Large meals?

Im a not new to ball python keeping but I got a new pretty girl from petsmart, whom I barely considered them a source for healthy reptiles, but I fell in love with my new pastel python and couldn't just leave her there anyhoo... she wasn't eating for the three months while she was there because they only feed frozen. so we brought her home and let her get acclimated to her new tank for two days then I bought fuzzies for her and my fiance's olive house snake... needless to say I gave her as many as she would take and she ate all 6...my question now its been 7 days and she hasn't pooped yet but she is searching her tank should I feed her? I feel like I should wait till she poos at least once? What do you guys think?

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If by fuzzy you mean fuzzy mice than you need to up the size of prey items. Also they poo when they need to and should be fed every 5-7 days for that age/size animal. A lot wait to poo til they shed. At her size she should be feeding on crawler rats at the smallest

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If she hasn't eaten in 3 months, it's best to feed smaller meals then gradually increase to regular portioned meals.
And you don't have to wait for a poop. Some ball pythons poop once a month and only when they shed, but are fed once a week. And since yours has been underfed, she'll be absorbing as much food as possible now, so you might not get that much poop yet.

Mine poops about every other week and i feed once every 7 days. They go when they want

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Im not sure about the rats she had a lot of trouble getting the fuzzies I brought home knocked out let a lone dead .... like she tried to eat one sideways and it kicked the whole way down

A hatchling ball will eat a fuzzy mouse if it is a small hatchling as a full meal. The second meal is generally a rat pup and so on. They can eat items quite a bit larger than you may think. Also if it is having trouble killing them you should try ft.

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Petsmart was trying ft and she wouldn't take it and I offered frozen first but she didn't want anything to do with it also after calling around no one by me has pups for her

I've always preferred buying pups though my new pretty girl is just really dumb eating and about not falling off her branches

Balls are not the best climbers out there. The best set up is 2 hides and a water dish. You don't really need more than that honestly

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Originally Posted by Obi420

Im a not new to ball python keeping but I got a new pretty girl from petsmart, whom I barely considered them a source for healthy reptiles, but I fell in love with my new pastel python and couldn't just leave her there anyhoo... she wasn't eating for the three months while she was there because they only feed frozen. so we brought her home and let her get acclimated to her new tank for two days then I bought fuzzies for her and my fiance's olive house snake... needless to say I gave her as many as she would take and she ate all 6...my question now its been 7 days and she hasn't pooped yet but she is searching her tank should I feed her? I feel like I should wait till she poos at least once? What do you guys think?

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Bowel movement can happen anywhere between a few days after a meal to several week so obviously you should not wait until your animal poops to feed again.

Now since the animal has not been eating for 3 months the majority of the prey you will offer for the next few week will be utilized for growth leaving little to nothing to be eliminated.

Additionally if you are under feeding this animal this will not help either.

Keep in mind that an hatchling out of the egg can take down a hopper mouse or rat fuzzy with no issue, obviously if this animal has not ate in 3 months it is not an hatchling out of the egg.

You need to feed a prey that is equal it's girth size (largest par of your BP's body)

Both your threads have been merged in an effort to keep the forum clutter free, no need to post the same thread multiple times just be patient and wait for answer (not everyone is up at 1 am to answer threads ;)). Thank you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Obi420

Im a not new to ball python keeping but I got a new pretty girl from petsmart, whom I barely considered them a source for healthy reptiles, but I fell in love with my new pastel python and couldn't just leave her there anyhoo... she wasn't eating for the three months while she was there because they only feed frozen. so we brought her home and let her get acclimated to her new tank for two days then I bought fuzzies for her and my fiance's olive house snake... needless to say I gave her as many as she would take and she ate all 6...my question now its been 7 days and she hasn't pooped yet but she is searching her tank should I feed her? I feel like I should wait till she poos at least once? What do you guys think?

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All I would recommend is to read the care sheets here and learn to set up and care for your snake.
There are many threads on switching to f/t but if you feed live use caution and be ready to act.
Best of luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Obi420

Im not sure about the rats she had a lot of trouble getting the fuzzies I brought home knocked out let a lone dead .... like she tried to eat one sideways and it kicked the whole way down

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maybe she was too weak from the long fast? after the meal you gave, she should have enough energy to properly kill the prey.
the last part of your post leaves me thinking the fuzzy was alive when she swallowed it? this is unheared of. the snake must be really hungry and so it swallowed the food in a hurry without killing it. :O

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Originally Posted by J.P.

the snake must be really hungry and so it swallowed the food in a hurry without killing it. :O

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There are quite a few snakes out there that will swallow their prey alive, especially if it's 'undersized'. Hang around some cornsnake forums sometimes and you'll see even more of it - may very well be more rare with BP, though.

That said I have one snake who doesn't constrict at all. He just takes it and starts swallowing. She's on F/T, but I'm not a bit sure he'd respond differently to live prey. I've never seen him properly strike either.

by snake, i was refering to ball python. i'm genuinely surprised to hear of one swallowing live prey... but with the quirky nature of balls, i never discount possibilities.:)