Now let that sink in. Sure mice are like candy for snakes, but the difference between mice and rats is larger than people would typically expect. large rat = baby rabbit = 10 large mice. And about the numbers.... 10-15% per week is for breeding or to get sick/malnourished pythons over the hill, and for babies and subadults supposed to grow fast. Some breeders go even higher temporarily to counteract breeders going off feed when reproducing or to squeeze it in 1 season earlier. But for an adult non-breeding pet 10-15% per week is on the very high end. Still, when people substitute 2-4 mice for a rat the difference in weight gets underestimated.
I would say try to somehow get it on rats, maybe using very small rats, maybe using ASFs. If you get him to take an ASF, he wont get hooked on it, but now at least took something different than mice. Making him more likely to accept a rat. Or try rat pinkies or fuzzies. Try to first divert him out of the usual, and then when his food gets diverse sneakily slip in a small rat. See it as a habit problem, he COULD take down and swallow a large rat, but since he never did it it would be a bit hard on the lower jaw and the stomach, but still, he is a BP and not some diva. He needs to swallow bigger prey items, both sides would benefit from that.
04-11-2013, 07:24 PM
satomi325
Re: New to ball pythons
The 10-15% rule only applies to babies and juvies. That's way too much for an adult.
I feed my adult males a small rat every 7-14 days. Females get smalls or mediums every 7 days.
And rats and mice of equivalent size have the same nutritional value. Rats just have a few percentages more of fat. But that's all.
