New python feeding

I have a new ball python, about 18" long. Never owned a snake. I got him at a pet store four days ago. They feed him live crickets. I left him alone until today. Dropped a small feeder mouse in his cage this afternoon. He wasted no time. How often and how much should I feed this guy?

Oh my gosh, they were feeding him crickets?! :shock:

He can eat one mouse a week, about the same size as the widest part of your snake's body. I'm glad he ate for you. Did you feed him a live mouse? If so, I would suggest trying pre-killed or frozen-thawed mice in the future, so there is no chance of the mouse harming your snake.

Welcome to the forums, and please ask lots of questions. Everyone is really helplful here.

...sigh... Did they say if he ate the crickets?
What pet store did you get him from? Gen is right one mouse a week. Feed prekilled lots of ball pythons are injured from live feedings.

And again I agree with Gen PLEASE ask lots and lots of questions we all have tons of experience with all types of reptiles.

There were live crickets in the display box when we bought him. When pressed for more detail about the feeding habits of the snake the pet store clerk had no answers, must have been the goldfish expert. The mouse was live.

So, you suggest once a week, for how long? Ive read that adults eat less often, I just don't know when Juan Pablo will be an adult.

hmmm ... if the snake is 18" my personal guess would be that his age is around a 11-14 months. That is unless they were feeding him crickets and such then he would probably be underweight and thus length anyways.... anyways I suggest the same feed an appropriately sized prey item (as Gen suggested). I too suggest switching to Pre Killed (P/K) and or Frozen Thawed (F/T) mice as they are safer, more economical, and easier to keep on hand. I would say feed once every seven days for the next two years or so - basically until the snake appears to have reached adult size (length and width) which of course differ between females and males. Glad you're here! :)

Man that is sick, feeding a BP crickets, someone should lock those Pet store employees in a cage and feed them a small box of raisins with a half cup of tang once a day for a few weeks and see how they feel.

Also being a pet store snake in the condition you describe I would wait for the first defecation and take the snake to the vet to be sure there are no internal parasites and no dehydration (though you can spot severe dehydration yourself - see medical section). Wait until the snake deficates and retrieve the defecation and put it in a baggie and take the snake (in a pillow case or box or what have you) and the feces in to the vet. To find a herp vet near you check www.arav.org - fecal exams are pretty much the best way to tell what is wrong with a snake... the fresher the better. If you must wait a day DO NOT FREEze the sample.

About the big push, how often do they relieve themselves? I think I saw something about once a month?

yeah once a month is typical for a BP - some every shed, some just a touch over weekly... it really depends on the snake. For many a bath loosens them up.. just be sure the water isn't warm to the touch.. more like tepid or room temp (thanks Judy!) :)

Wow, I've heard of a lot of petstores doing wrong things for their snakes...but I've never heard of one trying to feed bp's crickets!! Maybe the crix just wandered in there from their lizard displays...but the lack of answers from the clerk would say otherwise. And of course if their displays are bad enough that even crickets can get from one to another...then you can be very likely to have a case of mites as well. I would recommend using white paper-towels as substrate for awhile and keeping an eye out for teeny tiny little crawly bugs. Also watch to see if your snake is soaking a lot in its water bowl...that can also be an indicator of a mite infestation. If you do think you may have mites, there are various threads already established about how to treat for them...or you can start a new one. :)

What is your set-up like? (And if you've answered this in another thread, please forgive me for asking again!) If you give us an idea of the size/type of enclosure...what you're using for substrate, heating, measuring...what sorts of hides and water bowl you have...we can help you tweak it and make it a perfect home for your new friend!

My wife has corrected me, the hap less clerk said they fed the snakes crickets every morning. Juan Pablo has never soaked in water, as far as we know. Although there was a milk snake at the pet store that seems to live in his water bowl. Will take advice to look for mites and visit vet when he defecates. Store was PETCO.

30 gallon aquarium with locking screen top, 60W red heat lamp on left side. bark substrate. two thermoters & one hygrometer. from lf to rt : synthetic rock hide, very small sythetic rock water dish for humidity control, one log hide, one climbing branch, several fake grass/leaf structures surrounding one cereal bowl sized water bowl as a cool area hide. Maintaining 84 / 75 with 60% humidity.

Crickets?! Did he actually take one? I thought that Bps only would accept warmblooded mammals like mice or rats.
I would hold off feeding for a week or so, until he gets accustomed to his new home. It can be very stressful to try feeding a new arrival when it does not know its surroundings well.

Welcome to the site glad you dropped in - your BP will thank you too.


Crix . . . that is bizarre and sad - we see an awful lot of depraved "care" doled out in some of thses pet stores, man, yikes.

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30 gallon aquarium with locking screen top, 60W red heat lamp on left side. bark substrate. two thermoters & one hygrometer. from lf to rt : synthetic rock hide, very small sythetic rock water dish for humidity control, one log hide, one climbing branch, several fake grass/leaf structures surrounding one cereal bowl sized water bowl as a cool area hide. Maintaining 84 / 75 with 60% humidity.

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Sounds like you're off to a good start. I would just make a few suggestions:

1. Ditch the analog dials (which, unfortunately, are not the least bit accurate) and get yourself a nice digital unit that measures all of that at once. You can find one at Walmart for $15 or less that measures the warm side, cool side, and humidity all at once. It also records the highest and lowest temperatures so you can see if the temps are dropping too much at night or whatever. You won't regret that purchase!

2. Also from Walmart, you can get an inexpensive human heating pad. Make sure it does NOT have an auto-shutoff. Raise the tank up a bit with little rubber feet on the bottom and slide the heating pad beneath the warm side. Monitor the temps closely. This will provide the belly heat that is more appropriate for a bp's digestion. You may or may not still need the heat lamp, depending on your ambient room temps.

3. You need to raise the temps of your warm side and cool side by about 5* each. Humidity looks good, but it's hard to say with the dial thingies.

That's SO sad that Petco was so stupid with their animals. If they keep that up, they will starve a lot of critters. If I were in your shoes, I would notify the management (going as high up the chain as I needed to go) that they are selling animals without training their employees in even the most basic husbandry care.

Wow. Ive said it before and Ill say it again. Pet stores ignorance, stupidity, and apathy never cease to amaze me...
I'm going to call the humane society pretty quick here on one of my local pet stores.
They havnt fed any of the ball pythons since 4/15/04
They are just hatchlings too. Skinny as corn snakes.
They also have poor conditions for their rainbow pythons and a blood with what looks to be an RI because of the lack of humidity.
Those poor things....
I hate pet stores...
(matter of fact I am going to call them today)

This is the same pet store I rescued Bones from. He was too skinny, had some very bad sheds and some scale rot. I got them to knock the price down alot. I wouldnt buy from them unless I knew they werent making a profit.

grrrrr :evil:

PetCo Strikes again.

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Originally Posted by gozetec02

PetCo Strikes again.

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Anyone surprised?

I agree with JLC on her suggestions. Especially about the digital thermometer. You'll be surprised at how inaccurate those other things are. And definitely raise your temps. Cool side should be 80, warm side 90. Sounds like you're off to a good start!

Several people here made coments about checking you new pet for parasites, and i couln't agree more. I know this post started out as just a feeding question and i hope you got some good information from that. But I am concerned for you new buddy and i want to see him/her grow up big and strong. You can look for external parasites yourself get a flashlight and use it to go up and down his body looking for ticks which will appear bright red and mites will glow a similar way.

Seems to me like instead of buying a ball python you rescued him from neglect and thats A ok in my book.

Post some pics of your buddy if you get a chance it would be cool to see what he look like since each one has a different patern.

Earlier this year I had to explain to the reptile "experts" at my local Petland that the baby BCI's in fact did not eat crickets until they were older, and that if they insisted on feeding them crickets, they probably would not get older.

They were astonished that those little snakes would actually eat mice, but when they tried it, guess what, Boa Contrictors aren't insectivors. Go figure.

The store SELLS books on how to care for your BCI. It just doesn't READ books on how to care for your BCI.

Heaven help any reptile in a mainstream pet store.

K