Hey I'm still new to the site and I was wondering

About my new bp named Gorgon. She's female about 2ft 10in and the widest part of her body is 5in. I tried to weigh her today but couldn't get her to hold still will try again tomorrow. I have her in a 40 gallon tank basking side 90 cool side 84 humidity about 50-62 (I'm having trouble keeping the humidity steady). Have two hides one on the hot side one on the cool side. Have a nice size water dish for her to lay in and one pretreated branch and silk vines. I've tired not to handle her very much since I have gotten her. Letting her get use to the enclosure. I did handle her the the first day. Was checking out for mites and mouth rot found no mites but her mouth was very pale but with no mucus. I checked her again today and it was a light shade of pink. I will check her mouth again before I feed her and a week after I feed her. Is there anything else I need to do if so please let me know.

Now for what bothers me. She seems a bit under weight. Should I start her on 2 fuzzies or with a nice size hopper? She will be eating for the first time for me come this Saturday but as a few members of my family have stated she does seem it bit thin. Should I wait until Saturday or should I go ahead and feed her a bit sooner? I'll be post pictures of her tomorrow. Thank you guys in advance

hi there and welcome!

Pictures do alot of good when determining weight when we dont have weight measurements. Easy way to get measurements, 1) get a small rubbermaid that she will fit in 2) put it on a scale and 0 out the scale with the tub and lid on it 3) put Gorgon in the tub and voila! weight measurement.

As far as foor 34" is a bit big for hoppers... i have my 18" BP on weaned to small rats (i mean like runt small) and he takes them just fine, yours should be on something a little bigger, i would imagine a good sized small to a medium.


Where abouts in CA are you?

post pictures asap and youll get alot more help

I did as you say I weighed her in a tub turns out she weighs about 1 1/2 pounds thats about 680 grams (I think) here a picture of her sorry it's not very good.https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/sho...mageuser=18144

She should definitely be on small rats

pics dont work for me :(

At her size, she needs large adult mice or small rats if you can get them.

If she is around the 680 gram mark, for now she should get roughly 60 grams of food. Large mice aren't going to quite get there, but if you can't do rats they'll be better than any fuzzy or hopper.

Gale

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/img_1506.jpg

This one is a bit fuzzy http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...4/img_1500.jpg

And yes I'm wearing a glove have a nasty deep cut from wood I was working on and still seem to be bleeding better safe then sorry my dad likes to say

Looking at her pictures I'd say at least a jumbo mouse.

Well today is her feeding day and the people at WFReptile told me to start her on a jumbo size mouse. Now it's a live mouse they didn't have any f/t ones left in that size so will she be okay if I just throw the mouse in or should I whack the mouse then throw it in?

I'm in San Dimas

Start smaller meals more often rather one large meal.

With ball pythons you will notice when feeding larger meals they have large poops more often. My 3000k girls poop once every other month eating sm rats every 5 days. So feeding larger meals your basically pissing money away as its more than they digest/absorb.

That girl id feed sm adults to adults right now. Jumbos is pushing it for her stature.

Okay I will keep that in mind

She just ate today a liveadult sized mouse took to it like a champ I'm so proud only thing is it didn't seem to make a bulge in her tummy and she's still roaming around so I guess next week I have to start her on rats

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ladymisery

Well guys she just ate her first live jumbo sized mouse today. Took to it like a champ not shy or anything, (I'm so proud) but the jumbo sized mouse didn't seem to make a dent he belly isnt even a bit bulging like it should be and she still roaming around so I guess next week I have to start her on rats.

---

DO NOT FEED TO THE POINT OF BULGE.

You dont ever want to see a huge sign of a fed snake. Feed just enough to keep them thriving and wanting to eat consistently. Biggest mistake everyone does is feed huge meals to the point the snakes skin/scales are spread apart and then you run into a fat power fed snake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

DO NOT FEED TO THE POINT OF BULGE.

You dont ever want to see a huge sign of a fed snake. Feed just enough to keep them thriving and wanting to eat consistently. Biggest mistake everyone does is feed huge meals to the point the snakes skin/scales are spread apart and then you run into a fat power fed snake.

---

I agree.

I have to squint and use some imagination when looking at my pythons to try and see "prey bulges" when feeding. Mine are all growing well, feeding great and healthy as legless horses. ;)

I want to thank everyone who has helped me so far. Sorry it's been awhile been busy. I actually took Gorgon to the vet to get checked out (I noticed her skin was starting to look loose) she was clear of parasites no other health problems humidity is at 65, temps were okay. Vet wants me to start feeding her every 9 days but only if she defecates first. My vet told me to start her on small sized rat and to come back in at the end of next month. Again I want to thank everyone who has helped me so far.

Thanks

Misery