What size is best for first snake?

I like em young meself! I like to watch em grow.
You also dont really know about the older ones. You could be getting a ball that has been fed in his enclosure for all of his life, which would make him associate opening the enclosure with food. In other words, I like to "train" them myself. Then I know they are treated right and havnt had past health problems.
As for the size of food, I have been able to start both of mine on pinkie rats when I first got them. You can get pinky rats smaller then an adult mouse, and then you dont have to worry about the switch from mouse to rat.

Amber appeared to have a mouthful the first time she took an adult mouse. I can't imagine a baby taking down a weaned rat...........but hey, these snakes never cease to amaze me so I wouldn't strike that down right away.

I have always been under the impression that its OK to keep them on adult mice for a period of time before you switch them to young rats. My local shop feeds their feeder rodents supplemented food and whatnot, saying that the adult mice have more nutrition than the weaned rats that they have, which are mostly just fat. It couldn't hurt to stay on mice until they can comfortable get a rat down, but doesn't hurt to switch them over early. This might just be one of those owner preference debates. Amber has been taking down the largest adult mice they keep, and I will need to be moving her over to rats in the next month or two.

I have found that the newborn rats (a couple days old) are smaller than an adult mouse. Which is why I like them. :-)
(not to mention my two snakes were at least 3 months old when I bought em) That is a good point about nutrients being better in the older mice. To bad they cant put nutition facts on mice eh? :lol:

No significant differences in nutirition - at least not enough to support the 'rats are better than mice theory' you seen thrown around too much. The big difference is more when you compare of the age of the prey. If you take an adult mouse and a rat of the same size (I can't remember what that is - a rat pup?)you'll find the adult mouse has more calcium while the rat pup is more fat.

They don't ever have to be switched to rats - a lifetime of mice is just fine. I have heard of some breeders who actually rotate betwen young rats and older mice for their newborns to give them a variety of nutrients to start.

I do have a chart that breaks down the nutirtional value...I'll try to find it later.

Everyone else has pretty much confirmed that a baby snake is the way to go. Just make sure when you choose one, that you get it from someone you feel you can trust, and that person promises it is an established feeder. You could be setting yourself up for a disappointment if you get a snake right out of the egg, or one that has yet to take a meal.

Yes, it's a good idea to ask to see it feed just to be sure.

If I ask to see it feed, and it feeds, how am I supposed to take it home if you arent supposed to handle it for 24-48 hours after feeding O_O

I just took some pics of my setup but i need to find my Digi card reader to put them up. I havent actually mounted my themometer probes and hygrometer yet, I need to drill some air holes first. I was told on the kingsnake boards to have around 3 rows of holes close to the lid of the container all the way around the container, but that seems like alot of drilling to me o_O And what area should I stick my probes to the wall of the container? I heard 2 inches above the bottom. And how can I check the surface temp? I'm at the moment using newspaper as substrate.


I'm still looking for a place to buy a BP T_T The only reptile show around me is going to be in White Plains, NY on July 18th and thats such a long time for now.


At the moment with my first temp/humidity test in my room, its reading 83* on the hotside and 78* on the cold side and 71% humidity. I hope the temp goes up and the humidity stays the same after I put holes in it.

If you do your holes at an angle, low on the warm side up to high on the cool side, it will help you create and maintain your heat gradient.

But all the way 360* around the tank? or just on the 2 ends?

And I "Have" decided to get a baby BP, but how big are they as babies and how old o_O

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If I ask to see it feed, and it feeds, how am I supposed to take it home if you arent supposed to handle it for 24-48 hours after feeding O_O

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Most likely not an option if buying from a reptile show. But if you buy from a petstore (and it seems the general opinion is avoid this if possible), then there's no reason they can't feed it and let you come back a couple of days later. One of the problems with petstores is there's a good chance they might be wild caught - that and they usually can't tell you anything about the snake (date of birth, sex, history, etc).