im completely lost

I was told my guy looked under weight that need to get him on rats or give him 2 mice each feeding well it was a fail he wanted nothing to do with the rat no intrest in it at all so had to hurry to the pet store and get 2 mice well he took one no problem so I waited about 25 mins then tried giving him the second well no luck there eather he watched it but that was it any ideas what should I do

If you think he's underweight and he doesn't seem interested in taking more than one mouse per feeding you could try feeding him more often. Instead of once a week,Maybe feed him every 4-5 days until you get his weight where you think it should be. :)

[IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psd41ebbb5.jpg[/IMG]

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Originally Posted by CrystalRose

If you think he's underweight and he doesn't seem interested in taking more than one mouse per feeding you could try feeding him more often. Instead of once a week,Maybe feed him every 4-5 days until you get his weight where you think it should be. :)

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I dont think hes under weight hes 196 grams and 1 foot 9 inchs I think he looks great heres a new picture I took yesterday he dont have loose skin or anything but I do feed him every friday would it be ok to try to feed him the other mouse tom and what do I do if I cant get him to take a rat

I have no idea of what you were told, so I can't comment on past posts. How old is your snake, about how long, and how much does he weigh. Or just age and a pic would do. Young BPs tend to be leaner in my experience. the problem with feeding mice is that you will have to feed multiple mice at some point. Over about 500g I move from weans (every 5 days) to small rats (weekly), which is at least the equivalent of 2 large mice (I find that large mice and rat weans are about the same size). I had no problem making the switch from mice to rats for my first guy. My suggestion would be to get him good and hungry. If he's a strong feeder give him and extra day or 2 after his next scheduled feed, then thaw (I assume we're talking f/t here) a mouse and a small rat. Rub the mouse all over the rat and try that. If that doesn't work try "zombie walking" the rat (hold it by the scruff and walk it around as if alive). If that doesn't work leave the rat in there alone with the snake for an hour or so (again, only if f/t).

It sounds like someone has alarmed you, and I haven't seen the pics, so I don't know that you shouldn't be, but BPs can go a long time without, or with less than adequate food. It doesn't mean it's necessarily healthy (it may be fine if it's a part of natural fasting I guess), but my guess is that your snake is not starving to death. Don't freak out, just work to increase prey size. Make it a goal, not a source of stress.

Only seeing the pics now. He looks fine to me, definitely not 500g yet though, 2 large mice may be too much. Do you have a digital kitchen scale? They are under $10 at Wally mart. How old is he and how long have you had him?

ETA: I just wanted to add that he's gorgeous! He's a normal eh? I love normals that have that awesome banded look.

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Originally Posted by Shera

I have no idea of what you were told, so I can't comment on past posts. How old is your snake, about how long, and how much does he weigh. Or just age and a pic would do. Young BPs tend to be leaner in my experience. the problem with feeding mice is that you will have to feed multiple mice at some point. Over about 500g I move from weans (every 5 days) to small rats (weekly), which is at least the equivalent of 2 large mice (I find that large mice and rat weans are about the same size). I had no problem making the switch from mice to rats for my first guy. My suggestion would be to get him good and hungry. If he's a strong feeder give him and extra day or 2 after his next scheduled feed, then thaw (I assume we're talking f/t here) a mouse and a small rat. Rub the mouse all over the rat and try that. If that doesn't work try "zombie walking" the rat (hold it by the scruff and walk it around as if alive). If that doesn't work leave the rat in there alone with the snake for an hour or so (again, only if f/t).

It sounds like someone has alarmed you, and I haven't seen the pics, so I don't know that you shouldn't be, but BPs can go a long time without, or with less than adequate food. It doesn't mean it's necessarily healthy (it may be fine if it's a part of natural fasting I guess), but my guess is that your snake is not starving to death. Don't freak out, just work to increase prey size. Make it a goal, not a source of stress.

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I have no idea of how old he is I just posted a picture he is 196 grams as of a week ago and about 1 foot 9 in. Also I feed him live hes been on live since we got him in dec and the person befor us had gave him live to we have tried many many times with rats he just wont take them dosent even attept it but we put a mouse in there and within seconds he snags him I always try the rat first and watch him for about 30 mins and no I never take my eye off him also have my trusty stick ready if the rat tries to bite him but no luck so take the rat out drop in the mouse and bingo he takes it right away I have pics on my profile also on my photo bucket profile

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Originally Posted by Shera

Only seeing the pics now. He looks fine to me, definitely not 500g yet though, 2 large mice may be too much. Do you have a digital kitchen scale? They are under $10 at Wally mart. How old is he and how long have you had him?

ETA: I just wanted to add that he's gorgeous! He's a normal eh? I love normals that have that awesome banded look.

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Yes I have a scale that weighs in grams bought it last week becouse I wanted to see what he weighed so went and got one
I got him dec 22 and I have pics on my profile of him whe we first got him all dated pics so I can keep track of his growth I guess beciuse I see him everyday I dont see much diffrence unless I look back at his pictures
Yes he is a normal and I love his bands to he is my first bp so im new to all this so some things kind of freak me out when someone tells me he looks thin

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Originally Posted by Shera

Only seeing the pics now. He looks fine to me, definitely not 500g yet though, 2 large mice may be too much. Do you have a digital kitchen scale? They are under $10 at Wally mart. How old is he and how long have you had him?

ETA: I just wanted to add that he's gorgeous! He's a normal eh? I love normals that have that awesome banded look.

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Yes I have a scale that weighs in grams bought it last week becouse I wanted to see what he weighed so went and got one
I got him dec 22 and I have pics on my profile of him whe we first got him all dated pics so I can keep track of his growth I guess beciuse I see him everyday I dont see much diffrence unless I look back at his pictures
Yes he is a normal and I love his bands to he is my first bp so im new to all this so some things kind of freak me out when someone tells me he looks thin

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Originally Posted by Shera

Only seeing the pics now. He looks fine to me, definitely not 500g yet though, 2 large mice may be too much. Do you have a digital kitchen scale? They are under $10 at Wally mart. How old is he and how long have you had him?

ETA: I just wanted to add that he's gorgeous! He's a normal eh? I love normals that have that awesome banded look.

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Also with the picture another of my favorites about him is if you look at the right side of the picture he has a heart on him

Up to 500 grams you can feed every five days.

Most people want to switch their BP's from mice to rats since once the snake reaches adulthood, feeding one small rat a week is cheaper than feeding 3-4 large mice. There are tons of threads and advice on how to get your BP to make the switch.

Considering his weight he is not ready for 2 adult mice per feed. Whom ever told you that is misinformed. I do think there is value in getting him onto rats though. I would try frozen thawed or freshly killed mice first, then once he will take dead prey, make the mouse to rat transition. I rescued a year old 150g male bp. He was severely underfed. It has been 6 months and he is just over 1000g. They do make up lost time when given the opportunity. To give you an idea of a well fed female, I have one born early August which I brought home in September and she is now almost 800g.

At almost 200 grams he will easily take rat pups. I have one about the same size that was on mice when I got him and, like yours, would have nothing to do with rats. I feed F/T so I warmed up a pup in hot tap water for about 10 minutes, then hit it with a hair drier for another minute or so. With the room darkened I then placed it inside the hide with my BP. I left the tail sticking out so I could tell if my snake showed any interest. Came back about 10 minutes later and the tail was not in sight (a good sign). I left him alone for another 45 minutes. Lifted the lid and found a pleasantly plump ball python.

If he won't eat it right away leave it in the hide overnight. If it is still there in the morning dispose of it.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Shera

Considering his weight he is not ready for 2 adult mice per feed. Whom ever told you that is misinformed. I do think there is value in getting him onto rats though. I would try frozen thawed or freshly killed mice first, then once he will take dead prey, make the mouse to rat transition. I rescued a year old 150g male bp. He was severely underfed. It has been 6 months and he is just over 1000g. They do make up lost time when given the opportunity. To give you an idea of a well fed female, I have one born early August which I brought home in September and she is now almost 800g.

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That snake could easily eat 2 of the mice I typically see at Petco/Petsmart...

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Originally Posted by sho220

That snake could easily eat 2 of the mice I typically see at Petco/Petsmart...

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The adult mice I got from Petsmart were 30g on my scale. 30g is plenty big for a barely 200g BP. BTW I didn't buy them but they were given to me with my first BP. I switched him to a weaned rat of the same weight within a feed, by scenting.

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Originally Posted by Shera

The adult mice I got from Petsmart were 30g on my scale. 30g is plenty big for a barely 200g BP. BTW I didn't buy them but they were given to me with my first BP. I switched him to a weaned rat of the same weight within a feed, by scenting.

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I've never weighed them but they're pretty puny...that's at Petco. The Petsmart here doesn't sell "feeder" mice so they charge an absurd amount for their "pet" mice...:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Shera

Considering his weight he is not ready for 2 adult mice per feed. Whom ever told you that is misinformed. I do think there is value in getting him onto rats though. I would try frozen thawed or freshly killed mice first, then once he will take dead prey, make the mouse to rat transition. I rescued a year old 150g male bp. He was severely underfed. It has been 6 months and he is just over 1000g. They do make up lost time when given the opportunity. To give you an idea of a well fed female, I have one born early August which I brought home in September and she is now almost 800g.

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Awsome thanx for all the info im actually glad he did not take the rat we woke up this morning and weng to check on the rat and it was dead and there was diareah all through the cage called the store we got him from and she said they found 7 dead this morning so whoever they got the shipment from yesterday sent them exstremly sick rats so glad he dident take him and get sick

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Originally Posted by sho220

I've never weighed them but they're pretty puny...that's at Petco. The Petsmart here doesn't sell "feeder" mice so they charge an absurd amount for their "pet" mice...:rolleyes:

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The one we got last night was 24 grams so they are actually a good size but gana try to feedhim the other one we bought in the next day or so see if he will take it if he does im gana start feeding him every 4 to 5 days

Just a quick comment, never EVER leave a live mouse in an enclosure with a snake overnight. The poster who suggested that was speaking of already dead prey. You're lucky that your snake didn't get chewed on by the mouse, so next time you attempt to feed, keep an eye on your snake instead of leaving it in overnight.

My normal, Matilda, is right at 160 g and eats one large mouse per week. I can't imagine trying to feed her a rat at this point. I honestly would think that you are feeding yours just fine. I know my other bp is only 70g and we have been feeding him every 5 days. You can try that if you think your bp is too thin.

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Originally Posted by LadyByrd

My normal, Matilda, is right at 160 g and eats one large mouse per week. I can't imagine trying to feed her a rat at this point. I honestly would think that you are feeding yours just fine. I know my other bp is only 70g and we have been feeding him every 5 days. You can try that if you think your bp is too thin.

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Rats don't just come in one size...a weaned rat is about the same size as a large mouse....hatchling bp's can be started on rats (pups)...people usually just start them out on mice because they hop around and apparently are more appetizing...:D

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Just a quick comment, never EVER leave a live mouse in an enclosure with a snake overnight. The poster who suggested that was speaking of already dead prey. You're lucky that your snake didn't get chewed on by the mouse, so next time you attempt to feed, keep an eye on your snake instead of leaving it in overnight.

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I never leave anything in the enclosure with my snake I have a empty 10 gallon I feed him in I took my bp out pit him back in his enclosure and put the rat in the empty tank

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Originally Posted by LadyByrd

My normal, Matilda, is right at 160 g and eats one large mouse per week. I can't imagine trying to feed her a rat at this point. I honestly would think that you are feeding yours just fine. I know my other bp is only 70g and we have been feeding him every 5 days. You can try that if you think your bp is too thin.

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Yeah I know what you mean I thought so to so just started giving my bp 2 one last night then gave him another tonight he took it no problem mabey you should try this to just start giving her 2 each feeding my guy took it great now hes all stretched out in his tank extremly full lol