the size of your thumb. (Names don’t always match the size)
If that is the size, comparing your thumb to the size and with of the snake, the pray item might be a little small to last a week.

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I agree with you Matt. While the body tone looks great on your animal, unless you have very small hands, I would bump the size of the feeder prey up to at least pups, if not weanlings. Basically, a good rule of thumb is to feed a prey item that matches but does not exceed the diameter of the snake, (adults being the exception).

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I’d agree on feeding a larger prey item. She looks to be around 500 grams give or take (just guessing based on the size of my own snakes) and my snakes at that size are eating large pups/small weans!

Beautiful snake by the way! She kinda looks like my super mystic male, Almond :grin:
Obligatory picture of him of course (he got a wee bit of stuck shed, he’s been soaked and stuck shed removed since then):

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Here is the thing about snakes - They are opportunistic predators so nature has pretty much hard-wired them to eat whenever prey comes around because they do not know when the next meal may show up. Works great for them in the wild because they may go a day or a week or a month or a season before their next meal shows up.

Then we bring them in to captivity… And feed the hell out of them because they “always act hungry”. This is why there is a huge problem with obesity in reptiles in the hobby.

Your animal is a normal, healthy weight animal. Based on the size, if it were a male in my collection it would be getting an adult mouse every other week. If it were a female, it would be getting a small rat every other or every third week.

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This is my feeding schedule and prey size for my adult males as well.

I feed adult females one small to mediumish rat(depending on her size)every other week.

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The place I got her from wrote down “fuzzy rats” and they are a bit bigger than my thumb. Here is a photo attached of her exact food that I feed her with. Maybe you can determine off it? I would say they are the size of the biggest part of her body.

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@t_h_wyman and @saleengrinch
I was not prompting feeding more than weekly, just a fuzzy seemed a bit small for weekly for a snake that size. Also if one of mine does not feed, they wait till next week. They are designed to wait.
I do not power feed and have posted against it in other discussions. I am also getting more convicted about feeding even less often.
But what about males before the breeding season as they may fast throughout it?
Also what about females when they might need more after fasting during follicle building?
Or is that just old skool nonsense now.

@mattflores98 we are only trying to help my fellow enthusiast. You followed the advice given at the time, what else can you do. I and others are learning too. This is the best place for that.
The pictures do not help me much personally as there is nothing in it for size reference.
Also the name fuzzy can be so different in weight from shop to shop.
Grammes or onces would be better.
Anyway as others have said, the snake is not underweight so don’t worry.

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Thanks for the tips! And that is my next this to get on the list is a scale just to weigh her on! And wow they really do look alike!!! Mystic potions just look phenomenal!

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Seems a bit small. My girl is on small weaners and she was born July 27th…

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I would bump up to the next size rat IMO. It should be good to take Hopper size

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So I have 3 more of these (fuzzy rats) is it ok to just finish off these last 3 still feeding her once a week? and than switch over to (weaned)?

I assume 20g fuzzy x 4 items = 80g ttl pack
Anyway, no harm in finishing off what you have.
Its not that critical.

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Thanks you for your tips! Much appreciated! I will definitely be moving up one size after these are gone!

My comment was not directed toward you and was not criticism of your answer. It was just a “this is what I do as a point of reference”

But, since you asked

I do not change their feeding before breeding season. During breeding season they get fed one mouse a month. I have never had a male go off feed while breeding.
.
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My comment above was “based on the size, if it were a female in my collection”. I would not be considering breeding a female of that size - too young - so I would not be changing her diet. However, my breeder females are still on an every 14-18 day cycle, they just get a medium instead of a small. After they drop eggs I might feed a bit more frequently, but I rarely breed my girls every year so there is no need for me to rush them back up to size

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