Question about feeding...

[BlissfulChaos]

Let me start off by saying I'm new to this.

I recently adopted an adult female measuring about 4.5'. She's gorgeous and a fatty! lol I kept her in her tank to settle for 4 days until attempting her first feeding last night. She took her food with no hesitation at all! (I was so happy/proud!!) I fed her a med. size live rat which looked kinda small compared to the gurth of her body. & She still seemed hungry once she was done... I fed her live because I want to get her schedule down before switching over to frozen. (Previous owner says she eats both live and frozen)....Anyways, my question is....Should I try a large rat next time, or maybe a med rat and then a small one?....

I havent gotten a proper weight on her yet because I was letting her settle. I'll hopefully get that Sunday when I take her out for a bit. I've heard to at least give them 2 days to digest before handling....

[ballpythonluvr]

I wouldn't go any larger then a medium rat for her. You can feed her once every seven days. Yes, you should give her two days after eating before you handle her.

[stratus_020202]

I wouldn't go any larger then a medium rat for her. You can feed her once every seven days. Yes, you should give her two days after eating before you handle her.

I second this. The bigger the rat, they more dangerous they become. You could do two smalls if you wanted. Maybe when she's switched over to frozen she'll take a large, but I wouldn't recommend a live large rat.

Good luck with her! Where are the pictures?

[BlissfulChaos]

Cool! Thanks so much!

[BlissfulChaos]

Gonna upload feeding pics now...Be back in a min!

[BlissfulChaos]

These were taken with a cell phone so forgive me for poor quality....







I'll be taking more pics Sunday when I get my digi camera back from my friend

[stratus_020202]

Aww. She's a pretty girl. Why are you feeding her in a box?

[BlissfulChaos]

Well I've been told to feed her in her cage and I've been told to feed her out of her cage.... So I decided to feed out because I felt like she would have more room. Just seemed a lil to cluttered in her tank for her. It's 55 gal with 2 hides a water dish and some driftwood...Plus if that rat latched onto her I wanted to be able to get it off her more easily. (With tongs of course) ...Does that sound logical or wrong altogether??

[stratus_020202]

Well I've been told to feed her in her cage and I've been told to feed her out of her cage.... So I decided to feed out because I felt like she would have more room. Just seemed a lil to cluttered in her tank for her. It's 55 gal with 2 hides a water dish and some driftwood...Plus if that rat latched onto her I wanted to be able to get it off her more easily. (With tongs of course) ...Does that sound logical or wrong altogether??

No, sounds good I was just asking. Making sure you didn't think feeding in the cage would make her aggressive.

[BlissfulChaos]

Some people have told me that, but I don't believe it. I have friends that feed all their snakes in their cage and they all handle them pretty offen. I got to handle her before I fed her and she's such a sweet heart. Didn't ball up much, just when I got near her head. So I'm gonna handle her lil by lil in a few days