Hungary BP

[Hthree]

HI I'm still new to BP care and I just wanted to know I feed my snake 2 times a week I tried to feed them only once a week and when I do that about the th day they come out at night and are moving around their tank in hunt mode and keep active all night so should I feed them once a week 2 rats or twice a week one rat at a time Thanks for the advaice.

[rabernet]

They? As in two? Are they housed together? If so - then stress may be the reason they are cruising, rather than hunger.

Need more details:

How many BP's are we discussing?
Are they housed together?
How old are they?
What size are they?
What sized prey have they been feeding on?

And pictures of your set-up are also helpful.

[Hthree]

My male is about 26" long and I dont know how old he is the female is about 18" and about 3 months old. the male is eating adult rats I got him off cl and is in a 29 gallon long tank with a hide water bowl uth the temp is about 85 to 90 during the day and drops to about 80 85 at night with newspaper on the bottom humidity is 60 and the female is in a idenitcal tank same temp humidity and everything else they were in the same tank for about a week until I could get the new one today I feed the female every five days 1 adult mouse the male is moving around alot now but i think it's because of the new tank I just wanted to now can I feed him evey five days to or just feed him 2 small rats once a week I'm still learning so all advice is well taking and greatly apreciated

[BallzOfSteel]

one small - medium sized rat every 5-7 days is fine, since he's just over 2 feet...two rats may be overdoing it..IMO. i would only feed 2 if he were a female and you were trying to get her to breeding size.

it's never really good to powerfeed(i know thats not what you were doing..but..y'know )

[rabernet]

Can you post pictures of your tanks, preferably with the snakes in them (to get an idea of their size)?

You mentioned water bowl and hide (singular) in the male's enclosure - he should have two hides offered to him - one on the warm side of the enclosure and one on the cool side of the enclosure.

You really should not be having night drops. You want the warm side of the enclosure to be about 90-94 degrees (24 hours a day) and the cool side to be 80-84 degrees (24 hours a day).

You should be measuring those temps with a digital thermometer, mounted at ground level (because that's where your snake spends most of its time) or with a digital temp gun.

A 29 gallon tank is far too large for a baby ball python. For comparison, I start babies in six quart tubs, move them to 12 quart and eventually to 32 quart tubs until they reach adulthood, and then they get 41 quart tubs.

I started my first ball python in a tank, I wanted to be able to "see" him - but then I realized that I really never did see him - once he was settled and behaving like a "normal" ball python should, he was sleeping in his hides all the time, and to see him, I'd have to get him out. I had difficulties keeping my temps and humidity consistent, and after an 8 month fast, I moved him to a tub and I've never looked back since. I still just take him out when I want to see him!

I feed babies every 5 days, juvies and adults, one appropriately sized rat every 7 days. No one gets larger than a small rat (just approaching what I'd all medium). And that's my biggest girls.

I don't have any strict mousers in my collection now - but when I was feeding primarily mice, juvies and adults were offered 2 mice every 7 days.

Finally, if you've not had a chance yet to review our caresheet - I think you'll find it to be very informative, and in my humble opinion, it's one of the best caresheets out there on the care and keeping of ball pythons.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59