bp 26' long, how big of a rat to feed?

I feel stupid asking this, since I kind of already know the answer, but I guess I need conformation. I have been debating with myself, whether to feed 2 mice or one rat. Piston loves mice, but I like how rats, encourages him to grow. I have no intentions of breeding him/her I just want him to be as big as possible. He also got a heck of a lot more girth, since I start feeding rats. No, I do not power feed. He takes rats just fine, but I'm having problems deciding what size to go for? He is about 26" long, and his girth is about the size of a golf ball. Assuming you have normal size hands, the girth is about the same size as when you touch the tip of your thumb, with the tip of your "pointing" finger. I hope that gives you guys and idea. I find myself, in the pet store I go to, always asking for the biggest fuzzy rat they have, and always seems too small. This is the main reason I sometimes feed two mice, instead of rats. Even the biggest fuzzy rats I fed, leave no lump in his body.

Anybody out there with a similar size bp? If so, what do you feed?

if you say that the girth is the size of a golfball, try to feed your snake a rat that is about that size. i just started with bps but i have kept bci in the past and that was the rule of thumb that i was told to go with.

hope info helped.

leo

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Originally Posted by smellati

Piston loves mice, but I like how rats, encourages him to grow. I have no intentions of breeding him/her I just want him to be as big as possible.

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What's the rush to get him "as big as possible"? Why not feed your snake what your snake prefers and let him grow the way HE wants to grow? If you wanted a snake that "got big" quickly, a ball python probably wasn't the best choice ;)

-adam

Will he lose his girth, if I start feeding mice again? You're right, a bp was probably not the best choice, but now I'm attached to him, so he's gonna be with me forever. I freakin love him! He is so tame and good natured. At what size should I start feeding 3, 4,or 5 mice? How do you feed them Adam? Do you give them some time to digest first, before throwing in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th?

Oops, I just noticed I wrote that my bp is 26 FEET long, in the title. My bad.

Haha! I was going to say... for a 26' long ball python, any size rat would be an appetizer. :P

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Originally Posted by smellati

At what size should I start feeding 3, 4,or 5 mice? How do you feed them Adam? Do you give them some time to digest first, before throwing in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th?

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My adult males that are mousers eat 2 large adult mice per week no matter how large they are (and I have some HUGE male mousers). There's no need to "stuff them full" of mice, they won't loose weight as long as you are offering food once a week. They need far less food than you can imagine ... in the wild, adult ball pythons might only eat 6 - 10 times A YEAR!

As soon as the first one is down I wait about 5 minutes and offer the second.

-adam

I would also infer that the "low-fat" diet of mice would make a pretty lean breeder male as well, right?

Ironically, my male eats rats without a problem, and my female is pretty hooked on mice.

I just about fell off the chair when I read the title:eek: Anyways, get a piece of string. Wrap it around the thickest part of your BP. Then take the feeder rodent and wrap the same string around it. If they are the same size or if the rodent is slightly bigger, go ahead and feed it to your BP. This is assuming you are feeding FT.
Raj

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I would also infer that the "low-fat" diet of mice would make a pretty lean breeder male as well, right?

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Personally, I don't fell that the fat content of mice vs. rats is relevant when raising ball pythons.

-adam

Rats just go straight to the hips.