Looking for a little advice.

Now that I've just given some advice, hopefully it was good regarding feeding; I have a question myself.

We have a 1 year 1 month old, female, 30" Royal. I've had excellent luck with her feeding and have run the feeder chain from small mice to adult, to xl adult, to the first step in rats. I just bought 5 medium rats as the smaller ones were not leaving a bulge and didn't seem a lot larger than the xl mice.

The medium rats look like dogs LOL! I did circle my hand around them, and they were only slightly larger than the girth of the snake and I actually took one out and placed it next to her mid body and it seemed only a bit thicker. But, they are really long bodied. I was shocked at how big overall they seemed.

Is this the right step? There was nothing between the small rat and the medium so I assume this is the next step. I've read and been told you go by girth, and I guess this is the "next step" but I just don't want her to get in trouble trying to swallow something that seems big to me. The guy at the store said these rats could be the last size step I'd need for the snake so I guess we're in the big leagues and she'll be growing a lot now.

Let me know if something doesn't sound right, I am going to give her a few more days than usual between feedings this time so I'll see what people here say. I do have 1 XL mouse left and 1 small rat left but think she's ready, I hope.

The thing about rat sizes is, it depends on where you get them, as to what is considered a small and a medium. Usually, small rats will range in size from about 40-90 grams or so, and mediums usually range about 90-150 grams or so. My best suggestion is to get a scale and use it to weigh your snake, then get your feeders in the 10%-15% body weight of your snake. I take my scale to the pet store to weigh my F/Ts before I buy them...:gj:

I will look into getting a scale that's probably a good idea and that is a good point mentioning where you get your rats from. I'm sure there is not a real big across-the-board standard for them which is a bit problematic for me right now.

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

The thing about rat sizes is, it depends on where you get them, as to what is considered a small and a medium. Usually, small rats will range in size from about 40-90 grams or so, and mediums usually range about 90-150 grams or so. My best suggestion is to get a scale and use it to weigh your snake, then get your feeders in the 10%-15% body weight of your snake. I take my scale to the pet store to weigh my F/Ts before I buy them...:gj:

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x2.

Having your snakes weight recorded and choosing the feeder based on that is definitely a good way to go if you are unsure of feeder sizes. Too small of a meal can be fixed with more frequent feeding or a second meal, but too large of a meal can cause some real problems. Good luck

Get a scale and see the weights after as few feelings you will be able to eyeball it and realize if the meal will be to big or too small. I get my rats in bulk which works out perfect since I have snakes that eat the larger weaned rats and have some that eat the ones on the smaller side. The problem is just trying to get everyone to eat very week :mad:

Let her give it a shot, and make sure she has a good warm area to sit in right after eating. While they may seem big, they are probably just about right, and she'll likely go through a growth spurt right after making the switch.

It is very, very rare for a ball python to attempt to eat something that's too big, so try it out and make sure her basking/heated area of the cage is nice and toasty. With a suitable basking area, they can digest large meals with no problem.

-Jen

Great! I'll make sure she's good and hungry and give it a go. I will get a scale just to have one if I can find one cheap today.