How often to feed ???

[Jason9301]

my snake is about 18 inches long and eating fuzzies the fuzzys i think are very small for him there about an inch long but wont accept a small i mean small mouse that is about 2-2 1/2 inches head to butt. Will he just turn down food when he is full or should i feed him a certain amount of them. Another problem i have is the pet shop that has the fuzzies only has them on tues and might be able to get a few on wedsdays is there a next step up in between a fuzzy and a smal mouse??

[sidhe]

You should feed a prey item as large or slightly smaller than the snakes widest girth, once a week (usually most use the same day each week). If your snake is between sizes you can offer two smaller items until they are ready for the next size up. I did that with mine and he was fine. Just remember if you offer two, just offer one at a time. When he finishes the first and starts moving (hunting) around again THEN offer the second. He may or may not refuse the second prey item. Leave it up to him. If you feed live DO NOT leave the prey item in with the snake no longer than 15 minutes or so, and do not give both at once. If he refuses a meal, then just wait until next week and try again. Hope that helped. Good luck!

[kurgan]

Anything smaller than an adult mouse is too small for even a hatchling BP. I'd say at 18" you should be thinking about rat fuzzies, rather than small mice.

[sidhe]

Has he ever eaten for you? You could also try rat pinks (same size as a fuzzy mouse). If he has never eaten for you yet, find out what he was eating for the breeder or pet store and try that.

[Jason9301]

Has he ever eaten for you? You could also try rat pinks (same size as a fuzzy mouse). If he has never eaten for you yet, find out what he was eating for the breeder or pet store and try that.

he has ate for me but he wont eat a small mouse but will eat fuzzies im not understanding it the breeder said he was eating 2 small mice a week he may have been talking bout fuzzies not really sure i know for a fact he could eat a small mouse but wont ive tried a few times tried the fuzzie 1 time and he took

[hoo-t]

Have you tried hoppers? Just about midway between fuzzy and small. He may have been taking smalls for the breeder, but got stressed in the move. Seems like when they get stressed, they sometimes become intimidated by larger prey. You should be able to work gradually back up to smalls. If he won't take a hopper, just ask for the biggest fuzzy you can get. Then the next time, ask for a small hopper...

Also, it will help if you wait a little longer before offering a larger meal. If you're currently offering food twice a week, then wait a full week before offering a hopper. If you work up gradually, you should be able to get him up to smalls fairly quickly.

Steve

[Kizerk]

Anything smaller than an adult mouse is too small for even a hatchling BP. I'd say at 18" you should be thinking about rat fuzzies, rather than small mice.

is there a typo there?

[Jason9301]

i only feed him once a week but the fuzzies the pet shop has are so small he eats like 3 or 4 of them this is week 3 or him eating so im going to wait another week or 2 and then try somthing bigger being that im breeding my own rats now for my other snakes and my cousins 8 of them all together

[hoo-t]

If he will eat rats for you, that'll be great! But, just so you're prepared, if he's been eating mice, he may not switch easily to rats. I have a 2500 gram female that won't look twice at a rat of any size, but will sit and eat large mice appetizers until I quit offering them (usually around 5).

As long as YOU don't mind and HE doesn't mind, there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding mice to a bp. I prefer rats because they're less expensive (one rat vs five mice) and because my rat production is waay higher than my mouse production!

Steve