Woma always seems hungry

[Spider178]

Just a query about my Woma, she is about a metre long and weighs 350g. She is eating one weaner rat (approx 35g) a week with no problem.

In the past few weeks nearly every time we handle her she bites and wraps around our hand as though killing prey, does this mean she is still hungry or just being a bit grumpy?

Do I need to go up a size in food? The weaners seem to leave a small but not obvious lump.
I read that 10% of their weight is about right, thoughts please.

Anybody got any thoughts on this, I have done searches on the site and read 10%, 20% and 30% of body weight is ok to feed, that is a big difference in the size of food.
I have also seen that womas in particular can get fat very easily and do not want that to happen but being treated like a rat whenever I open the enclosure is a bit annoying.

 

[crosswire]

Hungry python!

She can definitely handle something a bit larger. 20% has always worked for me.

 

[dickyknee]

Womas are massive pigs , feed it more ...

 

[Boidae]

The percentage of her bodyweight to feed her depends on how old she is. The older they are, the less the percentage.
20-25% of their bodyweight is ideal for growing snakes, personally I would be feeding her a 70-75 gram rat weekly.

 

[Herpaderpa]

It means she is a woma <3 LOL

You are better off feeding her well and monitoring to make sure she doesn't get fat, rather than possibly withholding enough food to keep her satisfied. If you find her putting on a bit too much weight then you can back the food off a bit. It wont happen over night Gotta love those woma pythons. <3
I'm with you, I hate seeing all those fat American snakes on youtube etc... fat doesn't = impressive.

 

[Spider178]

Great, thanks everyone. Looks like I'm off to purchase bigger rats.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[slide]

Most womas dont mind a good chew on you now and then. Some are much better than others.
About 20% (give or take) once a week sounds good for her age/size. If she sheds around 8 weeks apart (+\- a week or two) you are on the right track. If less than 6 weeks then reduce either the food size or frequency. If more than 10 weeks increase. If you use that as a rough guide you will soon get the feel for how much to feed.
Aaron

 

[dadaman]

I aim for 20% of TBW a week. Works well for both of mine.