Few Questions about my new baby, Ruth.

Hey guys, this is my first snake, Ruth. I got here on the 18th, and have been enjoying her company since.

I have a few questions though. Is this any sort of morph, or just an odd normal? I think she's gorgeous, just don't know too much about the different morphs/breeds of balls out there and was wondering what she is. Either way, I think she's stunning.

The dealer said she was about a year old, but she seems to be pretty big for a year old (I was told average growth is 1ft per year?) She seems to be about three feet long to me, just can't get her to hold still enough to actually measure her. She also looks a little thin to me, I was thinking I should step her up from 2 small mice to 3 small mice (she always looks anxious for more when I go to see if she had finished the second). Do you think she looks thin, or just fine? I don't have a scale, so I can't weigh her. The dealer said she was 500 grams, but that's from him just picking her up, not actually weighing her.

Either way, here's my new baby!

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...lug/ruthy1.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...lug/ruthy2.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...lug/ruthy3.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...lug/ruthy4.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...lug/ruthy5.jpg

looks like a normal to me. why dont you just switch to rats instead of mice?

Looks like a pretty normal to me. At that size, I would be feeding rats for sure. From what I gather, they have more nutritional value and it's easier to feed one appropriately sized prey than multiple smaller. Congrats on your first snake! Hopefully you have used the valuable info on here when it comes to proper cage setup.

Your snake might not switch to rats if its been only feed mice; but if you were going to try and switch the sooner you do it the better. I would offer a small rat next time and see how it goes; make sure to pre-scent the room for 30min with the rat. If you're offering frozen thawed you can heat up the rat after defrosting it under a heat lamp in the cage area.

And if you haven't already check out the sticky at the top of the husbandry forum and make sure you have all the right information on temps and humidity.

Good luck!

Edit: Use your judgment when picking the right sized prey item. Make sure it is not thicker than the thickest part of your snake. After looking at the pics I wasn't sure if your snake could handle a small rat.

Yeah, I'm not sure that rats would be alright, but I may as well try one I suppose.

If you don't switch to rats, try some big mice. My ~4' male eats 3 huge mice a week, and my ~2.5' bp eats 1 huge mouse, sometimes 2.

Thanks, I'll try three mice and see if she goes for the third this next feed, then try a big mouse, then two big'uns the next time if she downs the one and still looks interested.

She looks about a year old I'd say and 500g seems a reasonable guess but its very hard to say. At that size a weaner rat seems like an ideal meal. A small rat (or at least what I get as small here in the UK, sizes seem very variable between suppliers etc) would be too big.
A very cute gal but I think just a normal. Normals are the best looking morph of all in my book anyways :)

Heheh, I was more curious than concerned about type. I think I may try a weaner rat. I'm assuming that's about the size of a larger mouse but in rat form, to help them transition over?

It should be about the size of an x-l mouse but different retailers can label things differently. There's a lot of discussion on the merits of rat vs mouse on the forum but I think the general consensus (if there is one!) is that it is better to feed one appropriate size rat than multiple mice, and even some evidence that they will grow faster too. Not all BPs will take a rat if they are started on mice although I think most will if people are prepared to use all the tricks. If Ruth lives on mice for the rest of her life she will be just fine too.