# Could a 6ft Carpet Python eat a Possum?



## Mystery (Mar 29, 2007)

I was watching a programme the other night about a Coastal Carpet - it would have been about 6ft. The question was asked to the guy about what his snake eats. His reply was - possums and the like. I was wondering would it be possible for a snake that size to eat a possum - if so I am greatly underfeeding mine on medium rats approx every 10 days or so. Mine appear to be in good health and don't look under nourished.


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## grimbeny (Mar 29, 2007)

My 6ft Bredli eats large rats.


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## Mayo (Mar 29, 2007)

Up size me baby


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## mitchdiamond (Mar 29, 2007)

Did he show what size the Possum's were?


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## Adam (Mar 29, 2007)

Could be small possums LOL.


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## raist (Mar 29, 2007)

Personally, I don't see why not, there are several pics around where a coastal is swallowing a possum..


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## Wrasse (Mar 29, 2007)

Remember, IF this snake is eating possums, he isn't getting one every 10 days. 

If your snake looks fit and well and spine and ribs aren't obvious to the eye, you are doing quite ok.


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## IceTime (Mar 29, 2007)

My understanding is, its better to feed them something smaller and more frequent or multiple small feeds at a time and avoid the larger food items as they take longer to digest or "can" rot inside them and cause problems. I don't know if anyone from the forum can/will back this up. Also In the wild pythons don't always eat as regularly as they do in captivity and thus will usually grab whatever comes along, for example the occasional snap you see of a python eating a wallaby...


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## nuthn2do (Mar 29, 2007)

Easily could eat a ringtail possum, but a healthy adult brush tail? Be one very hungry and game snake to try.


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## bredli84 (Mar 29, 2007)

what about a sugar glider? no worries eating that


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## hugsta (Mar 29, 2007)

IceTime said:


> My understanding is, its better to feed them something smaller and more frequent or multiple small feeds at a time and avoid the larger food items as they take longer to digest or "can" rot inside them and cause problems. I don't know if anyone from the forum can/will back this up. Also In the wild pythons don't always eat as regularly as they do in captivity and thus will usually grab whatever comes along, for example the occasional snap you see of a python eating a wallaby...


 
If they can get it down, they will be fine. If they do not have the temps to digest the food they can regurge it or, not to sure if it will rot in their stomach unless you near freeze them. Most will just bring it back up.

A 6 ft carpet would have no worries with a ring tailed possum or young brush tail. There is no way it would get an adult brush tail down.


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## Parko (Mar 29, 2007)

Why would you feed your python possums when cats are so much easier to find?


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## Chris1 (Mar 29, 2007)

Parko said:


> Why would you feed your python possums when cats are so much easier to find?




hahaha,...love it!


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## Mystery (Mar 29, 2007)

mitchdiamond said:


> Did he show what size the Possum's were?



No, he just said they were feeding on possums etc. I looked at my snake and thought no way could he fit a possum down - yes a glider no probs. We have a ringtailed possum in the shed and he is huge.


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## Mystery (Mar 29, 2007)

I did try to feed one of my water pythons on an adult rat once and he couldn't handle it. He would be about 5ft.


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## Wrasse (Mar 29, 2007)

Your Water Python has you bluffed.


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## nuthn2do (Mar 29, 2007)

Mystery said:


> I did try to feed one of my water pythons on an adult rat once and he couldn't handle it. He would be about 5ft.


Sounds unusual. I have a 6ft carpet that eats young rabbits easily, they'd be almost twice the sze of an adult rat.


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## bredli84 (Mar 29, 2007)

my water tries to eat me! im MUCH bigger than a rat!


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## Mystery (Mar 29, 2007)

Wrasse said:


> Your Water Python has you bluffed.



Really - this rat was classed as jumbo - should he have been able to get it down?


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## Pythons Rule (Mar 29, 2007)

na don't think so they'd be too big I have 2 6.3" pythons and i feed them large rats it would of had to be 7" at least


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## Mystery (Mar 29, 2007)

Pythons Rule said:


> na don't think so they'd be too big I have 2 6.3" pythons and i feed them large rats it would of had to be 7" at least


Cool - thanks for that info


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## nuthn2do (Mar 29, 2007)

It would get a 800g jumbo down no probs if it thought it had to. Obviously it knows its owner better than that and doesn't feel the need.


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## rubydimond (Mar 29, 2007)

im about to buy a 71/2 foot coasal what i know the feed him adault rats but they feed him once a month is that enough or should i up the feeding whan i get him ??
also what should i be paying for a 10yo coastal ?


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## Australis (Mar 29, 2007)

In my local area a Coastal Carpet python was filmed eating a medium sized wallaby, the python was around 6-7ft mark. So a adult possum of ANY species wouldn't be out of the question.


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## dellywatts (Mar 29, 2007)

How is someone allowed to legally feed their snake a possum anyway? I would've thought it would be illegal to feed that kind of prey item.


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## serpenttongue (Mar 29, 2007)

6ft morelia pythons can swallow possoms, but i would imagine that any possoms being taken would be more on the small size else the possoms tail would still be hanging out the snakes mouth after it has been swallowed(depending on the possoms tail length of course!). A well respected herper from South Sydney actually feeds roadkilled possoms to one of his carpet pythons. I have also examined the faeces of wild diamonds and have found undigested possom claws within the mix.


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## TrueBlue (Mar 29, 2007)

im with icetime on this one, and strongly belive it is much better to feed 2-4 smaller items rather than 1-2 large items for a number of reasons, ie its much easier to digest a few smaller items than 1 large item, and yes it can go off inside them and kill them and its actually worse in warmer weather than cooler weather as the food goes off before in can be digested. sure they can and do throw it up in when this happens, but 9 times out of 10 the damage has been done and the snake, if not treated, can die.
Another reason is that feeding large items up the risk of canker considerably.


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## DragonKeeper (Mar 29, 2007)

Rats and possums are very similar I have seen rats and possums the size of large cats, and have also senn them the size of large mice, it just depends on what size it was.


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## nuthn2do (Mar 29, 2007)

DragonKeeper said:


> Rats and possums are very similar I have seen rats and possums the size of large cats, and have also senn them the size of large mice, it just depends on what size it was.


A rat the size of a cat? Don't think i'll be coming round to your place in a hurry.


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## GSXR_Boy (Mar 29, 2007)

We have a recent newspaper article with a 2 meter diamond that has eaten a wallaby joey.
Seems to be around the size of your average possum.


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## hugsta (Mar 29, 2007)

I once saw this childrens python eat a red kangaroo, it's dead now because it couldn't digest it in the warm sun, it should have eaten it in winter when there was no heat. It would have been so much better off.


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## jimbo (Mar 29, 2007)

heres a couple of links i found of pythons eating possums and other large stuff
http://www.wiresnr.org/reptiles.html 
http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/features/snakes/feeding.asp


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## IsK67 (Mar 29, 2007)

hugsta said:


> I once saw this childrens python eat a red kangaroo, it's dead now because it couldn't digest it in the warm sun, it should have eaten it in winter when there was no heat. It would have been so much better off.



:shock:

...and what were you drinking at the time?

IsK


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## hugsta (Mar 29, 2007)

Too much apparently.......


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## Sdaji (Mar 29, 2007)

I've seen more than a few snakes die after eating meals which were too large. It isn't at all rare and is fairly often reported. I've heard of quite a few cases of Death Adders (including in the wild) killing themselves by eating things which were too large (including other Death Adders!) and I've personally seen Children's Pythons, Carpet Pythons, Brown Tree-snakes and others die due to eating meals which were dangerously large, and heard of many more cases including several other species.

A six foot Carpet eating a possum wouldn't impress; it's not exceptional at all. A skinny six foot Carpet eating a great big Brush-tailed Possum would be radical and possibly life threatening, but a 5-10 year old 6' Carpet in good condition eating an averagish possum, no worries.


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## Bendarwin (Mar 29, 2007)

I have pics of a coastal eating a possum , this happened in Brizzy. Sent too me by a friend last year


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## hugsta (Mar 29, 2007)

Can't beat pics like that Bendarwin. coastal eating a ringtail. Did it die after that large meal?


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## TrueBlue (Mar 30, 2007)

hey hugsta, i thought sarcasim was a womans form of witt.?

You really have no idea sometimes.


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## junglist* (Mar 30, 2007)

Wrasse said:


> Your Water Python has you bluffed.



I'll agree heartily to this, my sub adult female can smash a large rat in about 10 mins, and she's only about 2.5 years old, and a bit over 1.5m


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## DragonKeeper (Mar 30, 2007)

nuthn2do said:


> A rat the size of a cat? Don't think i'll be coming round to your place in a hurry.



Go to Granite Island near Victor Harbor, their are lots of them running around... they eat the fairy penguins.


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## Mystery (Mar 30, 2007)

Bendarwin said:


> I have pics of a coastal eating a possum , this happened in Brizzy. Sent too me by a friend last year



I remember seeing that - how big do you think that coastal would be?


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## cris (Mar 30, 2007)

Well if the pic didnt answer your question, of course a 6 foot carpet snake will eat a possum, i doubt one the size in the pic above would cause any issues at all. Although as Sdaji points out they can die from eating stuff that is too big. I have seen a pic of a carpet snake that ate a possum that was way too big and it got stuck in the sun and got cooked.


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## Chris1 (Mar 30, 2007)

man, they look so uncomfortable!!


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## hugsta (Mar 30, 2007)

TrueBlue said:


> hey hugsta, i thought sarcasim was a womans form of witt.?
> 
> You really have no idea sometimes.


 
I'll take that as a compliment seeing as it is coming from a man who likes to wear bikinies.

No idea...well, lets investigate your comments shall we......??? 

"im with icetime on this one, and strongly belive it is much better to feed 2-4 smaller items rather than 1-2 large items for a number of reasons, ie its much easier to digest a few smaller items than 1 large item, and yes it can go off inside them and kill them and its actually worse in warmer weather than cooler weather as the food goes off before in can be digested."

Yes, it would be faster to digest 2 smaller items than one larger item due to the surface area of the animals ingested. They are still eating the same in volume though aren't they? Whether you feed a couple of smaller itmes or one larger items makes absolutely no difference IMO. I have always fed a large meal, it helps with mouth/jaw development and I have never had a problem with any of my animals. However, if it were that dangerous to eat a large item than pythons would be eating themselves into extinction. The pics of that coastal eating the possum is a prime example, it is an exceptionally large meal, so is the pics of the scrubby eating a wallaby, pics of anacondas eating capabera, coastals eating small wallabes etc etc. If what you say is true, then these animals will all die because the meals are too big and unable to be properly digested, or they may be reurgitated, get canker and die. If warm weather will make the food 'go off' faster, then why do you give ectotherms a warm area in their enclosure. As far as I was concerned they need external sources of heat to enable their body to function normally and allow them to digest their meals. 
However, if excessive heat is given, and the animals can not get to a cooler area, then they can get heat stress which will cause them to regurgitate their meals. Regurgitating a meal will not necissarliy cause canker, nor will it kill your snake. Sure it is possible, in EXTREME cases. A snake can die by eating extremely large meals, like when a BHP eats another BHP of similar size, but they also survive it as well. Like with most things in life there are always exceptions to the rule.

"sure they can and do throw it up in when this happens, but 9 times out of 10 the damage has been done and the snake, if not treated, can die."

Once again, CAN die, not normally. A baby beardie can die from beig fed mealies as well, but people still feed them. Might not happen often but it does happen.They normally regurgitate for a reason, quite possibly becasue they have been disturbed or cannot find appropriate temps for digesting a large meal. Remember, we are talking a large meal here. Not extreme examples.


"Another reason is that feeding large items up the risk of canker considerably."

I would like to know how feeding a large prey item can increase the chance of canker!! I have heard of getting canker from injuries and viral infections bu not from eating a big meal. 

I think that does it. This should now make for an interesting debate IMO.:lol: 

Get the popcorn and drinks ready....... :lol:

Cheers
Daz


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## TrueBlue (Mar 30, 2007)

sorry hugsta but imo once again you are wrong.
Large prey items helps with mouth/jaw development, rubbish!, a moderate size item is far better for the snake and its mouth/jaw. Where you got the regurgitating causing canker comment from beats the hell out of me. I said EATING a large prey item can cause canker, and it can.!! The snake only needs to get a small tear in its mouth and a bit of fur/dirt in the tear and canker can easily be the result. Baecause a large item puts strain on the mouth it can tear quite easily.
The wild is a totally different environment to captivity for snakes and the temp variations are much larger, pythons in the wild have acsess to cooler temps ie under ground etc, that cannot be easily obtained in captivity in hot weather so have a better chance of safely digesting a large meal. But this is not always the case as some do die from eating large meals.
Warm weather DOES make the food go off faster than cooler weather, this is simple fact.
Go and kill 2 same size rats and leave 1 in 30-35 degrees and leave the other one in 20-25 degrees and tell me which one goes off the quickest. The rat in the cooler temps will last a day or two before its putrid, but the one in the hotter temps will take only a few hours. If a snake regurgitates a meal because of excessive heat, yes more times than not the damage has been done, yet in cooler weather the snake can throw it back up before it goes off if it senses the temps are to cool a day or so after eating.


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## hugsta (Mar 30, 2007)

That's fine, it's a matter of opinion and ours sometimes vary. 
I find that a large prey item fed to an animal will make a difference to head size compared to one fed small feeds that do not cause the animal to work its jaw as much. Rubbish, in your opinion maybe.

An injury will cause canker as I agreed to, but a small food item can cause that as well, birds have sharp beeks and feet, rodents also have sharp claws. They can also scratch the inside of the animal eventally causing a cist which will also eventually kill your animal. You canot drain a cist on a snake as you do with cats and dogs. It can happen, but how often?

"The wild is a totally different environment to captivity for snakes and the temp variations are much larger, pythons in the wild have acsess to cooler temps ie under ground etc, that cannot be easily obtained in captivity in hot weather so have a better chance of safely digesting a large meal. But this is not always the case as some do die from eating large meals."

Don't disagree at all. As I said, it can happen in extreme cases, it is highly uncommon though. How many dead snakes die in the wild from eating large food items. No one could answer that honestly, it would be all guess work. You would need to undertake years of study before you had any real proof that this did happen. You wouldn't really know the true cause of death either unless you autopsied the animal. 

"Warm weather DOES make the food go off faster than cooler weather, this is simple fact."

Of course it does. That goes without saying. The difference is, it is in a stomach with digestive juices to break the meal down faster.

"Go and kill 2 same size rats and leave 1 in 30-35 degrees and leave the other one in 20-25 degrees and tell me which one goes off the quickest. The rat in the cooler temps will last a day or two before its putrid, but the one in the hotter temps will take only a few hours. If a snake regurgitates a meal because of excessive heat, yes more times than not the damage has been done, yet in cooler weather the snake can throw it back up before it goes off if it senses the temps are to cool a day or so after eating."

Well naturally. Extreme temps can cause a snake to regurge, either way. If it is too hot, the damage may not necessarily come from the rat, but may also come from heat stress if the animal can not cool down.


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## TrueBlue (Mar 30, 2007)

yes, feeding large prey items makes your snakes head larger is absolute rubbish imo.
Yes occassionally a small item can damage the mouth and cause canker but the risk is far far greater when eating a large item so much so there is hardly any comparason, as its rare for that to happen with small to moderate feeds but quite a common cause of canker when feeding large items.
In hot weather the food item can, and in a lot of cases does, go of inside the animal before the stomach juces can do its job. This i have seen a number of times over the years, and more often than not the snake will get very sick and if not treated will die, and it does come from the rotting food more often than not as they tend to hang on to their meal as long as possible often till its to late. When its hot enough to heat stess the animal and it has a belly fill of food its hot enough to cause this problem and regulary does.


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## DanN (Mar 30, 2007)

There is no correlation between the size of a snakes head and the food it feeds on. True, snakes with larger heads can feed on larger prey, however large heads are not developed by eating large prey.


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## Bendarwin (Mar 30, 2007)

IIRC the girl that took the pictures heard a thump outside and went to investigate..... old snakey must have fallen out of the tree during the struggle..... I have done the same for a kebab.


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## hugsta (Mar 30, 2007)

TrueBlue said:


> yes, feeding large prey items makes your snakes head larger is absolute rubbish imo.
> Yes occassionally a small item can damage the mouth and cause canker but the risk is far far greater when eating a large item so much so there is hardly any comparason, as its rare for that to happen with small to moderate feeds but quite a common cause of canker when feeding large items.
> In hot weather the food item can, and in a lot of cases does, go of inside the animal before the stomach juces can do its job. This i have seen a number of times over the years, and more often than not the snake will get very sick and if not treated will die, and it does come from the rotting food more often than not as they tend to hang on to their meal as long as possible often till its to late. When its hot enough to heat stess the animal and it has a belly fill of food its hot enough to cause this problem and regulary does.


 
yes, anything is possible, it is just the relativity between how often it does and doesn't happen. Fortunately, what you say is not a common occurence, or else pythons would be comitting suicide.:shock: 

In relation to head size, when the animal is fed a larger food item, the muscles work harder and longer and the jaw is also stretched further, longer. If you went to the gym everyday and did arm curls with heavy weights, your biceps would develop quite fast and become quite large because you are making it work harder than lifting light loads. I have two coastals, one is a mice feeder and one is a rat feeder, although the same in size and fed similar amounts by weight, one a weaner rat(100grams) and the other 4 or 5 mice. Yet the rat feeder has a larger head than the mice feeder. They are both siblings and therefore the same age, their weights are close enough to not warrant any variation in head size, according to what you say. So, feed size must have an influence in head development. You probably haven't seen this as you only feed small meals. Once again IMO.


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## gillsy (Mar 31, 2007)

About time... I was waint for the next installment.


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## Bendarwin (Mar 31, 2007)

hugsta said:


> yes,= I have two coastals, one is a mice feeder and one is a rat feeder, although the same in size and fed similar amounts by weight, one a weaner rat(100grams) and the other 4 or 5 mice. Yet the rat feeder has a larger head than the mice feeder. They are both siblings and therefore the same age, their weights are close enough to not warrant any variation in head size, according to what you say. So, feed size must have an influence in head development. You probably haven't seen this as you only feed small meals. Once again IMO.




I believe the difference is the rats nutrients not the size of the meal, It has been proven that rats are better in nutrients than mice...... there is your head size. 

Get in there True Blue, sort this...................


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## cris (Mar 31, 2007)

I think it would make sense for larger food items to have some effect on a snakes head size, perhaps someone could do a proper experiment to prove it, until then you are both guessing IMO.

I also dont think it would be important for a snake to have this larger head, the only advantage would be it could eat quicker. True blues snakes look fairly well proportioned to me going off the pics he has posted.


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## hugsta (Mar 31, 2007)

cris said:


> I think it would make sense for larger food items to have some effect on a snakes head size, perhaps someone could do a proper experiment to prove it, until then you are both guessing IMO.
> 
> I also dont think it would be important for a snake to have this larger head, the only advantage would be it could eat quicker. True blues snakes look fairly well proportioned to me going off the pics he has posted.


 
I agree, there is no proof on either side of the fence. It is all just opinions, although I am willing to accept there is more than one opinion. Like I believe in using thermostats and TB doesn't. It works for him, great, but I certainly don't recomend it to anybody unless you have a temerature controlled environment, but that is another debate all together.

Well, pin heads, from being excessively fed, certainly don't look proprtional. My animals are also well proportioned for their age/size.


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## hugsta (Mar 31, 2007)

Bendarwin said:


> I believe the difference is the rats nutrients not the size of the meal, It has been proven that rats are better in nutrients than mice...... there is your head size.
> 
> Get in there True Blue, sort this...................


 
Better nutirents does not equate to head size, it equates to a healthier animal. The same reason your feeder animals/insects are 'gut loaded' so to speak, it is beneficial for the animal, it certainly won't make one part of the body grow bigger than the rest.

Sort what out mate...........??


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## TrueBlue (Apr 2, 2007)

sorry hugsta but i disagreee once again but do agree with bendarwin.
You can feed the same weight of mice/rats to 2 different snakes, the rat eater will grow nearly twice as fast as the mice eater, so imo its the food value that is making the snake larger, nothing at all to do with the large size.

I dont keep my snakes in a temperature controlled environment at all, and yet i dont use thermostats.??


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## Jakee (Apr 2, 2007)

I tryed to feed my 6 foot bredli a jumbo rat and got to its back legs and spat it back out....


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## Magpie (Apr 2, 2007)

Bendarwin said:


> I believe the difference is the rats nutrients not the size of the meal, It has been proven that rats are better in nutrients than mice...... there is your head size.
> 
> Get in there True Blue, sort this...................


 

Can I see this "proof" please?


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## hugsta (Apr 2, 2007)

TrueBlue said:


> sorry hugsta but i disagreee once again but do agree with bendarwin.
> You can feed the same weight of mice/rats to 2 different snakes, the rat eater will grow nearly twice as fast as the mice eater, so imo its the food value that is making the snake larger, nothing at all to do with the large size.
> 
> I dont keep my snakes in a temperature controlled environment at all, and yet i dont use thermostats.??


 
That would make sense, but the snakes in question are the same size. You could feed quails to one as well and you would get a different result again. Nutrients will not make a head grow faster than the rest of the body though. The whole snake will grow.

You live in a temperature controlled evironment. LOL. Cairns 31 today, 30 tomorrow, 31 for the rest of the week and then a cold change of 30.  :lol:


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## TrueBlue (Apr 2, 2007)

i dont live in cairns, plus ive not long moved north, from an area that would get to below 5 degrees quite regulary in winter and still didnt use thermostats.
Infact the way i set up my animals works better in a cooler climate than a warmer one, so thermostats are definitley not needed any where down south when using my method.??


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## salebrosus (Apr 2, 2007)

I'm with you Hugsta.

Simone.


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## hugsta (Apr 2, 2007)

LOL, thanks Simone.

It may work for you TB, and that's great. I certainly don't recomend it to people and most people know they are the only way to go. One day it is 20 the next is 35. I don't see how you can run without a thermostat in climates where temps vary so much. Unless you are home all day to watch your enclosure temps and then turn them off when they get too hot and then on when they are getting too cold. Most people have to work full time you know.


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## Natty1986 (Apr 2, 2007)

Oh i have lots of possums around my place and i always joke that once my bredli grows then its possum for dinner! They are noisy little rodents, however i hope they serve some purpose as food for my boy! Cant wait till he can manage something that size!


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## cris (Apr 2, 2007)

hugsta said:


> LOL, thanks Simone.
> 
> It may work for you TB, and that's great. I certainly don't recomend it to people and most people know they are the only way to go. One day it is 20 the next is 35. I don't see how you can run without a thermostat in climates where temps vary so much. Unless you are home all day to watch your enclosure temps and then turn them off when they get too hot and then on when they are getting too cold. Most people have to work full time you know.



Can i buy a thermostat?


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## TrueBlue (Apr 3, 2007)

once again hugsta i totally disagree, dosnt matter how cold it gets as they always have a warm side and it dosnt matter how hot it gets as they always have a cool side.??
IMO a thermostat is a complete waste of time and money and if it malfunctions,( which many have in the past), your snakes can easily get cooked. Mine NEVER can.
So imo your way way off the money on this one.!!


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## Wrasse (Apr 3, 2007)

TrueBlue said:


> dosnt matter how hot it gets as they always have a cool side.??


 
Is your home airconditioned ?

I know your theory behind this and yes, it can work well, but what do you do when the ambient air temps climb up around 36 or higher in your home and the snakes still have a heat lamp on them ?


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## gillsy (Apr 3, 2007)

There are points to both sides, however my concern would be a new person taking this and going the cheap alternative and not getting one and things going horrible wrong.


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## Pythons Rule (Apr 3, 2007)

rubydimond said:


> im about to buy a 71/2 foot coasal what i know the feed him adault rats but they feed him once a month is that enough or should i up the feeding whan i get him ??
> also what should i be paying for a 10yo coastal ?



this is out of curiosity - if a snake is that big shouldn't you upgrade him to ginea pigs or something big like that or just keep it on large rats and up there amount ???


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## hugsta (Apr 3, 2007)

Exactly wrasse, this is my point. 

Cooler temps are not as much of a concern, but when you get highs regularly over 30 in Sydney during summer how to you stop your enclosure getting hotter. Even with a 20 watt globe, they stil get hot and will increase enclosure temps. Unless you are at home all day to turn things off when things get too hot.

Special price on thermostats for you Cris......


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## TrueBlue (Apr 3, 2007)

well for one thing there is a side of the enclosure that is not affected by any heat at all, so it dosnt matter if the light is on or off as it dost not heat this area, heaps safer than relying on a thermostat. Besides i know what time of the day/year that the room gets to 30 degrees or more and use timers to turn them off, and then back on when the room drops to around 28. If the timer malfunctions, it dosnt matter cause they can escape the heated area, simple.
When it comes down to excessive hot days its the same scenario as a box with a thermostat,(as long as the stat doesnt malfunction), so i dont see what the point of that question is at all.??


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## Wrasse (Apr 3, 2007)

Timers !!

OK, now we are talking my language.


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## Jonny (Apr 7, 2007)

DanN said:


> There is no correlation between the size of a snakes head and the food it feeds on. True, snakes with larger heads can feed on larger prey, however large heads are not developed by eating large prey.



There is a university student currently doing their masters on this. The experiment is being carried out on a group of carpets. Most from the same clutch. One group of the carpets are being fed on a single large large rat while the other group on multiple smaller rats with weight equal to the single large rats. Feeding both groups on rats eliminates the nutrient differences of rats/mice. 
So far early results are showing that the snakes fed on the larger items are getting larger heads.

Study and paper has not finished yet and findings have not yet proven to be significant so we'll wait n see I guess.

cheers

Jonny


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## hugsta (Apr 7, 2007)

Will be interested in seeing that paper Jonny. Makes common sense to me and would explain my two coastals.

The topic of thermostats, well, we could continue to disagree forever, don't really see the point though. Although you do use a timer as device to control temperatures....


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## Fuscus (Apr 9, 2007)

canback to the original question - don't know, but a 1.2 meter coastal can


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## salebrosus (Apr 9, 2007)

Fuscus, That's Gold! I think the question has been answered then.

Simone.


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## mitchdiamond (Apr 9, 2007)

Nice photos Fuscus.


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## cris (Apr 9, 2007)

Fuscus said:


> canback to the original question - don't know, but a 1.2 meter coastal can



Looks like a cat


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