can i "power feed" just this once?

[adamjeffery]

dont worry so much. if he can eat it and handle it without a regurge or scale seperation then do it. i have a 2500+ gram ball python that takes xtra large rats with gusto. she looks gravid for a few days and poops like a rottweiler but it has no ill effect on her. feed as much as it will eat while its eating as you never know when it will stop eating.
adam jeffery

[FrankieCarbone]

First off, you should never freeze a delicious T-bone steak.

well i eat alot of red meat, its not just t-bones, i also eat alot of sirloin, and london broil, and of course, im not going to go out and buy one steak at a time when i want to eat one, so i have to freeze them, i pretty much eat steak every other day, im a red meat monster!

feed as much as it will eat while its eating as you never know when it will stop eating.
adam jeffery

my thoughts exactly, 5 months, and has not refused a meal, got him at 129g, 5 months later 423g, actually on the scale it says 505g, but im deducting grams i feel are dead weight because he has not pooped in like 9 days, and has fed twice since he last pooped. gotta take advantage while u can is the way i see it, hes eating like a beast.....

[CCfive]

First off, you should never freeze a delicious T-bone steak. That's just horrible! Second, go ahead and feed that little pig, nothing bad will happen. On the other hand you don't HAVE to stick to feeding every 5 days. I don't believe that sticking to a schedule is why or why not BPs go off feed.

Agree on both comments! If you have a good eater chances are unless your husbandry changes or it's breeding season he should be fine. If anything he'll just be a little more hungry.

[KingPythons]

I would stick with rats or one type of prey item. My suggestion is that you buy two rats or more so that you won't have to run to the store alot, that is if you can house the rats for mean time or going for f/t. Power feeding is 2 to 3 day feedings a week, which I do months b4 I breed. Just my $0.02.

[FrankieCarbone]

the pet shop ran out of 70gram small rats, so i bought a slightly smaller one, just threw him in there and he destroyed it. The guy at the mom and pop shop told me though, that he has run out of the larger of the small rats, and there were only like 6 small rats left, so i might be in trouble next week. He said most of the rats that he had for sale are now pregnant. He does however have a tank full of small mice, like hoppers, i will pass by in 5 days to see if they grew, if not i might be SOL and have to get the largest mice i can find......

[FrankieCarbone]

oh and just want to add, he definetely seemed hungry, when i was forcing the small rat out of the kritter keeper he stuck his head out quickly, and when the small rat finally dropped in there, the rat stood still my bp QUICKLY rushed right to his face for a quick inspection, after a few flicks of the tongue, SNAP, i havent had a mouse/rat scream as high as this one did, it was viscious!

small rat was 57g by the way. The last one 3 feeds ago was 71g..

i cant wait until he is big enough to eat the medium rats they sell in petland, giving the way he is growing, it should't be long now, but those medium rats in petland are huge, they must be atleast 100-120g. But once he can eat those, i know i have a stedy place to and get them with no problems. Petland gets a shipment of rats every week.

[loonunit]

Yeah, two mice in a row isn't power feeding. Especially if the little guy is still hungry. Feed him until he's full now, because in a few months his hormones will turn on and he'll hit the 700 gram fast and just stop eating for the rest of the winter. And he will stress you out. But at least he'll have lots of fat to burn through, so he'll be fein.

[loonunit]

ps. I have a 550 gram orange ghost girl that BITES ME if I don't give her thirds. Sometimes she bites me ANYWAY because she's hoping my hand is fourths... but okay, I only feed once every 8 or 9 days.