Feeding Advice Please :)

[harlemrain]

Hi All,

Just a little concerned I bought my Woma in January, he's approximately 4.5yrs old and he weighed roughly 600g. Weighed him the other day and he's now 746g, and while he doesn't look overweight 146g seems like ALOT of weightgain for a full grown Woma over a 4 month period.

I know Womas are proned to fatty liver disease so was after some tips you guys have for controlling weight gain, tried seaching for similiar threads but got EVERY thread with "fat" and "woma" haha.

He currently eats one XL Adult Mouse every 7 days (weighs approx 15-20g) and I was initially concerned this was too little, but that doesn't appear to be the case lol, He also gets let out 1-2 times a week for around half an hour.

Tried stretching his feed to every 9-10 days but come day 6 he gets positively feral! Striking at anything that moves hoping for a feed, and when I do feed him you'd think it was the first feed in years the pig haha.

Not too concerned at the moment but want to make sure I've got a hold on it before it does become an issue.

Many Thanks in Advance

 

[ronhalling]

Hey Harle's, how come he is still on mice at that size, he should be on 120-150g rats by now shouldn't he, or is he 1 of those stubborn 1's that won't change from mice ..............................Ron

 

[harlemrain]

I though Mice had lower fat content? Or have I got my wires crossed here?

That's why at first I thought it wouldn't be enough and was planning on feeding him smaller amounts more often but he's definitely putting on weight and there is a small lump after feeding, so thought this must be enough??

Edit: Also he's only around 4ft, wasn't sure how big he'd cope with :/

 

[wokka]

You say he has been fed weekly over the last 4 months although you have tried lengthening the time between feeds to 9-10 day unsucessfully. Based upon those comments your snake has had say 15 feeds of XL Adult mice over the four months. Using your weight of 15-20 grams per feed that is a total of 260 odd grams of feed. Your snake has gained 146 grams which is a food conversion of less than 2 food to 1 bodyweight gain. That is remarkable. Reptiles body weight normally increases by about a third of the food consumed. I would suggest your weights are wrong . I expect XL Adult mice would be about 30 grams which would work out at 3.5:1 conversion. A 4 year old Woma should be slowing down its growth and so reducing food consumption. Just like a child they dont need to be fed every time they have a tantrum. Weaner mice (about half the weight of XL Adult mice) will reduce food intake and so body weight. 746 grams is not overly large for a Woma. What locality is it?

 

[harlemrain]

You say he has been fed weekly over the last 4 months although you have tried lengthening the time between feeds to 9-10 day unsucessfully. Based upon those comments your snake has had say 15 feeds of XL Adult mice over the four months. Using your weight of 15-20 grams per feed that is a total of 260 odd grams of feed. Your snake has gained 146 grams which is a food conversion of less than 2 food to 1 bodyweight gain. That is remarkable. Reptiles body weight normally increases by about a third of the food consumed. I would suggest your weights are wrong . I expect XL Adult mice would be about 30 grams which would work out at 3.5:1 conversion. A 4 year old Woma should be slowing down its growth and so reducing food consumption. Just like a child they dont need to be fed every time they have a tantrum. Weaner mice (about half the weight of XL Adult mice) will reduce food intake and so body weight. 746 grams is not overly large for a Woma. What locality is it?

This could be right, I've only weighed one mouse, so they could on average weigh more. And sorry forgot to mention the first month or so I was feeding every 5 days then cut back due to his weight gain.

I'm not sure what locality he is, bought him off a guy in Newcastle who just had him as a pet and didn't mention it.

I just switched my Yearling Coastal from Weaner Mice to Fuzzie Rats, am I right in thinking Rats have a higher fat content? Would it be better for my Woma to be fed Rats?

I'm not sure what a "healthy" weight for him would be, but as mentioned above he doesn't look overweight, his tails tapers nicely and he is very active, is it possible he was underweight when I got him do you think?

I got my other two from hatchies which makes it alot easier to gauge what food they take, Lenny's my first adult and when I asked the guy what he was feeding him he was very vague. "mice, rats, just whatever I've got spare" so I didn't really get a definitive answer

 

[andynic07]

My 2.5 year old woma is about 1.4 kg and eats a 200g rat once a month but is just going into brumation at the moment so has not had a feed for about 5 weeks. You need to feed him about 150g rat once winter is over, try doing that every 2 to 4 weeks depending on how he goes. Mine will come out hunting at night if he is hungry.

 

[wokka]

I dont know if fat content is overly significant when feeding snakes, but weaner mice or fuzzie rats would be very similar. Most mammals, just like humans, put on fat as they get older and also depending upon what they have been fed. Generally, in mammals fatty feed produces fat growth, so the fat content of rats and mice depends upon their age and on what they have been fed. I would feed rats in preference to mice as they are easier to come by, cheaper and a more suitable size (say 30-100 grams) for a Woma.Some types of Womas acheive adult lenghts of nearly 2 meters and over a couple of kilos, whereas others may only reach a meter and less than a kilo as adults. The age and type of Woma you have will influence the feed requirements.

 

[12-08-67]

Hi my woma 4.5yrs who i have had for 12mths now was approx 1kg and 1mtr when i got her, within 8mths she jumped to 1700grms and 1.6mtr, and was on 2 x 120grm rats every 2wks as was workig on the 20% rule, under instructions from the vet when she had her check up a few months ago we have cut her back to 1 x 150grm food every 10days and she still seems be growing, but we think the big growth spurt was more due to improved conditions and activity as she will spend hours a night outside her enclosure exploring and the cut back in food has not affected her temperment so still happy

 

[harlemrain]

My 2.5 year old woma is about 1.4 kg and eats a 200g rat once a month but is just going into brumation at the moment so has not had a feed for about 5 weeks. You need to feed him about 150g rat once winter is over, try doing that every 2 to 4 weeks depending on how he goes. Mine will come out hunting at night if he is hungry.

Haha Lenny is out wandering EVERY night so I'm guessing my initial thought of XL large adult mice not being enough was right he may be having a growth spurt and I'm worried for nothing. I don't hibernate or anything like that so you reckon try a large 100g ish eat next feed? Maybe the reason he's so keen come feed time is he isn't getting enough food, so maybe more less often is the go and silly as it sounds but because his head looks smaller than my coastal or jungle I was worried he'd struggle to down something that big

Thanks for all the advice guys

 

[andynic07]

Haha Lenny is out wandering EVERY night so I'm guessing my initial thought of XL large adult mice not being enough was right he may be having a growth spurt and I'm worried for nothing. I don't hibernate or anything like that so you reckon try a large 100g ish eat next feed? Maybe the reason he's so keen come feed time is he isn't getting enough food, so maybe more less often is the go and silly as it sounds but because his head looks smaller than my coastal or jungle I was worried he'd struggle to down something that big ������

Thanks for all the advice guys

Yeah maybe try him on a 100 first but I think if your weights are correct then 150 should not be a problem for him.

 

[harlemrain]

Yeah he's looks about the same size as your one just me being overly protective I think haha thanks heaps

 

[Benno]

I don't know this for a fact but I'm assuming an XL mouse would have a higher fat content than a young rat of similar size which I would assume have more muscle than fat. Don't quote me on that though haha