dumb store owners

well, i went ahead and got monty a mouse along with a lil pinky for my snow corn snake, and well the lady tried selling me an adult mouse then tried telling me tht she feeds her hatchlings adults from the beginning, shes clueless in my opinion, anyone here agree, monty took his mouse, it was small, not an adult the place i usually get my feeders from were sold out as a man came in and bought ALL of them, well anyway, after reading the last thread answers, i decided to go ahead with monty, anyway, the lady's nuts in my opinion,.

Most ball pythons can take small adult mice right from hatching. If your snake is more than 150g or so it can take a large mouse.

Unless your snake is really small or the mouse was really big it should be fine. Most mice I have been sold as adults weigh in around 20 grams. That's less than 15% of a 150 gram snake.

hmm, oops, i go by the "fattest" part of ur snake rule though, the thing was huge, like no lie.

I start out hatchlings with hoppers, but small adults wouldn't be bad after a few feedings.

I start babies out on rat crawlers... about the same size as an adult mouse. It has to be moving to be appetizing, but yeah hatchlings can start on something that size no problem. Most dont start with adult mice as more a safety thing, hoppers tend to be less bitey. So, crazy not in this guys opinion, but a rat that size or hopper mouse would be more defenseless that is why I choose that route for hatchlings

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Originally Posted by Jasonx

hmm, oops, i go by the "fattest" part of ur snake rule though, the thing was huge, like no lie.

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They also get very compressed after eating, the first time i fed my pastel an adult mouse i was surprised at how small the bulge was.

2011 was my first year breeding and of course starting hatchlings out feeding. I tried both methods of feeding hopper mice to some and rat pinks as first meals to others. I didn't see much of a difference, as all my babies ate really well. I just gradually increased the size of the prey items every 3-4 feedings. This was made easier by breeding my own rats. I was actually surprised to see how big a meal some of them can take. I prefer to feed one larger meal, but I did also try on some to offer 2 hoppers per feeding and they were almost always taken down. I fed my babies every 5 days and my sub-adults/adults every 7 days. Just provide the right environment and offer what you feel is safe for your snakes and they'll be fine. But like I said you would be surprised what they can actually take down.

Don't jump to conclusions too quickly with people, they might actually be right in the end. :]

It really is surprising what snakes are capable of, I just brought home a new baby girl and I was freaking out about the mouse being too big. Well.. she ate it happily and there was hardly a bulge! It sure showed me, lol.

hmmmmmm, well, my bad, the lady at the pet store is prolly thinking im a rude booty.