Finally got my ball to eat...just dotting my "i's"

This probably seems like a basic question, but so far I haven't found an answer.

After more than 3 months without a mouse, my Ball Python, Smeagal finally ate! I'm so relieved and happy, but now I have a question:

How often do I feed him? Should I feed him more often, because he hasn't eaten?

So far, I've fed him twice. Once on April 8, once tonight (4/15). Each meal consisted of two live mice. Is this too much? He seems like he's really hungry now. He's about a pound, and about 24" long. Are mice the right sized food? When will he be ready for rats?

I'm new to ball pythons (Smeagal is my first one). He has fasted every since I got him in Jan., so now I'm a bit confused on the schedule for feeding?

BTW, I do have a vet with experience with pythons/boas.

well, im new, but ill try to help. mine eats regularly, and is yet to go on a fast, but i woul just keep him on a regular feeding schedule (hatchlings=5-7days, adults=7-10days) dont know if that helps, but if not, tigergenisis will be able to, he helps me with alot of my problems, along with everyone else

Thanks for posting so fast. I'm planning on every 7 days unless someone tells me different. What about switching to rats? And one other thing...I'd like to get him off live food, is there a good way to do it? I don't want to freak him out into not eating again.

well, like i said, im new at thid, do you might want a 2nd opinion. i would try freshkiilled before anything else. i dont know bout the switching to rat think though. rex has been eating f/t rat pups since i got him, so i had no problem. sorry if none of this helps, im still learning, but im trying. but i would definatly get him to eat at least f/k before trying to switch. well, i just remembered something. try scenting a rat with a dead mouse. i have no experiance with this, but i heard it often works.

Thanks again. I am planning to go to fresh killed next time to see if he'll respond. Then, with luck, I'll go to frozen (much easier!).

How do I post a pic?

Hey gang
Rex your giving good advice and its nice to see that. I agree with what Rex has given so far personally I feed my ball a rat every 2 weeks that way i'm not wasting food, time and money. It works for him cause he eats regularly without losing any weight. However thats just my system. Now switching from mice to rats can be a pain in the A$$ I had no problems in this but then again I didn't wait I switched as soon as possible. Now there are many way to switch over from mice to rats the easiest being that you put a rat pup un and he takes it LOL. If that doesn't work you can try scenting the food with Chicken Broths or with mouse scent. Another thing you could try is giving him/her a mouse/rat combo, can't remember the rest but when I do I'll post them. A 2'/24" ball should have no problem with a a size above rat pup. You can try with the freshly killed which some pet stores may/may not do(personally I kill them myself so I really couldn't tell you if they do or not). As for the 2 mice he can handle that more then easily so no worries there with the only problem being that he may not choose to go to rats and stick with mice as his food source so again get him onto rats ASAP. Hope I covered everything and made sense along the way. Good advice giving again Rex.
Andrew

OK, I'll try a rat next time. I can't get live rat pups here...just adult live rats (and I think they are too big for him right now--more than double the size of the mice), or frozen fuzzies. But I will certainly try. Thank you.

My BP was bitten by, of all things, a mouse last feeding time. I had to clean cuts on his face and apply neosporin. You can bet your ass that next feeding day the mouse is going for a quick ride in the bottom of a sock before he enters the arena! I would definately advise against feeding live

A mouse, as opposed to a rat, that is. I heard that rats are usually the fiesty ones

Mice are just as fiesty, just dont pack a bite like a Rat. I've been advised against feeding every five days by many an experienced member, so I feed every 7 instead. I've switched over to F/T in the last 3 feedings so I have no worries about leaving the thing unattended in the tank at all.

Polarpooch....everyone's offered good advice so far. But here's my .02.

First...change one thing at a time. Either change to a rat pup (which you say you can't get) OR change to pre-killed. In this case, I think your best bet is to work with pre-killed mice...then frozen/thawed mice. Once he's eating well on those...start trying the rats. (They're much easier to get frozen anyhow, since you don't have to rely on a local petstore).

Feeding every seven days sounds perfect, especially if he's cruising around and looking hungry by the 7th. Helps him to eat!

When you're trying to judge what size prey-item to give...take a look at the fattest part of your snake...then the fattest part of the prey item. The rodent should be as big around as your snake, or up to 1.5 times bigger, for an ideal meal. Don't be intimidated by the much smaller size of your snake's head. :wink:

I second everything that Judy said. Frozen/thawed is definitely safer in terms of not just bites and scratches but also parasite transmission, and at just 24", there's no need to rush to switch to rats. I'd try a frozen/thawed mouse next time and see if he takes it, and if not do fresh-killed the next time. You never know when they're going to make the transition easy on you. Once you have him eating f/t, it's a simple matter to order frozen rats in whatever size you need from www.gourmetrodent.com or www.micedirect.com or any number of other sites, and then you don't have to worry about their being available locally.

Thank you all!

thx for the kind words soul of fire. nice to know im doing it right :D

Marla, you mentioned GourmetRodent.com. Are their shipping rates pretty reasonable? I read that it just depends on weight. The other websites like RodentPro seem a little on the expensive side. At least GR.com sells them individually. Thanks for answering one of my many, many questions.

Becky

Gourmet rodent supplies petco (usualy) with F/T prey items.Once you get him comfortable with F/T mice a small adult f/t rat should be doable. My Bp is just about 24 inches and he downed his first small adult rat a week ago(after a month off feed) it was about his thickness and 5 inches long from nose to butt. I simply did what Kara and some others advised , I got some real stinky used mouse bedding from the pet store, thawed the F/T rat in a zip lock bag with a scoop of bedding, got the rat real warm,and just before offering it I rubbed the bedding all over it and got it realy smelly (mouse smelly). It worked realy well although sometimes it may take a few tries.

Becky, considering the packing materials necessary, yes, their shipping rates are reasonable. It is definitely more cost-effective to buy in bulk if you can, though.

Paul, if your Petco carries rats, you're lucky. Mine carries every size of Gourmet Rodent mice, but not even rat pinkies much less other sizes. That's why I haven't made any attempt to switch the new snake over to frozen/thawed until I can get some frozen rats on hand.

For everyone worrying about the costs of shipping frozen rodents cross-country....keep an eye out for local herp shows. They always have vendors selling frozen rodents of every imaginable size. And because you're buying in person, you can usually choose the exact number you want, rather than having to buy them in blocks of 25 or 50 or 100 like off most Internet sites...and of course, no shipping! Not to mention the enjoyment of a herp show while you're at it. It's worth it, even if you have to drive an hour or two 'cause you can get enough to last for months.

True, and you can bring along a styrofoam cooler and a couple of cold packs rather than paying for shipping supplies too!