Coastal feeding

[Pauly]

I have a coastal that has been a bit angry since I got him and I had hoped he would settle down by now (as per previous thread)

Someone has mentioned that feeding him a little more may settle him right down. Is this likely?

He is on a fuzzy rat once a fortnight, but he would take far more than that if offered, even 2 at a time. I was told this would be sufficient but now im not so sure?

Someone please tell me I have not been starving the little bugger? I have searched around here for some solid answers but cannot seem to find any as people seem to have varying feeding schedules.

Also I have noticed some people have coastals that are younger than mine but seem to be larger in photos??? I was always told overfeeding was a bigger problem than underfeeding.

- How many and how often should I be feeding him?
- Is there some kind of rule I can work by based on his weight or age?

Thanks again guys.

Pauly

 

[azn4114]

how old is it?if its still young feed every week not fortnight,and the food should weigh around 10% of its body weight

 

[Pauly]

Could this be the reason it is a bit snappy sometimes?

Thanks for your help!

 

[azn4114]

they can become a bit snappy when hungry,

 

[pythons73]

Just because hes a bit snappy doesnt mean hes hungry,alot of hatchies and yearlings can be snappy,as everything they see might harm them,so they do whats natural,which is to bite...I gather its last years hatchie,if so he-she should be on weaner mice,rat pups...Depending on size of snake too...But with hatchies i feed every 7-10days...

 

[azn4114]

how often do you handle it and when you handle it are you confident or scared,they normally bite cause there scared so you got to show them you mean them no harm,that said you may just have a biter 4 life

 

[Pauly]

He will be 2 years old in January 2010.

How big is a rat pup? I have been feeding him fuzzy rats (the size above pinkie?) and he has had no troubles getting them down. Should I be feeding him one of these every week?

 

[FAY]

I am a big fan of NOT handling them when young except to clean out their cage approx once a week.
They will settle down in time when they feel that there is no danger.

 

[pythons73]

So hes 19months old,i think he should be eating weaner rats,50-80grams.Ive got a 8month old here thats eating rat pups...I would be upgrading hes food to a bit larger,fuzzy rats are to small IMO unless hes been a difficult feeder in the past and hes still only small....

 

[azn4114]

if he has no trouble getting it down i would say its too small

 

[Pauly]

Yeah to be honest I am not the most confident these days when I handle him. He comes out about once a week or so for a hold and a scout around the table.

If he is a "biter" would that mean he is generally always angry? Because I can pull him out from time to time and he seems happy to be held and have a crawl around and will not show any signs of aggression, but other times he gets a little upset for no apparent reason and turns.

Also is quite cage protective generally and gets a little on edge whenever I need to pull him out of his cage.

 

[Pauly]

I have weighed him and he is only around 200g's

It would appear I have been underfeeding him :-( dammit

He looks healthy enough though.......... ?

 

[Stranger]

Hey mate. They can eat a rat/mouse. as wide as three times it head. so work of that. Might be a bit easyier.

 

[Pauly]

Thanks guys.

I will increase the feeding and size and keep a close eye on his weight etc over the coming months.

Cheers.

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello

Hello,

I have to agree. I would increase his prey size a tad. A weanling rat is a good sized for his age. I am in the US so I have no experience with a Coastal, but I would imagine they can get fairly good sized correct?
I have a 3 year old ball python who weighs almost 1200 grams. I believe that I upgraded from fuzzies to weanlings at roughly 6 months, but I would have to check my log on that, sorry. If you increase his eating to a weanling rat you could feed every 10-14 days & see how he does on that.
If you stick to the same sized feeder, then you could feed him every 5-7 days since the volume is less.

Good luck. Maybe that is why he is hard to handle perhaps? He has not been getting adequate nutrition, that could be a factor with his mood.

Tracie

 

[tenacres1100]

I have weighed him and he is only around 200g's

It would appear I have been underfeeding him :-( dammit

He looks healthy enough though.......... ?

don't increase the food to much at once, go up to the next size for a month or so, and then go up again until it's right. normally feed them 10-20% of their bodyweight every 10-14 days.
IMO it's better to slightly underfeed than to overfeed, you don't see too many fat pythons in the wild