Questions about feeding newly adopted BP

[andarte]

My husband and I adopted a ball python on Sunday from the son of a friend. I've always liked snakes but never had one as a pet. My husband, however, has had pet ball pythons in the past so he is somewhat experienced with them. This one just has a slightly different personality and behavior than what he's had before.

The snake, who I have dubbed Lucifer, is approximately two years old and male. The previous owner was feeding him one live "fuzzy" mouse every week and a half to two weeks. He fed it the Thursday before we got it (so just over a week ago), then he brought another for it on Sunday when he brought it over hoping that it would help the snake settle in to it's new home. It gobbled it up quickly and my husband said that his previous female bp who was not quite as long but a bit "thicker" had been eating small to medium rats and he wondered if these meals that Lucifer has been given simply aren't enough to fill him. I mean, five minutes after he eats you can't even tell he has had a recent meal. So then on Monday he was still acting hungry and my husband wanted him to be well fed and settled in so he would be comfortable with handling Lucifer for the first time in a few days -- so we fed him one more. Then, lets see, Wednesday, he still seemed like he was starving so we got him two fuzzies that day and he ate both without hesitation. Again you couldn't even tell he'd eaten (as far as looking at his body) five minutes after he ate the second one and he wasn't sluggish at all while they digested (which I kind of expected).

He has settled down a lot since that last meal and has cooperated when we've taken him out to feed but I want to get a better idea of how much he SHOULD be given when he is fed so that he doesn't seem to be perpetually hungry.

Also, as a sort of side note... any suggestions for people who have had other pets and are getting used to the behaviors of BPs? For example, I grew up with quite a few different cats over the years and got used to reading their temperament and learning to handle the ones that were kinda moody and liked to bite or scratch. Any suggestions for getting used to reading BP behavior? I was joking with my husband that I'm out to become a walking BP encyclopedia or something... I just like to know everything I can about animals when I handle them -- for my sake and theirs.

Any advice is welcome!

[Kinra]

Body language can take a while to learn. Most of what I know from observation of mine. I try to really pay attention to them if I can feel they are tense because it means they are at least a little stressed. Every BP is different so I don't really have too much I can offer about that. Some of mine like to ball up, some will actually snap at me and some are just really laid back. If you do get bit do NOT put him back right away. They tend to learn that biting means you'll leave them alone.

A fuzzy mouse is way too small for a BP, especially one that is 2 years old. Try to find something that is about as wide as he is and feed about once a week. BPs can be a little picky about food, so you might want to start by offering a couple adult mice instead of an appropriate sized rat.

Your setup looks pretty nice, just make sure he has hides on both sides of his cage so he can regulate his temperature.

Congrats on your new snake, you'll probably find that they can be addictive and start wanting more. That is a normal side affect of owning a BP and being a member on this site.

[Skittles1101]

Body language can take a while to learn. Most of what I know is observation of mine. I try to really pay attention to them if I can feel they are tense because it means they are at least a little stressed. Every BP is different so I don't really have too much I can offer about that.

A fuzzy mouse is way too small for a BP, especially one that is 2 years old. Try to find something that is about as wide as he is and feed about once a week. BPs can be a little picky about food, so you might want to start by offering a couple adult mice instead of an appropriate sized rat.

Your setup looks pretty nice, just make sure he has hides on both sides of his cage so he can regulate his temperature.

Congrats on your new snake, you'll probably find that they can be addictive and start wanting more. That is a normal side affect of owning a BP and being a member on this site.

+1

[andarte]

Thanks. I grew up around a lot of wild snakes and was around them in programs such as 4-H but when I was 11 I had a cottonmouth in the wild try attacking me and...well, lets just say it left my love of snakes a little shaken. I'm hoping this BP helps break me of that. I'm used to dealing with aggressive pets of the cat, dog, etc variety so I don't think I'll have too difficult of a time... I just want this transition to go well for both of us.

I think we are definitely going to have to get him something bigger. Only concern so far is how terribly skinny his midsection is compared to snakes similar in length. At the largest part he is maybe 1.5" in diameter and that's max. Would he need to be worked up to something bigger?

Edit: He is approximately 3' long if that says anything about the 1.5" midsection.

[Kinra]

I would probably work him up to something bigger. I don't know how much it will tax his digestive system to get too much food at once. Don't feed him anything that is too much wider than him and feed him once every 5-7 days. He'll start putting one weight once he starts eating nice meals regularly.

[TheWinWizard]

I'd bump him to adult mice for a few, then small, then medium rats.