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Feeder sizing question

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  • 11-30-2015, 10:51 AM
    LittleTreeGuy
    Feeder sizing question
    So, I'm still a very new snake/BP owner... just a couple of weeks, but I have a question. I have a 2 month old female this right around 75g (it's been a week since I weighed her). The breeder told me she had been eating live fuzzies and could go to hoppers at any time. I have since fed her two f/t fuzzies that she ate with no problem. They seem a little small to me, and I will be moving her to hopper mice with this weeks feeding. My question is, when should I move her to rats? I have read multiple places that rats are a better meal and have more nutrients. I've been looking at random charts on Google searches and it looks like maybe rat pups are comparable to hopper mice in size, but I'm not sure. I just want to make sure she is getting enough to eat. My plan now is to go to hoppers every 6 or 7 days for the next three to five weeks or so. Does that sound reasonable?
  • 11-30-2015, 11:19 AM
    ItsAllNew2Me!
    Re: Feeder sizing question
    Hi and welcome to the forum!! There are a lot of threads covering this so a search would be very helpful in this situation as the more you read the better idea you get. I have seen many different feeding styles so you will have to find the one you most agree with. I personally go with the 10-15% rule up to 1000g. At this stage all i feed is small\medium rats ~150g +\- and i expect to do this for the rest of my bp's life. Like I said some people do it differently. I like the following thread as it gives an average chart for the prey sizes...this is actually in a lot of threads though.

    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ht=feeder+size
  • 11-30-2015, 12:45 PM
    Snake Judy
    Re: Feeder sizing question
    Most people seem to start off with mouse hoppers or rat fuzzies as soon as they hatch and move on up to rat pups after a couple of months. If it was me, I'd skip hoppers and see how she does with weaned mice or rat fuzzies for a while, and then move her up to pups in a month or so.
  • 11-30-2015, 12:57 PM
    bks2100
    My male was 78g when he was a little over 2 months old. The breeder told me he was eating hopper mice and I fed that one, then I went to f/t and rats but I could only get larger pinkies, so he was eating ~10% of his weight but just gaining slow. I started 3 feeds ago giving him fuzzy's and he's put on like 15g. I wish I weighed him when I first got him to know how much he put on before. I never noticed him gain size but when I started the fuzzys I did.

    She could handle a fuzzy no problem. I'd bet a rat pup would work too as long as it wasn't bordering on a weaned.
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