What size should I...

I have 3 09 Babies That i feed adult mice. Not sure if this helps you any but basically what i did (being noob myself) is picked out 3 mice that looked approx. The size of my snakes largest mid section. I wasnt really specific about measurments and such im not sure if that really matters. I mean you will obviously be able to tell if the prey item is too large. But id say choose something that looks too small before you choose somethin you think looks a bit too big. If it was too small and you find it was later idk why you couldnt feed maybe that snake on a 5 day break. Idk im new to this and its just my opinion. My real question is when do i need to step up to rats and how fast. My snakes fed on adult mice last sunday. Should i feed them adult mice again or when is the proper time to up there prey?
Thanks
Steven

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Strtaylor

I have 3 09 Babies That i feed adult mice. Not sure if this helps you any but basically what i did (being noob myself) is picked out 3 mice that looked approx. The size of my snakes largest mid section. I wasnt really specific about measurments and such im not sure if that really matters. I mean you will obviously be able to tell if the prey item is too large. But id say choose something that looks too small before you choose somethin you think looks a bit too big. If it was too small and you find it was later idk why you couldnt feed maybe that snake on a 5 day break. Idk im new to this and its just my opinion. My real question is when do i need to step up to rats and how fast. My snakes fed on adult mice last sunday. Should i feed them adult mice again or when is the proper time to up there prey?
Thanks
Steven

---

My original problem was solved, my new problem is I have nearly 20 rats (1/3 a year supply) that I need to euthanize in a staggered pattern to allow for my snake's growth.

You should probably switch to rats now, I was told its a good idea to get them on rats as soon as possible because they are more nutritious.

I am curious where this idea keeps coming from, that rats are 'more nutritious'. It's long been argued, logically, that since adult mice have fully calcified skeletons, they are more nutritious than baby rats, that don't have fully calcified skeletons.

The reason people switch ball pythons early is that it tends to be easier if you get them on rats while they're young, before they are too set in their ways. Ball pythons can be stubborn about switching to new prey items. It's very hard to keep an adult ball python well fed on mice, because they're too small, and the ball would have to eat a whole bunch of them at once. Nutrition isn't the factor there--it's food volume.

I suspect the same thing is at work when people discover that their ball pythons grow faster on rats than they do on mice. A baby rat that looks the same size as a mouse actually tends to be noticeably heavier. So, it's still greater food volume at work, not nutrition.

I take them out everyday now to check on their size, they grow so fast...here is a picture xD

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4b11956a5b.jpg