Is this a good size for my bps?

[KKballs]

06 normal female she is 2 ft, 3in and 372g
07 pastel female 1ft, 8in and 196g
07 pastel male 2 ft and 226g


We are just starting our collection and I want to make sure we are raising them right. They all get fed 2 med mice a week. I am a little worried about our pastel female, she is on the small side, but looks healthy.

[FatBoy]

Sounds small to me, all 3 especially the 06. Try moving to rats the same size of the snakes body once every 7 days. I would bet you would see improvements.

[littleindiangirl]

that 06 does sound very light. Some people have early 07's and some have late 07's weighing differently, but that 06 would have me concerned.

As an example, my 06 girl is weighing in at 1500 grams last month. She's not the biggest, but she isn't 400 grams either. I have 07 animals at twice that right now.

[GirDance]

They all seem a little small to me...

For reference, my late 06 female is just over 3 ft - 3 1/2 ft, and is approx 960g. In early August she was about 2 - 2 1/2 ft (didn't measure) and was 420g - and she was on the small side at the time and probably still is!

[KKballs]

Thanks, so I should switch to small or medium rats? I am very worried about them, there my other children .

[Gloryhound]

We have had great success in increasing our ball pythons wieght by a little more agressive feeding schedule. Our 07 bumblebee which we got about a month and a half ago came in at 276 grams. She is now up to 449 grams. We feed every 4 days. She could go up to rats, but has been scarfing 2 mice per feeding. We have had better luck with others and worse with others, but it seems to work well enough! If they don't take it wait a couple days and try again.

I would say yours sound on the light side and need more or larger prey.

[littleindiangirl]

Do you offer them more than 2 mice per feeding? And do they always take 2 mice?

I prefer rats because it's just one hit and done, no waiting for her to finish and offer another one.

If you would like to try rats, start with some weanlings (4 weeks). You can try live or FT, but sometimes BP's don't switch prey items right away.

Also, have you taken them to the vet at all? You could also give us some descriptions of your set ups. Maybe knock out a couple things just to double check husbandry.

[KKballs]

My husband just informed me that they are all 07 babies.... Our normal is an early 07, and the pastels late.

[GirDance]

I would gradually switch your 06 at least to one hopper/weanling rat (something in the 30-50g range) every 5 days if she'd accept them... Starting with 7 days for a bit, then after a few weeks to 6 days, then to 5. Once she gets up to about 700 or 800 g I's switch her to small 'small rats' (50-70g) on a weekly basis. Unfortunately with the small rats I've found you also get some in the 90 or so range which end up sitting in the freezer for quite awhile!

[KKballs]

Also, have you taken them to the vet at all? You could also give us some descriptions of your set ups. Maybe knock out a couple things just to double check husbandry.

We are actually taking them to the vet this week for the first time. We have all three in a large (40) tank, with mister for humidity, a water bowl, a waterfall that they also drink from. 3 hides, and peices of bark and a stick. We keep the humidity around 65% and heat on warm side 78-80, cool side 75-78.