gerbils

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Yes but nutritional requirement of Ball Pythons are not know so gram per gram of prey it is all the same.
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how is it this still true today with all the bps in captivity?

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Originally Posted by Slim

...but when did feeding BP's based on their weight fall out of vogue? I've read this Forum up one side and own the other, and 10% of a BP's weight every 7-10 days seems to be a norm rather than an exception...

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No Slim, you didn't miss anything. A lot of people who are asking about how much to feed their snake(s) are feeding younger snakes and this is when the 10-15% of body weight rule applies. When a snake starts eating prey size of about 90-100g, that is where I hold them.

I have a few snakes who are over 2000g and several who are over 1500g and they still get 90-100g rats either every 10 days or every 14 days-- I stagger them :)

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Originally Posted by 771subliminal

how is it this still true today with all the bps in captivity?

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I don't think any scientific studies have been done on the issue. BPs in captivity eat what they are given, and they do fine. But I doubt anyone has studied how they utilize each and every protein, fat, nutrient, etc.

Are they getting enough fat content? Or too much protein? Not enough minerals? Do ASFs have more nutritional value than mice?

Look at what us humans eat. Not exactly what nature intended IMO, but most of us survive just fine.

Over here in germany it is quite common to use gerbils for picky eaters, because they are often taken with no discussion.
A well known breeder also writes on his page, that gerbils, because of their gentle nature, are not as dangerous as rats are, when feed live.
I dont know about availability of gerbils in the US, but here they are easy to get and a big f/t supplier sells them also.
If you are breeding them yourself their advantage is their lack of bad smell, on the other hand they are not that productive and their strong social lifestyle makes it hard to mix new breeding groups, because new animals will be attacked and killed.
If your ball eats rats, give him rats, if not gerbils are worth a try...

I have to add the the fact that i have kept gerbils as pets, as a child/teen and neither me nor any of my friends has ever been bitten and these little creatures surely had some hard times, especially when my female cousine hugged them like crazy, the lovely stroke of a ball could not be worse...;)