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<blockquote data-quote="uzirath" data-source="post: 8102918" data-attributes="member: 8495">This <a href="https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/basic-calorie-calculator" target="_blank">veterinary site</a> provides some basic information about calorie needs for pets based on weight and activity level. The weight of a bulette is unspecified, but starting with a low value of 2000 lbs (~900kg) would produce a resting energy requirement of 11,571 calories. An active adult might require 3.5 times that or around 40,000 calories. This feels like a lowball estimate, especially since I could easily imagine a bulette weighing far more than that.Surprisingly, this <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-cannibals-did-not-eat-humans-nutrition-study-says-180962823/" target="_blank">Smithsonian article</a> clocks a human body at around 125,000 calories. Thus our one-ton bulette could survive for three days on a single human. (Of course, they prefer halflings, so they might need more of them!) Looks like they would be able to survive on one per day up until they're between 4 and 5 tons. If you want a bulette to need two people per day, it would weigh in at around 23,000 lbs (10,400 kg).Caveats: This is all based on some quick Googling. I have no expertise in any of this. In a fantasy world, of course, the GM could justify just about anything. Maybe bulettes have an unusually efficient metabolism. Maybe they lie dormant most of the time except when they detect vibrations of prey. Maybe their armor is dense enough that it boosts their weight considerably. Etc. Still, it's nice to have some real-world numbers to start with.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="uzirath, post: 8102918, member: 8495"] This [URL='https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/basic-calorie-calculator']veterinary site[/URL] provides some basic information about calorie needs for pets based on weight and activity level. The weight of a bulette is unspecified, but starting with a low value of 2000 lbs (~900kg) would produce a resting energy requirement of 11,571 calories. An active adult might require 3.5 times that or around 40,000 calories. This feels like a lowball estimate, especially since I could easily imagine a bulette weighing far more than that. Surprisingly, this [URL='https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-cannibals-did-not-eat-humans-nutrition-study-says-180962823/']Smithsonian article[/URL] clocks a human body at around 125,000 calories. Thus our one-ton bulette could survive for three days on a single human. (Of course, they prefer halflings, so they might need more of them!) Looks like they would be able to survive on one per day up until they're between 4 and 5 tons. If you want a bulette to need two people per day, it would weigh in at around 23,000 lbs (10,400 kg). Caveats: This is all based on some quick Googling. I have no expertise in any of this. In a fantasy world, of course, the GM could justify just about anything. Maybe bulettes have an unusually efficient metabolism. Maybe they lie dormant most of the time except when they detect vibrations of prey. Maybe their armor is dense enough that it boosts their weight considerably. Etc. Still, it's nice to have some real-world numbers to start with. [/QUOTE]

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