A few questions about my BP

So I got my boy on Sept 7th, he has never missed a meal. He currently gets fed weekly F/T hoppers ( I am switching him up to adult mice to see what he thinks) He is a year old. My question is when should I expect a shed? How often do they shed? and How often should he go to the washroom? He has only gone once since I have had him. Thanks

How small is this snake? Usually, at about a year old, the ball python is within the 800-1000 gram weight range and they'd be on small or medium RATS! Certainly not hooper mice!

Snakes shed as it grows. If it's not growing, it's not shedding much. At about a year old, they would be shedding about once a month and slows down as it gets older.

They also poop depending on how much they eat. My snakes eat one medium rat every week and poops about once every 2 weeks, sometimes longer.

As for shedding,he'll shed when he sheds. I'm more interested in how you trained him to go to the washroom in you home. Do you guide him there or does he find it all by himself? How close is your washroom to his cage?

I got an underweight 1 year old BP on August 7th. When I got her she was only about 130g. I started her right away on weaned rats (around 35g, which were about her width), she had been on ~30g adult mice up until then, but I imagine she was fed infrequently due to her size. When I got her she was in shed, but the guy told me it had been a long time since she last shed. She shed and pooped (at the same time, which is common) a day or 2 after I got her, and has continued to take 35-40g rats every 5 days. She shed a second time the week before last (maybe 6 weeks after previous shed), but she was then at around 350g, so that was a roughly 220g weight gain. As for the pooping, she has passed some marble sized urates (maybe 5 or so), but only pooped during the sheds (so about 6 weeks apart).

How much does yours weigh? I would say you definitely have to move up to at least adult mice. Have you considered switching to rats?

I would say:

get a kitchen scale that measures grams so that you can weigh your BP as well as the food items :)

with these two numbers, and maybe some pictures, it will be easy for us to figure it out :)

Feed him something larger, STAT. As other posters have mentioned, a yearling ball python is usually more than large enough for larger prey items. Weights help, as do pictures, but if you can't get us those at the very least offer adult mice at the next feeding. I'd even go for 2 mice with the next meal, if your snake will take it. Go larger until you are offering a prey item at least as big around as the snake, if not slightly larger.

-Jen

He is 190g today! Should he be on adult mice F/T? I was feeding what the breeder told me to feed him when I got him, and decided to try going bigger after I was done the small mice. I will try and post a picture of him so you can get an ides on his size.

[IMG]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...5535805107.jpg[/IMG]

My bp was a little over 200g when I got him. He has always eaten small rats. I would give yours atleast rat pups or weaned rats

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Is it just the picture or is his backbone that prominent?

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http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...45230203_n.jpg

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Is it just the picture or is his backbone that prominent?

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He has light coloring down his back bone, his back bone does not stick out

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...07157180_n.jpg

very good looking, he looks very healthy. not underfed at all.

but they do grow slower when they get less food, and i think you should switch to adult / big mice, or weaned rats. feeding once per week is totally fine, but you should try bigger food.

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Originally Posted by anatess

How small is this snake? Usually, at about a year old, the ball python is within the 800-1000 gram weight range and they'd be on small or medium RATS! Certainly not hooper mice!

Snakes shed as it grows. If it's not growing, it's not shedding much. At about a year old, they would be shedding about once a month and slows down as it gets older.

They also poop depending on how much they eat. My snakes eat one medium rat every week and poops about once every 2 weeks, sometimes longer.

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Glad to hear about the pooping thing I was getting worried about my boy..2 weeks and he pooped .I was feeding him fuzzy mice,but this past sat uped it to small mice,which he ate well. He also looks to be digesting well,will feed him another small mouse this sat..sorry not trying to hijack the thread.