Thoughts

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Originally Posted by Deborah

If fed right absolutely 4 to 6 weeks is the norm the issue is that most people underfeed hatchlings and overfeed adults. Hatchlings are programmed to be voracious eat and grow fast.

When you mean large fuzzy you mean mice or rats?

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For now, it's mice. I was very limited in what I could get because he was still on live. I got him to eat a F/T last week. At the end of the month, when I go to my herp meeting in Clearwater (I live two hours away,) I will get some high-quality rat pups for him and my sand boa (who is also being trained to eat F/T.) to last me until the February meeting.

Right now he is opaque, so he had no interest in eating. This weekend he will be getting a humid hide and I may place damp towels in there to raise the humidity. His water bowl, to quote my Mom, is really a swimming pool, and he as been soaking in it today.

When you mean hatchlings aren't fed enough, how much should he be getting fed? I feed him once a week - the biggest that Pet Supermarket (I hate that store) has.

Geez, you would think this was my first ball python. My 12-year-old passed away in July and I got him when he was four months old, so I know about humidity, temperatures, etc. And as cute as Earnie's little cinnanon on his bum is, it does concern me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carrie Beth

For now, it's mice. I was very limited in what I could get because he was still on live. I got him to eat a F/T last week. At the end of the month, when I go to my herp meeting in Clearwater (I live two hours away,) I will get some high-quality rat pups for him and my sand boa (who is also being trained to eat F/T.) to last me until the February meeting.

Right now he is opaque, so he had no interest in eating. This weekend he will be getting a humid hide and I may place damp towels in there to raise the humidity. His water bowl, to quote my Mom, is really a swimming pool, and he as been soaking in it today.

When you mean hatchlings aren't fed enough, how much should he be getting fed? I feed him once a week - the biggest that Pet Supermarket (I hate that store) has.

Geez, you would think this was my first ball python. My 12-year-old passed away in July and I got him when he was four months old, so I know about humidity, temperatures, etc. And as cute as Earnie's little cinnanon on his bum is, it does concern me.

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Hatchlings metabolize their food at a faster rate and can be fed more often. You could easily go every 5 days provided they have the proper heat to aid in digestion. As far as adults being overfed, it the opposite of hatchlings. They don't need as much to maintain and a lot of keepers power feed for faster weight gain. Usually to get them up to breeding weight. You see a lot of pictures where snakes are considered underweight when they really just aren't fat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carrie Beth

For now, it's mice. I was very limited in what I could get because he was still on live. I got him to eat a F/T last week. At the end of the month, when I go to my herp meeting in Clearwater (I live two hours away,) I will get some high-quality rat pups for him and my sand boa (who is also being trained to eat F/T.) to last me until the February meeting.

Right now he is opaque, so he had no interest in eating. This weekend he will be getting a humid hide and I may place damp towels in there to raise the humidity. His water bowl, to quote my Mom, is really a swimming pool, and he as been soaking in it today.

When you mean hatchlings aren't fed enough, how much should he be getting fed? I feed him once a week - the biggest that Pet Supermarket (I hate that store) has.

Geez, you would think this was my first ball python. My 12-year-old passed away in July and I got him when he was four months old, so I know about humidity, temperatures, etc. And as cute as Earnie's little cinnanon on his bum is, it does concern me.

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What I mean by underfeeding is people feeding too small of a prey like you acyually do right now. Even out of the egg they eat something bigger than a mouse fuzzy.

So under feeding = slow growth = long time between sheds.

When they are young they are programmed to be voracious and grow fast.

So you definitely want to feed more.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

What I mean by underfeeding is people feeding too small of a prey like you acyually do right now. Even out of the egg they eat something bigger than a mouse fuzzy.

So under feeding = slow growth = long time between sheds.

When they are young they are programmed to be voracious and grow fast.

So you definitely want to feed more.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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Thank you for your advice. I assure you that he gets the largest hoppers they have. I have always chosen rodents for my snakes that were larger rather than the smaller. And it is why I'm switching him to rats next month. I never had a question on what size I needed. My question was regarding the number of times a week to feed him. I'm not completely ignorant of ball python husbandry. I am worried about his tail shedding properly. I checked with my friend and he is shedding almost a month about a month apart.

Again, thanks for the advice, but there are some people like me who do know how to feed their animals.

Just an update: He went opaque on Friday. I added a humid hide to his tank and placed wet towels on top of the tank. It brought the humidity up to 65%.

If I could ask your professional opinion: what is a correct meal size in reference to weight? I have my hatchling on a 5 day schedule. Hes an early November 2016...could you give any reference to where his weight should be and meal size? Thank you...

I'm sorry October 2016 hatchling...my Spider bp is November