I need help getting my ball python's weight up please
I've got a ball python that I believe is under a year old. I got him last Christmas. He's been eating frozen thawed mice very well but he is under weight. I tried to switch him to rats but when I offer it to him he's not interested in it at all. He just seems scared of it. I tried using rats that were the same size as the mice, I tried scenting the rat, I tried braining it, and I waitied 5 days before offering it to him again. He doesn't seem the least bit interested in rats and he will gladly take a mouce. Once he bit the rat thinking it was a mouce but he freaked out when he realized that it wasn't. Most people say that the only way to get ball pythons too switch to rats is to keep trying but he's pretty young and he loses weight pretty fast. I honestly have no clue what to do. Is there any way I can get his weight up by feeding him mice? I've been offering him a second mouce after the first and he looks at it and smells it but then doesn't take it. Also Iv'e heard that feeding your snake too frequently can be very bad for their health. Can I please get some advice on what to do?
Re: I need help getting my ball python's weight up please
Do you have a picture?
I'm not an expert, but if your snake is actually underweight, I think your priority should be focusing on getting weight on him- by offering him appropriately-sized mice, if that's what he's willing to eat. And try to switch to rats once his weight is stable. He will gain weight as long as the prey is an appropriate size. Do you weigh him regularly?
My snake is a little over 3 months, and is at 210g. I give him 10-15 percent of his body weight of an adult mouse every 5-7 days. I always weigh the mouse beforehand to make sure it falls within the proper range.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1894541318.jpg
Re: I need help getting my ball python's weight up please
Here are some images of him
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...380&height=676https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...380&height=676https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...380&height=676https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...202&height=677
I feed him adult mice (or at least I've been told they are adult mice) that weigh about 10 grams (they might weigh a little more than that but I don't have any with me right now so I can't check)
he weighs around 285 grams
Re: I need help getting my ball python's weight up please
Oh..a 10g is a hopper, not an adult mouse. I feed those to my Pacman frog.
He looks just fine weight-wise, definitely not underweight. But he should be eating adult mice if that's how much he currently weighs.
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Re: I need help getting my ball python's weight up please
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7833a7390d.jpg
1.0 Pumpkin Pied BP
0.1 Bearded dragon
1.2 Leopard gecko
0.1 Ornate Pacman Frog