feeding questions, first time bp owner

i just got a ball python 4 feet in length. i was told that it was going to be let go locally here in wisconsin witch would lead to her death and i just couldn't let them do that

i was told that it is 5-6 years old. the snake has been fed pinkies once a week its entire life. i was told that it is the reason that my snake is so skinny at its age. i want to work my way into frozen thawed mice/rats if possible. i need to know more about how to facilitate the switch or what my best bet would be so that i can get her eating a little bit larger meals and maybe get her to fatten up a little.

here is 2 pictures of her. she is small for her age from what i am told


http://s772.photobucket.com/albums/y...dsmiley/snake/

Yeah, he's pretty skinny. I would give him at least a small rat. He should be able to eat it no problem. Make sure you give him a week to get used to his new enclosure and then offer a small rat. It might take him a while to get onto frozen, but I would start with live first. Put some weight on him, and then switch.

Looks big enough to me to try a f/t weaned or small rat. I will let the more experienced people on the site reply to see what they say.

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Originally Posted by PghBall

Looks big enough to me to try a f/t weaned or small rat. I will let the more experienced people on the site reply to see what they say.

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my hands are huge though so size representation in the pic is poor but my brother has 3 ball pythons that are a little younger and all 3 are about twice as fat as her

Do you see in the pictures how her spine forms a triangle shape? That is a sign she is underfed. She might be hungry enough to jump right on frozen thawed. Maybe you should thaw one out for her, but I would have a live standing by just in case. She definitely needs to put on some weight.

ok, so im heading to petco in a few hours to get both one frozen and one live. how frequently should i feed her? i tried the other day but i may not have had the rat warm enough, was room temperature. its been almost 2 weeks since she was last fed 2 pinkies. how frequently should i try to feed her if she wont eat?

Still looks like it could handle a weaned/small rat. I've had 350g snakes take a weaned rat without issue. You should see a big difference in him/her after a few good meals.

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Originally Posted by deadsmiley

ok, so im heading to petco in a few hours to get both one frozen and one live. how frequently should i feed her? i tried the other day but i may not have had the rat warm enough, was room temperature. its been almost 2 weeks since she was last fed 2 pinkies. how frequently should i try to feed her if she wont eat?

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I feed mine once per week and leave the rat with them for 20 minutes (I feed live). If they don't eat after 20 mins, I remove the rat and try again in 7 days.

if i do want to go with thawed though instead of live, ive seen my brothers snakes get bitten and thats why he feeds thawed, how warm should the rat be? does it matter after its fully thawed to room temp? does it need to be warmer?

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Originally Posted by deadsmiley

if i do want to go with thawed though instead of live, ive seen my brothers snakes get bitten and thats why he feeds thawed, how warm should the rat be? does it matter after its fully thawed to room temp? does it need to be warmer?

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After you thaw the rat, you will need to heat it up with a blow dryer for about 30-40 seconds right before you offer it. That will give it a good heat signature for the snake to focus on. I heat mine up next to the tub so my snakes can smell it coming and get ready...

i tried to feed her yesterday and seeing as how the rat was probably not very warm at all (fully thawed but not heated at all), should i try again sooner then a week since she is so tiny? she seemed very interested in the rat, stared at it the entire time it was in, she just wouldnt eat it. left it for about 2 hours

ok so ive been reading alot. i think she is going to shed and thats why she wouldnt eat. her eyes are a very milky blue. going to give it a few days before introducing another meal to see if she starts her shed.

Just relax and offer every week. Trying too much can stress them out, in which case they'll be even less likely to eat.

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Originally Posted by deadsmiley

ok so ive been reading alot. i think she is going to shed and thats why she wouldnt eat. her eyes are a very milky blue. going to give it a few days before introducing another meal to see if she starts her shed.

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Yeah, that is definately a shed. I would mist her enclosure to bump the humidity up every morning. She should have a nice clean shed for you. Some of mine eat during shed, and others just want to sleep. After the blue it could take 4-5 days for her to start shedding. I would just let her be. They can get cranky during this time, and it's a good way to get a little tooth kiss. Good luck.

i gave her a small rat a week ago today, she was afraid of it since she was bitten when she was little but we made the rat dance and she struck it :banana: im a very happy camper, thanks for all the help!!!!

When I thaw my mice out for my snake, I fill up the sink with very hot water, put the mice in a Ziploc bag, get all air I can out of the bag, seal it and weigh the bag down with coffee cups so it will stay submerged. Depending on how hot the water is, it will take maybe 15-20 minutes or so for the mice to thaw out. I give them to my snake immediately after. I have noticed that he strikes at the ones I thaw out in the hot water faster than the ones I thaw out on the counter at room temperature.

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Originally Posted by Bones

When I thaw my mice out for my snake, I fill up the sink with very hot water, put the mice in a Ziploc bag, get all air I can out of the bag, seal it and weigh the bag down with coffee cups so it will stay submerged. Depending on how hot the water is, it will take maybe 15-20 minutes or so for the mice to thaw out. I give them to my snake immediately after. I have noticed that he strikes at the ones I thaw out in the hot water faster than the ones I thaw out on the counter at room temperature.

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This is how I do it, too. Seems to work well. :)