mice to rats? no-go

i was advised to move my BP from mice to rats. tried a small rat he is not interested, just passes by it. i did change his tank to a bigger one a week ago. he has been very active. he has a great hide. temp is 85 in tank warmer in hide.

Duplicate post? http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...our-beloved-BP....

You might get some responses if you answer Kevin's questions on your other post. It will help people offer informed advice.

Edit: I'm guessing you reposted so it would be in the BP section, but that info will still help. :)

oops. sorry i just found this site and i havent got it quite figured out yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arrow

oops. sorry i just found this site and i havent got it quite figured out yet.

---

Hey, no problem. And welcome!

Here, I copied InknSteel's post from your other thread:

How big is the snake and how big of a tank did you put him in? What are your temps and humidity? Also, when did you change him to the new tank and how long did you wait to offer?

It can be difficult to get picky mousers to switch over to rats, so first things first, make sure your new tank is set up properly and is an appropriate size for your bp. Once you move the snake, it would be a good idea to wait and let him acclimate to the new environment before offering. It could be stress related refusal, it could have something to do with the setup, or it could just be that the snake is used to mice and the rat has an unfamiliar smell.

How big is the rat in comparison to the mice you've been feeding?

I see you waited a week after the change before offering, but what are your ambient and hot spot temps? What size tank is it, and how big is your BP? Do you have only one hide, or does he have a few to choose from (warm and cool)? What size mouse had you been offering, and what size rat?

he is 3 feet 4 inches not very thick. i moved him from a 20 gallon to a 55. he has plenty of places to hide. heat on the bottom under hide and a lamp above. tank is 85 degrees warmer in his hide. i dont know the humidity. i didnt know i was supposed to measure that. he has been in the new tank for a week. very active. i thought he was hungry he has a small mouse a week ago. but he just passed by the rat.

Looks like we're playing musical threads. :P

85 degrees is too warm for ambient. Make sure you have a thermostat regulating that under tank heater, or it will get way too hot. 55 gallons is also pretty big for a BP - he was probably fine in the 20 gal. Check out the caresheet on this site for more setup info (also has a section on "why won't my BP eat?").

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

sorry i posted this two times. moved from a 20 gallon to a 55. he is approx. 3'4" not too big around tank is 85 i didnt know i should measure the humidity. ill have to take a trip to the store. but his tank is in the living room, could that be a problem? one side is his hide with heat under and above other side is water and cooler. half logs in the middle for extra hides. mice were large. the rat i offered was small/med.

think i should put him back in the 20 gallon? it just seemed so small for him:(

Check out the caresheet to correct your temps and get a digital thermometer/hygrometer to measure humidity and the temp on the glass directly above the heater. My immediate guess is that the tank is just way too big and he doesn't feel secure. Log hides don't provide security since you can see right into them (like a predator would). Try moving him back to his original tank (still check temps and humidity according to the caresheet), wait a week, and then try a rat similar in size to the mice, or slightly larger. I say larger because too young of a rat won't move as much as a mouse, which might not entice him to see it as prey, but not too much larger or it might intimidate him.

If you really want to put him in a larger tank, wait until he has switched to rats for a few feedings so you aren't changing more than one thing at a time, but he really doesn't need a 55gal (ever).

Clear as mud? :)

Water bowl on the hot side will help increase your humidity until you can measure it :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Annarose15

he is 3 feet 4 inches not very thick. i moved him from a 20 gallon to a 55. he has plenty of places to hide. heat on the bottom under hide and a lamp above. tank is 85 degrees warmer in his hide. i dont know the humidity. i didnt know i was supposed to measure that. he has been in the new tank for a week. very active. i thought he was hungry he has a small mouse a week ago. but he just passed by the rat.

Looks like we're playing musical threads. :P

85 degrees is too warm for ambient. Make sure you have a thermostat regulating that under tank heater, or it will get way too hot. 55 gallons is also pretty big for a BP - he was probably fine in the 20 gal. Check out the caresheet on this site for more setup info (also has a section on "why won't my BP eat?").

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

---

ok. i think im getting this site figured out:oops:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arrow

ok. i think im getting this site figured out:oops:

---

think i should move him back to the 20 gallon?

A 55-gallon is way to big for a BP. They like tight, confined spaces so they feel secure. At that size I would say stick with the 20-gallon. It might not e eating because it doesn't feel to secure.

Wait until the more experienced handlers give there opinion though.

:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Annarose15

Check out the caresheet to correct your temps and get a digital thermometer/hygrometer to measure humidity and the temp on the glass directly above the heater. My immediate guess is that the tank is just way too big and he doesn't feel secure. Log hides don't provide security since you can see right into them (like a predator would). Try moving him back to his original tank (still check temps and humidity according to the caresheet), wait a week, and then try a rat similar in size to the mice, or slightly larger. I say larger because too young of a rat won't move as much as a mouse, which might not entice him to see it as prey, but not too much larger or it might intimidate him.

If you really want to put him in a larger tank, wait until he has switched to rats for a few feedings so you aren't changing more than one thing at a time, but he really doesn't need a 55gal (ever).

Clear as mud? :)

---

kk...will do.thanks for the advise. ill work on my skills on the web site. thanks for your patience as i stumbled through my posts...lol..:D

Happy to help :)

I disagree about a 55 being too big. My ball python is a 2 year old male he started in a 20 long at a couple months old he got about as long as the aquarium and that's about the time I move my snakes to a bigger aquarium. He's been in a 55 since he was 1 year. The back and right sides are against wall in the corner of my bedroom. Low traffic areas are best and he's got his fav hide so the move never stresses him didn't miss a feeding medium rats now. Biggest question do u give him live or frozen?

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Viperk

A 55-gallon is way to big for a BP. They like tight, confined spaces so they feel secure. At that size I would say stick with the 20-gallon. It might not e eating because it doesn't feel to secure.

Wait until the more experienced handlers give there opinion though.

:)

---

Definitely agree with this. 55 gal seems too big for a ball python, unless its a huge adult female. Keep him in the 20 gal imo. Also, you definitely want to black out three sides of any glass tank you keep a ball python in. Glass tanks look nice but dont serve their purpose too well. When all 4 sides are exposed, your BP may feel insecure and may not eat for this reason.

I have a friend whos had his ball python for around 8 months. First 5 months, his bp ate two times out of five attempts. Pretty stupid that he only tried feeding him five times in five months but ANYWAYS... after I gave him a bit of advice, he got two identical hides, blacked out the sides, started thawing properly and offering the appropriate sized meals, his ball python hasnt missed a meal since! Not saying proper husbandry fixes all feeding problems though, but it definitely is a good starting point!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mattchibi

Definitely agree with this. 55 gal seems too big for a ball python, unless its a huge adult female. Keep him in the 20 gal imo. Also, you definitely want to black out three sides of any glass tank you keep a ball python in. Glass tanks look nice but dont serve their purpose too well. When all 4 sides are exposed, your BP may feel insecure and may not eat for this reason.

I have a friend whos had his ball python for around 8 months. First 5 months, his bp ate two times out of five attempts. Pretty stupid that he only tried feeding him five times in five months but ANYWAYS... after I gave him a bit of advice, he got two identical hides, blacked out the sides, started thawing properly and offering the appropriate sized meals, his ball python hasnt missed a meal since! Not saying proper husbandry fixes all feeding problems though, but it definitely is a good starting point!

---

thanks. switched him back to 20 gallon. working on humidity. gonna leave him be for a few days to get used to the old tank again. also moved him back to the bedroom.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by arrow

thanks. switched him back to 20 gallon. working on humidity. gonna leave him be for a few days to get used to the old tank again. also moved him back to the bedroom.

---

Good job :) Let us know if you have more questions

Another thing I dont know if anyone has said is: If you dont already have one, you should purchase a digital food scale so you can track the weight of your bp as well as its food. The reason being.. if you want to keep trying to feed rats, that is no problem at all, as long as your bp isnt losing any weight. Try to find rats that are 10-15% of body weight, anything smaller may not entice your ball python to get a feeding response. You can keep trying to feed rats and dont go back to mice unless your bp starts losing significant weight.

just remember the rule of thumb tank should be half the length of bp. A adult bp can spend its hole life a 20 long.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmitch

just remember the rule of thumb tank should be half the length of bp. A adult bp can spend its hole life a 20 long.

---

awesome fun fact! i never heard that before. i just keep thinking he needs more room and more stuff to "play" with. lol.

wow so glad i found this site. i have owned my BP for over a year and i have learned so much in the past two days. bp's are so different. i assumed he was happy cause he was always roaming the tank day and night. i thought he was "checking" stuff out. i never would have guessed he was stressed and looking for security.

20 gallon is the most widely used but I've kept and worked extensively with dozens of contractors and few venomous snakes. Most have a a generalization as a species of their preferences but there aren't 2 ball pythons that would prefer identical housing and/or food. Ball Pythons, as picky eaters easily stressed, and often skittish. Learn you're snake don't ever change 2 things at once there's no control group and determining the stressor can be difficult. His/her actions and personality will tell you all you want mine is in a 55 eats regularly loves bathing, climbing tree, and is beyond social. In the wild they have all the room in the world with a cozy hide. When mine was in his 20 long at about 350 grams constancy stood tall to the screen wouldn't just bask well fed but did not like it moved him to 55 and he quit bein restless I couldn't ask for a more perfect snake but all are different know ur snake and it'll all fall into place

reptifnatic