Prey size limits, really?

The new baby is 62g and the herp guy swears she could eat a 14 gram juvenile mouse.

I can't see it, myself.

:confusd:

I personally wouldn't feed over 10 grams of rodent to a 62 gram BP

I'm sure that a 62 gram BP could eat a 14 gram rodent

I saw my lil 29 gram carpet python baby eat a small mouse so i'm sure a 62 gram ball baby can. but just because it can doesn't necessarily mean it should.

Oh yeah, your ball could easily eat a 14g prey item. A little bigger than you SHOULD feed, but I assure you, it is quite possible. I'd stick to rat fuzzies or mouse hoppers for the time being.

Id say if thats all u got feed it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplex

Id say if thats all u got feed it.

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I agree. Every once in a while a slightly larger than normal meal won't hurt anything. I just wouldn't make a habit of it. Maybe give your ball a couple extra days to fully digest before feeding again. :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dillan2020

I saw my lil 29 gram carpet python baby eat a small mouse so i'm sure a 62 gram ball baby can. but just because it can doesn't necessarily mean it should.

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There's a virtual dearth of hoppers available anywhere right now and I have the small mouse [who came with a bunch of larger mice for my two fiendish live-only boys] but frankly, I'm worried she'll explode.

[that and I don't know if she's "accomplished" enough to take down something that peppy and sentient, yet]

:O

It's a slim mouse versus the pudgy 9-10g hopper she has eaten and already shows no signs of ever having eaten it but I have no idea how long her stomach actually is.

I argued for the 10-15% total weight rule but was told it wasn't really so.

It's what I've adhered to with the other Beeps and so far, so so good.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplex

Id say if thats all u got feed it.

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If it's 'too big' won't it hurt her stomach?

I know she can stretch outwards to accommodate it but lengthwise, not so sure.

This would be only her third feeding.

He's supposed to getting hoppers tomorrow.

Nervous-Nelly that I am, I think I'll just hope he really does get some in his shipment and go back for her supper.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

If it's 'too big' won't it hurt her stomach?

I know she can stretch outwards to accommodate it but lengthwise, not so sure.

This would be only her third feeding.

He's supposed to getting hoppers tomorrow.

Nervous-Nelly that I am, I think I'll just hope he really does get some in his shipment and go back for her supper.

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I don't think 22ish% is big enough to worry about her having an issue accommodating, length or width, but since you feel unsure, you're doing the right thing and holding out until his new shipment comes in. :gj:

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Originally Posted by AK907

I don't think 22ish% is big enough to worry about her having an issue accommodating, length or width, but since you feel unsure, you're doing the right thing and holding out until his new shipment comes in. :gj:

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Thanks.

She's only eaten twice and just snagging a zoomy, blind crawler was a major endeavor for her.

This little mouse is wide awake and more like a "teenager" already.

It'd probably eat her.

I know how you feel dear.

But I have to tell you, it never ceases to amaze me just how big a meal these tiny little things can eat. When I started feeding my new hatchlings, I snagged what looked like the right size hoppers out of one of my mouse bins and just started dropping them in. It wasn't until the babies finished eating, and I noticed how much they looked like they'd just swallowed a football, that I though maybe those mice were bigger than I thought.

However, no harm was done, and now the little feeding machines think they should have two instead of one! :O Me personally, I think they need to wait until they look a little less like a blimp after eating to get anything other than a single hopper.

Gale

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

I know how you feel dear.

But I have to tell you, it never ceases to amaze me just how big a meal these tiny little things can eat. When I started feeding my new hatchlings, I snagged what looked like the right size hoppers out of one of my mouse bins and just started dropping them in. It wasn't until the babies finished eating, and I noticed how much they looked like they'd just swallowed a football, that I though maybe those mice were bigger than I thought.

However, no harm was done, and now the little feeding machines think they should have two instead of one! :O Me personally, I think they need to wait until they look a little less like a blimp after eating to get anything other than a single hopper.

Gale

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Remember itty bitty little 7, my Fire girl?

Last night she wolfed down a big fat rat pink like it was a noodle and never even noticed it wasn't mouse flavored.

She was what...what 65 or so grams last month?

She's 180g, now.

Might to my delight, she's a little eating machine who never says "Don't want!" to supper.

Contrast that to my born May '11 male Fire who's just now figuring out that food is good and just hit the 500 gram mark.

[weirdly enough, all my snakes are pounding chow like it's gonna be outlawed tomorrow....especially freaky Ozzy, the former stud muffin Kobylka Bee]

I'm hoping this sudden mass gluttony means something good...and fertile....:)

My normal was eating f/t large mice from Petsmart, but they seemed small and I really wanted to go to rats, but them seemed way to big. With that said, I have heard two things when it comes to feeding balls. One is to feed 10%-15% of there body weight or feed them prey according to the width of the largest size of their body.

I ended up finding a local reptile store were I picked up a small frozen rat. I didn't weigh the rat or the snake for the first feeding (just based the prey on width of snake) but today was the second time of feeding my normal ball a small frozen rat. The ball weighed in at 236g, and the rat defrosted weighed in at 76g, he took it like a champ, much quick than the last rat. Since he is taking bigger prey over the 10%-15% rule, I have moved him to a 7 day feeding schedule verse every 4 days to allow extra time to digest. The rat of course did weigh more than 15% of my ball but, girth wise, was not much bigger than my snake, he seemed to handle it just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

There's a virtual dearth of hoppers available anywhere right now and I have the small mouse [who came with a bunch of larger mice for my two fiendish live-only boys] but frankly, I'm worried she'll explode.

[that and I don't know if she's "accomplished" enough to take down something that peppy and sentient, yet]

:O

It's a slim mouse versus the pudgy 9-10g hopper she has eaten and already shows no signs of ever having eaten it but I have no idea how long her stomach actually is.

I argued for the 10-15% total weight rule but was told it wasn't really so.

It's what I've adhered to with the other Beeps and so far, so so good.

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If it's 'too big' won't it hurt her stomach?

I know she can stretch outwards to accommodate it but lengthwise, not so sure.

This would be only her third feeding.

He's supposed to getting hoppers tomorrow.

Nervous-Nelly that I am, I think I'll just hope he really does get some in his shipment and go back for her supper.

---

http://img.tapatalk.com/461cf56a-1da9-e34e.jpg

Thats my 1400g cinny mowing down a very fat 300g jumbo cause i messed up amd ordered too big. Big stretch and she was very very fat. Thats 21% close to your situation. She was fine.

In the wild the snakes would eat an insanely big meal if they had the chance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

Thanks.

She's only eaten twice and just snagging a zoomy, blind crawler was a major endeavor for her.

This little mouse is wide awake and more like a "teenager" already.

It'd probably eat her.

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You will be suprised. My hatchlings started on fuzzy asfs and moved to weanlings thr very next feeding. They all do fine

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplex

http://img.tapatalk.com/461cf56a-1da9-e34e.jpg

Thats my 1400g cinny mowing down a very fat 300g jumbo cause i messed up amd ordered too big. Big stretch and she was very very fat. Thats 21% close to your situation. She was fine.

In the wild the snakes would eat an insanely big meal if they had the chance.

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:O

What a big mouth she has!

:D

My Boas eat jumbo rats and it never ceases to amaze me how far their skin can stretch.
[and makes me really, really glad I'm not a snake]

:rofl:

My crazy male albino (850g) took 206g rat and it took 10-15 minutes to finish it sunday night. It was a tough decision. I did not plan to give him this size but they run out of medium rats at the show. This crazy boy push the enclosure with his head every night if he did not get his food on time which is every friday. By Saturday night, his head was bloody from pushing against enclosure. This happend every time if I was late for his meal. I had to choose between bloody head with bone exposing or big rat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktint

My crazy male albino (850g) took 206g rat and it took 10-15 minutes to finish it sunday night. It was a tough decision. I did not plan to give him this size but they run out of medium rats at the show. This crazy boy push the enclosure with his head every night if he did not get his food on time which is every friday. By Saturday night, his head was bloody from pushing against enclosure. This happend every time if I was late for his meal. I had to choose between bloody head with bone exposing or big rat.

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Due to lack of hoppers I gave her a small mouse and she scarfed it right down.

I'm sure she feels stuffed right now but seems fine.

At her age, I can't afford to miss feedings so I have to make do with what's available.

My supplier's supplier is having issues with his breeding stock and smaller mice are in short supply.