Skinny Ball

I Bought my ball near the first of this year. He/she is my first snake, so I did all kinds of research before I bought and asked all the right questions but I'm starting to get a bit worried. When I bought it it was approx a foot one inch and was only slightly triangular and about 3in around and hasn't grown much. He/she eats just fine. He/she eats two fuzzies every two weeks and a pinky in between. Am I underfeeding it? I'm giving Him/her a lot more than the pet store who was giving two pinkies biweekly. Can anybody tell me what's up?

At that size I would be feeding it a rat pup every 3-5 days. It sounds like it is being underfed.

How big are the fuzzies in relation to its girth? And are we talking rat fuzzies or mice?

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Originally Posted by spitzu

At that size I would be feeding it a rat pup every 3-5 days. It sounds like it is being underfed.

How big are the fuzzies in relation to its girth? And are we talking rat fuzzies or mice?

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They're roughly the same girth as the middle section of the snake.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

At that size I would be feeding it a rat pup every 3-5 days. It sounds like it is being underfed.

How big are the fuzzies in relation to its girth? And are we talking rat fuzzies or mice?

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x2. I'm also thinking underfed. Balls should be given a prey item approximately as big around as they are at their largest point every 5-7 days when young and every 7-10 days when adults.

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Originally Posted by Hunkycorn

They're roughly the same girth as the middle section of the snake.

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They're mice, BTW... lol

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Originally Posted by Hunkycorn

They're roughly the same girth as the middle section of the snake.

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See if he'll take a fuzzy/pup every 5 days. He'll probably double his weight in a month.

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Originally Posted by Hunkycorn

They're mice, BTW... lol

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Oh yes...much too small. Hatchlings sometimes start out on mice fuzzies.

You can also get a small scale and weigh your snake, then weigh the prey item(s). Your snake should be eating approximately 10-15% of its body weight every 5-7 days.

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Originally Posted by Hunkycorn

They're mice, BTW... lol

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Erm. He should be well past fuzz mice even as a hatchling. Try weaned/juvenile mice. They shouldn't be too much bigger than the snake girth-wise.

Try switching to rats. I have one that won't eat rats for nothing so he eats 3 large mice weekly.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

See if he'll take a fuzzy/pup every 5 days. He'll probably double his weight in a month.

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Thank you so much. I'll give it a shot. I was a bit worried I was underfeeding. I figured PetSmart would know what they were doing... Obviously not, at least not herps anyway.