Food predicament

[flamekitty84]

sooooo im kinda in a pickle atm...and i apologize now for such a long post
i got a bp at the last Baltimore Repticon (jan 31st) and the guys said he was feeding on rat pups. after i already bought him, i went to get frozen pups, and they didnt have any, so i got small rats with the snake sellers approval (he looked at them first). The bp, Cherry Pi, has a pretty tiny neck, but weighs about 240g, hes very thick. i sorted through the rats and got one that was around 35g, the rest being well over 45g, which obviously are too big for him. the first time i fed him, he was having such a hard time getting it down his little throat that i thought i was going to lose him.
now, mind you, ive had snakes for 6+ years and have never been so frightened about food being too big...this was really scary for me, he was almost, i dont want to say 'thrashing', but jerking around like he was in pain while he was swallowing...i wanted to cry
the current situation: I have a bag of 50 rat pups and 25 rat weanlings coming in the mail, but they were delayed because of the weather. they will not ship out until monday 23rd and i likely wont have them until friday. I currently have a bag of mouse weanlings that i am feeding my corn snake.
it has been almost 3 weeks since i fed Cherry the first time
He is very active and out sniffing around all the time. i know he is looking for food and i feel like such a bad snake mommy since i cant feed him properly it makes me so sad
my question: should i wait until i get the rats or give him a mouse weanling to hold him over until friday?
a pic of the baby in my hand (i have tiny hands)


Thank you!!

[flamekitty84]

just to add, i do know he will be perfectly fine for a while without food, but he shouldnt have to be and i feel aweful about bringing him into my home and not providing food regularly, though food is on its way

[bcr229]

Get a box of "Arctic Mice" rat pups or weanlings from PetSmart to tide him over until the bulk order arrives.

[flamekitty84]

i cant find a petsmart or petco around me that has 'rat pups' or any equivalent. ive searched everywhere
ive found small rats but they are even bigger than the small rats i got at the expo

[bcr229]

They don't even have mice hoppers or small adults?

[flamekitty84]

they have mice, but i already have mice. would that be ok for him just once?? or do i need to stick to rats?

[bcr229]

Once should be no problem - as young/small as he is he will probably hit anything you put in front of him.

[flamekitty84]

ok great thank you so much!!

[C2tcardin]

As the others said he should be just fine and you would be surprised how much their necks can stretch to accomodate a meal. I'm a little surprised that the order of frozen rats you ordered is going to ship tomorrow and arrive Friday? The place I order from ships 2nd day and the box arrives with a nice block of dry ice in it and everything is frozen solid. Also I've never had any problems switching back and forth between rats and mice and live vs. frozen, with one minor exception. You could even pick up a live mouse if your local peptic sells feeder mice, I've never seen a snake pass up a live meal.

[flamekitty84]

i went ahead and fed him a mouse weanling this morning, which he took very willingly, thank goodness
C, i order from RodentPro, and ive been ordering ftom them for years now, but the only thing they tell me is the week that it will ship, not the day. it comes quickly once it ships, but the day of the week that it will ship varies everytime i order