It's all good, WooHoo times 2!!!!

Sarcasm, Raj? :( I think we're getting a little wrapped up in one variable of husbandry that has no absolute answers. There are many different methods of husbandry that are perfectly acceptable and if we start insisting that one, and only one, particular method is correct, then we make this forum less than what it actually is.

To the best of my knowledge, there has been no actual studies on the long-term effects of various rodent diets on ball pythons. At best we have a few anecdotes...but for every anectdote on one side of the issue, you'll find at least as many on the other side as well.

I don't think we should insist that our way of feeding our snake is the absolute way and every other method will kill your snake. That's not what we're here for.

Well p00p Judy if there is no righteous path it makes it kinda hard for me to stray from it!

ARGH!

There have also been theories/claims that the faster a snake grows and the larger they get the shorter they live. But these are not drosophila or mice you can so easily throw theories at - given good care your python can live in excess of 20 years.


If nothing else be forewarned that preoccupation with size will find you calling this guy for his special pills:

http://www.angelfire.com/freak2/skee...ide-enzyte.jpg

If you fed two mice, in close succession, wouldn't it just be like the snake swallowed one prey item? I would hesitate to do this, though, since it makes me think of "power feeding" when people tie two or even three prey-items together amd the snake thus swallows them all.

Except there would be a lot more fur and indigestibles to work that stomach over.

Everyone needs colon-cleansing fiber in their diets, Smulkin. :) FWIW, the ball python manual recommends feeding multiple mice before switching to rats. I know there are some who hate the idea, and I'm not pushing it, but I've done it successfully before with a big girl who had no interest in rats. She was as healthy as she could be.

Well, i know that i only did it once but Hissy seemed fine with eating two mice. She was obviously really hungry because she struck the first mouse within ten seconds! But, the general concensus seems to be that feeding two at once is not a good thing to do. What would you all think if i alternated, one one week, two the next, one, then two & so on??

I don't think two mice is a big deal -- it's not like you're asking her gut to process 4 or 5 small prey items. On the other hand, my preference in such a situation would be to feed a single prey item more frequently instead of two at a time. If you switch to one prey item every 5-6 days until you can get her moved up to a single suitably-sized prey item, that will probably be less difficult for her system to process.

LOL Marla I use raw coffe grounds as breakfast-of-champeens! Keeps me regular ;)

On the multi-feed topic there seems to be a lot of contradictory advice floating around out there, along with half-baked theories like pinheadism, response of gut flora, tail-extrusion (rodent tail not swallowed far enough). In neph's case I am moving her up to rats since one mouse (even a mondo breeder) isn't enough and counting on a feeding response for the second can be a crapshoot sometimes.

Smulkin, more power to ya for the coffee grounds. My stomach is cramping just thinking about it! ;)

There does seem to be a lot of contradictory advice, so I have to go by my best sources. In this case, that would be my vet, the ball python manual, and my own experience with keeping ball pythons. All of those tell me that you can keep a ball python healthy and feeding on multiple prey items, but that doing so is not the optimal choice. I know David is adamantly against feeding mutiple prey items and I understand his reasoning for it, but if it's a matter of willingness to eat or availability of prey items, my preference is to do whatever works to keep the snake eating (within reason -- forget all that old-timer crap about sausages and such).

Heheh - good deal. Now about keeping my new girl on top of that 400W subwoofer . . .

;)