need some information

[erebus45]

Ok guys I have a 4mth old bp yesterday was the first time he feed for me and mind you this is the first snake iv ever had and he devoured two f/t pinkies back to back I was wandering do bp's shed after every meal and if they are going to shed how long does it usually take for the eyes to start clouding up and with well the best way I can say it is poop but is their a way it's NOT suppose to look just for future reference....thank you in advance

[cchardwick]

You should post a photo of your snake and the 'pinkies' you are feeding. A 4 month old should not be eating pinkies in my opinion, they should be taking mice about as big around as the thickest part of the snake. Maybe 'pinky rats' would work. A ball python can open his mouth much wider than any other snake (like king snakes). You'd be surprised how big of a rodent they can eat.

Most of my ball pythons will actually still eat during a shed cycle, they just can't see very well and you basically have to stick it up right by their nose LOL. Their eyes will cloud up and turn blue, then a couple days later they will look normal, then a couple days after that they shed. Usually every time they shed they also go to the bathroom so it's a good time to clean the substrate. I use paper towels with newspaper underneath, cleanup is easy. Make sure you bump up the humidity and keep it high during a shed cycle. They don't shed after every meal, I'd say they shed maybe once a month or so? I have 18 snakes right now and I always have one or two in the middle of a shed cycle. I mark those tubs and make sure I keep the humidity high until they shed out.

Also, I'd feed your bp twice a week while it is small. I actually feed all my small snakes and breeder females twice a week. My bigger males I feed once a week, they don't need to be that big to breed. My small bp seem to pee or poop every few days while my bigger pb go once a week or every other week, which I find interesting. I power feed my reticulated python, he eats multiple rodents twice a week and has gained half a pound in just over two weeks! The more you feed any snake the faster they will grow. I would feed or at least offer food to any snake at least once a week IMO. Also make sure your frozen thawed is always at the proper temp, not too hot or too cold or your snake may go off of frozen thawed for good.

[erebus45]

The remote might give a little insight to how long he is

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[PythonBabes]

Ball pythons shed when they get bigger(or dirty,etc.) and he's never gonna grow on pinkies, you would basically be starving him.

With food a proper size I say feed every four days...

[erebus45]

Thank you for your reply.... should I feed fuzzys or what I know the width of the biggest part of their body but should I go ahead and start rats if I can if so which ones.... Thank you (im feeding f/t only)

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[Willowy]

Read this caresheet: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Pinky mice are way too small. At the smallest, BPs should have hopper mice or pinky rats. By his age he should be on small adult mice or rat pups, but this depends on his current size. The best way would be to get a kitchen or postal scale and weigh him, and find a feeder that weighs about 10%-15% of his weight. Or just eyeball it and feed a rodent that's about as big around during as the biggest part of his body.

Babies shed about once a month, adults shed less often. They poop when they need to, no need to worry about how often. It shouldn't be runny unless you fed him a hairless rodent. It should look like. . .well, like poop :. Log-ish. It can have some white on it (that's urates).

But mostly---follow that caresheet! If you have any extra questions don't hesitate to ask.

[erebus45]

Thank you for the link I will for sure read and follow it thank you should I start him on rats this early (if his size permits) or wait? I heard that the sooner the better then I heard they can live on mice their whole lives just have to feed more often.... Thank you

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[Fraido]

Yes, start on rats as soon as possible.

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[erebus45]

another question I want to buy bulk in my f/t feeders question is wha are some reputable websites to order them from or should I go somewhere and get them. And also I don't want to get too many and I have to size up and have a bunch left over... my plan is too feed him weekly unless showing signs of hunger sooner than that. so lets say I buy some f/t rat pinkies and fed him once a week how many should I buy (roughly) so I don't have abunch leftover. I know their is no exact way of calculating this different snakes grow at different rates but I know you guys know more of a rough estimate on how fast he will grow will that type of food once a week (if im overthinking this please let me know cuz I have a bad habit of doing this). thank you

[cchardwick]

Rats or mice would work, my snakes take either. I also use African Soft Fur rats, none of them really prefer one over the other. I'd probably go for the cheapest one, probably mice are cheaper at this stage. If you order some frozen thawed through the mail I'd get a few hoppers, adult mice, large adult, and XL adult mice and maybe a few rats that are a little bit bigger than XL mice. If you have smaller rodents that are left over I'd feed several in one feeding about 10 or 20 minutes apart to use them up. Most of my snakes will eat 3 rodents within an hour or so if I give it to them (depends how big they are).

If I were you I'd feed one or two rodents twice a week for at least the first six months or so until he gets some weight on him. Some times snakes will go on a fast and won't eat for weeks or months, you want to get enough weight on them as fast as possible when they are young just in case they go on a fast so they survive it. I have a snake that went on a fast and she was skinny to start, scares the heck out of me how skinny she is but she is finally starting to eat again (thank goodness!).

I have another large 1400 gram snake that has eaten very little over the last few months but you can't tell he hasn't eaten because he started with a really good body weight. Ball pythons can be very finicky and when they eat it's best to feed them as much as you can while they are in the mood. I've heard of ball pythons going on a fast for up to eight months at a time! That's pretty much normal.

I bought my rodents from Rodent Pro dot com, but any online place will work, just shop around for the deals.

Snakes will always show signs of hunger and will eat almost all you give them. Most would eat every single day if you offered it to them, but that's way too much LOL.