Quick Feeding Question

[Mighty Monty]

My RTB is over 2 and a half ft, probably very close to 3ft, if not 3ft. I've been feeding him 2 mice every monday, but he still seems hungry during the week. I brought him into the petco where i got him, and there is a guy there who is pretty knowledgable with reptiles, and has a few different kinds of snakes on his own. I told him how big he was, and he says to continue to feed him mice. But my RTB is probably as big, or bigger than my BP was when he started eating small rats.

I'd say the small rats are just a TAD bit bigger then his body. Should i continue to feed mice, or should i start on a Small rat every week? I know rule of thumb is that if the prey is as big as the body it's probably okay. I'm just wondering what people on here though, reading throughout the months that people feed theirs small rats when they're even smaller then mine.

Any help would be great as i am going to go and pick up the meal for him tomorrow.

thanks.

[frankykeno]

Personally I'd go over to rats. Boa's just get big enough that I really don't see mice as being a long term feeding thing for them. Even the little 07 boa was are snake sitting for Lynn is on rats and doing well on them.

You might want to get a weanling or a small/small rat so you don't overwhelm your snake with a prey type change and a large jump in prey size. Boas usually aren't as prey specific as ball pythons but why freak it out I figure. See how it does on this then go from there.

[sweety314]

When I got my first RTB, Wrigley at just under six months, he was on FT rat pups, and he's been on appropriate sized rats all along. Very eager eater, live or FT.

Only (live) mouse eaters in my collection are the two VERY picky ball python babies that aren't as big as their "age" says they should be. All of my RTBs from when I got them as babies, to Hera the full-grown adult are all on rats, as well as the other balls, the corns, TR, other species.

[drugaria]

I have a 4 month 18'' Ball python that I started feeding small rats no problem. Not rat pups small rats . This snake should be eating bigger pray at least a small rat . No offense there but the guys at petco lack the proper knowledge and training. I too was misled by one of them who told me to feed my BP 1 fuzzie mouse a week . Than I was wondering how come he takes a crap so rarely.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

He will seem hungry after eating for a while because he is still in "feeding mode". Me, I'm not a huge fan of feeding boas much more than they need to maintain a healthy weight because I personally have seen a few too many fat boas that died young but thats just me. If he isn't loosing weight and has a good body condition, I'd just feed him that much. I would get him up to rats though as soon as you can. In my oppinion, a male can be fed on small rats his whole life so he will grow into them and when I get my boas on small rats, I slow the feeding down to aprox. every 2 weeks regardless of sex. The sooner you get them on rats, the less of a chance you have of getting it him stuck on mice when he is 4-5'