I’ve seen a lot of people talking about what to feed their Royal Python lately so I thought I’d do a blog post about it! This information I’m giving is just what I do for my Royals; obviously every snake will have different eating habits (as all mine do!) so if your Royal is different don’t feel disheartened… as long as they are happy and healthy that’s all that matters!
Mice or Rats?
This is a question I see get asked a lot, and to be honest
there is no right answer. When your Royal Python is young, small mice or
pinkies offer the most nutrition for them compared to a rat pup. As your Royal
gets older and starts taking medium/large mice it is then advisable to switch
them over to rats. This is because wiener/small rats have more nutritional
value then large mice.
In an ideal world where Royal Pythons aren’t picky eaters
(which we all know they are) it would be really easy to get them swapped over
from mice to rats. However sometimes this isn’t the case. For this reason, some
breeders will feed their Royals rats from a young age so that they don’t have
to worry about swapping them over when they are older. Now obviously they may
not get the ‘best’ nutritional value from the rat pups compared to small mice,
but the difference between these isn’t massive so it won’t hinder your Royal’s
growth in a significant way. As long as they are eating on a regular basis…
it’s all good!
To show you how different each Royal’s feeding habits can
be, I’ve listed below what my Royal’s eat on a weekly basis:
Mumma Fifi
I got Fifi when she was 3 months old, and I fed her various
sizes of mouse until she was almost 3 years old. If I ever tried to offer her a
rat, she’d turn her nose up at it… But then I’d offer a mouse straight after
and she’d strike at it in a matter of seconds. When she was up to 1500g I
decided to breed her with Milo … and it was
only then that she started eating rats! She went from having 2 large mice every
week to 1 medium rat every week. Obviously she decided that her body needed
more nutrition to make some beautiful babies, so she switched straight over to
rats. Ever since then she’s been on a medium rat every week (except for when
she decides to fast)! Sometimes I’ll alternate between medium and small rats to
give her digestive system a bit of a break.
Daddy Milo
I got given Milo from a family friend when he was 8 years
old and when I got him they told me he eats a medium rat every week. However,
in the whole time I’ve had him he’s never eaten a rat! Milo
is a very shy feeder and has only even strike fed for me twice in the two years
that I’ve had him. I generally feed him a large mouse every two weeks, and this
is a drop feed. I have to make sure the room is dark, then I get his attention
with the mouse by moving it about a bit then drop it and leave it for him. I go
out of the room for about half and hour and then by the time I come back up,
the mouse has gone. He hasn’t lost any weight and just slowly gains and seems
happy and active so that’s enough to keep me happy. I’m building a rack soon
for my new morphs I’ll be getting in October, so I’m debating moving him into
this and seeing if it changes his feeding habits because he’ll be in a more
enclosed and private environment. We’ll just have to wait and see!
Rupert
I got Rupert when he was just a couple of months old and was
on rats since he was a hatchling. He has been an amazing feeder and never
missed a meal and at the moment he’s on large rat wieners (and he’s not even a
year old yet)! Rupert is definitely the greediest Royal Python out of The Gang
and I’m more than happy with that! He’s growing really well and always knows
when it’s feeding day… as soon as I go to open his vivarium door on a Tuesday
evening his ready to strike at the entrance of his hide.
As you can see, all Royal Pythons are different and will
have different eating habits. Some will eat a large meal every week, some will
eat a small meal every two weeks; it totally depends on the snake. As long as
your Royal Python is healthy and not losing a significant amount of weight in a
short space of time, there’s no reason to be worried if they are fasting.
What size?
Below is a feeding guide for the size of prey that you can
offer to your Royal Python depending on it’s weight. This is only a guide, as I
will say again: every snake is different. The most important this to remember
if you are unsure is the prey should be the same size as the widest part of
your Royal Python’s body.
Hatchling to 99g: Mouse
pinkie
100g to 199g: Mouse
pinkie / Small mouse
200g to 349g: Small
mouse / Medium mouse
350g to 499g: Small
wiener rat
500g to 649g: Medium
wiener rat
650g to 1199g: Small
rat
1200g to 2799g: Medium
Rat
2800g + : Large
Rat
If you are still unsure, you can weigh your Royal Python
then ask at a local Reptile shop what size prey they would recommend feeding.
How often you feed your Royal Python completely depends on them… they’ll eat
when they’re hungry! As a guide you can generally feed young Royal’s every 5-7
days, then as they get older and their prey gets bigger it extends to every
7-14 days. I offer my Royals food every Tuesday just so I have one set day a
week that is ‘feeding day’, but they obviously won’t always eat every week if
they aren’t hungry.
I hope you’ve all found this helpful. I’ll be doing a separate blog post on
frozen/thawed vs. live feeding as I feel it’s such a broad subject! I
personally always breed F/T, but I will cover this more in the next post.
xoxo
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