undersize/weight?

I got a female bp in 2012 and she is currently approximately 27" long and is 386.7g. Advice?

feed her more.

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

I got a female bp in 2012 and she is currently approximately 27" long and is 386.7g. Advice?

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A little more info would help. What is the problem? Is she not eatin and that's why she weighs so little? A rescue? Bottom line is she needs food and a lot, idc if she won't eat frozen thawed, give her live, preferences come last. Start giving her weaned rats if you can get them.

She eats fine. Got her from petco and was told to feed her mice until she's large enough for rats. I was also told one mouse a week would be fine. After doing research I have come to the conclusion that petco employee is a moron. I fed her a 40g mouse 5 days ago and just threw in another 40g mouse about an hour ago. She definitely is not picky, she'll eat frozen thawed and live without hesitation. Looks like she is about to shed as well. I'm going to up her meal's weight and see how she does. She isn't overly skinny either, can see the spine but not the ribs. Any other advice is greatly appreciated, especially as I will be buying a male soon. Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

She eats fine. Got her from petco and was told to feed her mice until she's large enough for rats. I was also told one mouse a week would be fine. After doing research I have come to the conclusion that petco employee is a moron. I fed her a 40g mouse 5 days ago and just threw in another 40g mouse about an hour ago. She definitely is not picky, she'll eat frozen thawed and live without hesitation. Looks like she is about to shed as well. I'm going to up her meal's weight and see how she does. She isn't overly skinny either, can see the spine but not the ribs. Any other advice is greatly appreciated, especially as I will be buying a male soon. Thanks again.

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If you can see her spine she is incredibly skinny. I'm not trying to be a jerk but if she's 2 years old she should be between 1000+ grams.. If she's eating well on mice, keep her on them until she has a better body composition. 40 gram mice is appropriate for her weight but not for her size. I'd be feeding every 4 days until you get her to the 600 gram mark and then I would feed her 2mice every 5 days until she's a better weight before you try to switch her to a more appropriate prey animal.

Will do. I'm not sure why but I can't post pics, otherwise I would post a pic of her so you cold get a better idea of her size. Thanks.

No worries. Trust me, when I got my first ball python, I didn't even know that I needed to regulate the heat - made every mistake in the book. It's a learning process. Best of luck to you and your pet :)

Thanks. I'll update as time goes by

Switch to rats. She will grow much quicker


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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

She eats fine. Got her from petco and was told to feed her mice until she's large enough for rats. I was also told one mouse a week would be fine. After doing research I have come to the conclusion that petco employee is a moron.

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I have six week old babies that are taking rat pups. Your girl was large enough for rats when you brought her home two years ago.

I would switch her to weanling rats ASAP, and bump her up to smalls once she hits 500 grams.

Thanks for the advice. Why will she grow quicker on rats, because it's a bigger meal?

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

Thanks for the advice. Why will she grow quicker on rats, because it's a bigger meal?

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Yes.

That's what I figured but wasnt sure if rats were more "nutritional" for snakes. Also how often SHOULD she be shedding? she looks like she will shed very soon as of right now, just curious of what the normal rate was.

If you get her on a recovery diet, meaning more x more frequent, she will shed as needed. Are you feeding her in her enclosure. I always pull mine out and put them in a heated 15gallon tank thats covered on all sides and enough to let some light in and dangle a f/t and found less distractions means better eating habits..

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Originally Posted by ElliotNess

If you get her on a recovery diet, meaning more x more frequent, she will shed as needed. Are you feeding her in her enclosure. I always pull mine out and put them in a heated 15gallon tank thats covered on all sides and enough to let some light in and dangle a f/t and found less distractions means better eating habits..

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This in itself is a distraction to some/most snakes, by removing them form there comfort zone... Id simply just feed them when its dark in room, with little ambient light.

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

That's what I figured but wasnt sure if rats were more "nutritional" for snakes. Also how often SHOULD she be shedding? she looks like she will shed very soon as of right now, just curious of what the normal rate was.

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As for this its all different from snake to snake, and age. when they are younger and growing sheds come much more frequent, when they are older there's many reasons they can shed, from injury/scale damage, to just overall new skin/growth. My full grown female sheds roughly 8-10 weeks give or take. Where some of my younger growing ones shed every 4-5 weeks, I have a pied girl who's went from 550-1000 and shes shed for me One time, which is just weird, where when she was a worm to 550 she shed every few weeks.

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

That's what I figured but wasnt sure if rats were more "nutritional" for snakes. Also how often SHOULD she be shedding? she looks like she will shed very soon as of right now, just curious of what the normal rate was.

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The nutritional composition of rats vs mice are slightly different, but considering no one really knows what a ball python's nutritional needs are, it really doesn't matter.

Nutritional values per Rodentpro...

A Juvenile Rat has:
Crude Protein: 56.1%
Crude Fat: 27.5%
Natural Ash: 14.8%
Energy as K/Cal:g 5.55 K/Cal
Vit- A & E (in Ui): 151,389 & 139.2

An Adult Domestic Mouse
Crude Protein: 55.8%
Crude Fat: 23.6%
Natural Ash: 11.8%
Energy as K/Cal:g 5.25 K/Cal
Vit- A & E (in Ui): 578,272 & 100.4

here are some amusing threads regarding this topic...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...3-Rats-vs-mice
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/pytho...ts-v-mice.html
http://www.rcreptiles.com/forum/about780.html
http://www.captivebredreptileforums....vs-mice-5.html

If you read through them, you'll find some say their BP's grow faster on rats, some will say they grow faster on mice, and some will swear they've noticed no difference...

I've had a few mousers over the years, and I'm in the "no difference" camp...it is more inconvenient to feed mice though...and they stink...

I once heard that they've even found hieroglyphs dating back to ancient Egypt discussing the merits of feeding ball pythons rats vs mice...

I feed her in her tank, usually I drop in a mouse at night nad I'll wait for her to grab it before I go to bed so I know the mouse doesn't injure her. Thanks to all for the advice.

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Originally Posted by sho220

An Adult Domestic Mouse
...
Energy as K/Cal:g 5.25 K/Cal

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I feel like I should be eating mice... they are so low in calories! ;)

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

Any other advice is greatly appreciated, especially as I will be buying a male soon. Thanks again.

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Just want to know what you mean by this OP. Are you wanting to know about your snake's feeding schedule so you can learn before getting a new snake, or are you insinuating that you plan on breeding the two?

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Originally Posted by NH93

I feel like I should be eating mice... they are so low in calories! ;)

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Lightly fried with a little of that Chik-Fil-A honey bbq sauce...not too bad...:D

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Originally Posted by sho220

Lightly fried with a little of that Chik-Fil-A honey bbq sauce...not too bad...:D

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Wish we had a Chik-Fil-A in canada


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Originally Posted by CORBIN911

Wish we had a Chik-Fil-A in canada


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They make a pretty good chicken sandwich...however, I'd buy this stuff by the gallon if I could...

http://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bpho...3eSo4CJQ/l.jpg

Hahaha I will pay you to upload a video of you eating a mouse XD hahaha

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Originally Posted by decensored

Hahaha I will pay you to upload a video of you eating a mouse XD hahaha

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How much? :D


eww...couldn't do it... :puke:

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Originally Posted by decensored

Hahaha I will pay you to upload a video of you eating a mouse XD hahaha

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Pay for my student debt, and we'll talk ;)

I plan on breeding eventually but knowing the correct feeding weight and schedule is something I needed to know as well.

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Originally Posted by NH93

I feel like I should be eating mice... they are so low in calories! ;)

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There are recipes in the book Never Cry Wolf. Here is a link to one:
http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?...e&oldid=458617

Of course... it calls for putting a cream sauce over them. Might ruin that low calorie thing.

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Originally Posted by kc261

There are recipes in the book Never Cry Wolf. Here is a link to one:
http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?...e&oldid=458617

Of course... it calls for putting a cream sauce over them. Might ruin that low calorie thing.

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Sounds pretty good other than the alcohol. I wonder if you can substitute a nice wine? Man! I'm gettin' hungry!

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Originally Posted by NH93

Pay for my student debt, and we'll talk ;)

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Hahaha let me pay off my own and well see hahaha :P

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Originally Posted by kc261

There are recipes in the book Never Cry Wolf. Here is a link to one:
http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?...e&oldid=458617

Of course... it calls for putting a cream sauce over them. Might ruin that low calorie thing.

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LMFAO awesome. Gross, but awesome.

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Originally Posted by N0ctrnl

I plan on breeding eventually but knowing the correct feeding weight and schedule is something I needed to know as well.

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If I wasn't so lazy I would find the link to the last feeding schedule/chart/write-up I did on here.. but alas... lazy.

Short and simple:

Hatchling - 500 grams I feed 10-15% BW every 3-4 days (4 days once they get around 300grams)
500 grams - 1000 grams I feed 10-15%BW every 5 days
1000grams - 1500 grams I feed 10-15%BW every 7 days
1500-2000 grams I feed 10-15%BW every 7 -10 days
2000+ I feed 10% every 10-14 days for males and 15% for females (give or take)
**Recovery - 15% every 7 days - when females come out of pregnancy, or if an animal has been on a fast for a while and has lost some body composition.

That's just my general rule of thumb. Sometimes I will make exceptions in different circumstances but that's pretty much what it looks like.