What size rat would you feed a 810 gram "empty" ball python?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by freakie_frog

well whatever size rat is as big as an adult mouse.. I mean it's not any smaller than what it's been eating.

---

thats common sense. Thanks alot! On tip! Next time i will put on my thinking ball python cap lol!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mitsumike

haha the "zombie dance"
but you can do that or heat it up with a hair dryer. (once thawed)
also try prescenting with the scent of the meal your feeding them. I use the bedding from my rat colony to precent the cages and while doing it i put the rats in a 6 qt or zip lock with some more bedding to make them smell exactly like the prescenting so what the snakes smell to entice them they are also eating.
A good way to tell if prescenting worked is if your snakes head is out of the hide and his tongue is going like crazy or if they are halfway out the hide in the kill mode.
But i would also recommend feeding in the tub/tank

---

thanks! I never fed any of my balls in the tub. I always took them out in fear of the old legend tale. If you feed in living quarters snake will snap and think you are food when you open up its bin.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by python1024

you can feed her small rats. I have two snakes that are currently on live mice. They both used to eat rats but some for reason they will only take mice for me now. You can try with the f/t rat again, you may just have to wait until she is hungry enough for her to accept it. You should only offer her food once every 5 to 7 days or you could stress her out and she may not want to eat for you. How many times have you tried to get her to take the f/t rat? You could try a freshly killed rat and see if she will take that for you and then transition her onto the f/t. My snakes are growing just fine with eating adult mice. I just have to feed multiple mice to satisfy them. I'm sure someone with more experience then myself will help answer your questions as well.

---

i tried f/t rat three times with 6 of them and they all turn it down :( the biggest f/t rat weight was 67 grams and they all look at me like "come on pal give it up and get back to the mice" lol! Do you think color matters? Since they are use to white mice all the f/t rats i attempted were black or mainly black with a little bit of white on them.

I would go with white LIVE rats since they are used to live and white! You can go to ft after you switch them! I would feed 3 to 4 times with live!

small rat or large mouse weighing as much as a small rat. if u cant get them over to rats

You're trying to switch two things at the same time - from mouse to rat and then from live to f/t.

Try with a live small rat - I know I used to be scared and think rats would cause more harm than a mouse, but really, mice are much fiercer (IMHO) than rats are.

Except for my albino and my colubrids, all of my crew feed on live rats - fed in their enclosures. I've never (knock on wood) been mistaken for food.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

You're trying to switch two things at the same time - from mouse to rat and then from live to f/t.

Try with a live small rat - I know I used to be scared and think rats would cause more harm than a mouse, but really, mice are much fiercer (IMHO) than rats are.

Except for my albino and my colubrids, all of my crew feed on live rats - fed in their enclosures. I've never (knock on wood) been mistaken for food.

---

x2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by purplepython

take 810, and multiply that by .10 or .15

thats how many grams the rat should weigh.

---

never heard of this calculation. Where did you get this from?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SERPENT_MASTERS

never heard of this calculation. Where did you get this from?

---

It's a general "rule" of how to pick out your feeders. Feed your snake prey that weighs 10%-15% of your snakes weight.

I've heard that people stop using that "rule" when snakes get up in the bigger numbers.