Hey everybody! New to this forum....

...& I thought I should introduce myself! I'm Sarah from NC & I'm going to be gettin my very 1st BP in the next few weeks & I thought I would ask y'all a few questions. The breeder told me the lil fella is eating rat fuzzies right now. I've been looking online to get prices for frozen feeder rats & I would go ahead & put in an order, but I'm not sure how long he'll need rat fuzzies?? I would hate to get 20 or however many & half of them go to waste because he's outgrown them & gone on to bigger food. What should I do? Should I just buy rat fuzzies from th local pet shop & wait til he's not growing as fast before ordering large quantities? What do you think? Thanks!

It's tough to say. Every animal is different. If anything, you could always feed multiple rodents if he outgrows what you have.

Some online companies such as Rodentpro can pick certain sized rodents as well, for example, fuzzies being 13-20 grams in size and pups being 20-30 grams, you can ask for a range in your order, some on the smaller side and some larger :)

That's a good idea:) I think I might order 10 rat fuzzies & 10 rat pups, just to get him started & go from there. The breeder also told me he's been feeding him mostly mice but he could take a rat fuzzy/pup w/no problem. Thing is, he hatched sometime last November & his weight is 108 grams; is that normal for a 5 mth old BP? Like I said I'm very new & still learning

How do you post on this website:confusd:

Go to the top/middle of the page & hit 'Forums'. Then scroll down til you see a topic related to what you want to talk about. Once that page loads, you'll see kinda close to th top/left a blue button that says '+Post New Thread'

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

That's a good idea:) I think I might order 10 rat fuzzies & 10 rat pups, just to get him started & go from there. The breeder also told me he's been feeding him mostly mice but he could take a rat fuzzy/pup w/no problem. Thing is, he hatched sometime last November & his weight is 108 grams; is that normal for a 5 mth old BP? Like I said I'm very new & still learning

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That is very small for a animal that age. Most of mine around the 5 month age weigh roughly 350-450 grams.

O no, I hope he's healthy...

You think maybe its because he's been feeding him mostly mice?

My suggestion is to get a scale and weigh him. Based on his weight, you can choose the right size meal for him. It's hard to recommend proper meal size without knowing his weight.

And welcome to the forum by the way!

I would but I don't have him yet. I asked the breeder to wait until I could make sure conditions in his terrarium are right before he arrives. But trust me, a digital scale is definitely on my list before he arrives!

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

I would but I don't have him yet. I asked the breeder to wait until I could make sure conditions in his terrarium are right before he arrives. But trust me, a digital scale is definitely on my list before he arrives!

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Ask the breeder to weigh him for you so you can order proper sized food. :)

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

You think maybe its because he's been feeding him mostly mice?

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That is a good possibility! Ball pythons certainly should be fed rats as soon as possible in their lives. If that is all it is then he can catch up real soon. Simple. What type of enclosure does he live in? What are your temperature and humidity ranges inside?:)

Well like I said somewhere above, I asked the breeder to wait to send him to me. I have his terrarium here but I'm waiting on my substrate, UTH, thermostat, thermometers, IR gun, hygrometer etc. Once its set up, I will monitor th conditions for about 3 days to make sure they're stable, then I'm gonna email th breeder (Garrick DeMeyer of Royal Constrictor Designs) to send him to me. I want to make sure its right before he gets here

Thank you Albert, I'm looking forward to learning as much as possible here!

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Ball pythons certainly should be fed rats as soon as possible in their lives.

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Not true at all. As long as the meal is proper weight, it doesn't matter whether they're rats or mice. There's really no benefits in feeding rats over mice.

You will never find a better guy then Garrick DeMeyer. He will answer and help with any question you have. You did good buying from him.

I feel better now. I just want my lil fella to be healthy!

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

Not true at all. As long as the meal is proper weight, it doesn't matter whether they're rats or mice. There's really no benefits in feeding rats over mice.

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There is a huge benefit to feeding rats. Find me a proper sized mouse for a 2000+ gram ball lol

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Originally Posted by bondo

There is a huge benefit to feeding rats. Find me a proper sized mouse for a 2000+ gram ball lol

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Im not going to hijack this thread arguing with you. It seems like you didn't read what I wrote.

To answer you question, you can feed multiple mice to a larger Ball Python. So instead of feeding one large meal you give your BP multiple smaller meals. There's no health benefits feeding mice vs rats. If you disagree, PM me your scientific study.

Trying to figure out how to edit my 1st post. The breeder is feeding him *hopper mice, not rat fuzzies*

Welcome Sarah from NC :)

Thank you Rainman:)

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

That's a good idea:) I think I might order 10 rat fuzzies & 10 rat pups, just to get him started & go from there. The breeder also told me he's been feeding him mostly mice but he could take a rat fuzzy/pup w/no problem. Thing is, he hatched sometime last November & his weight is 108 grams; is that normal for a 5 mth old BP? Like I said I'm very new & still learning

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You won't be able to purchase 10 of each from the online vendors. They sell by the bag and fuzzy/pups will be 25-50 per bag. I use Rodent Pro and Big Cheese. RP is 50 per bag and BC 25. So in your case I'd go with Big Cheese. Plus they have a $29 flat shipping fee special running right now.

Laynelabs.com will sell them in 5s & 10s but their shipping is outrageously expensive. More to ship than for th price of the food!

Correction: the lowest Layne will do is 10

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

Laynelabs.com will sell them in 5s & 10s but their shipping is outrageously expensive. More to ship than for th price of the food!

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With very small orders shipping will usually be costlier than the product. Also the unit price is pretty high. I ran an order of 10 fuzzy/10 pup through Layne's shipping calculator using my Florida zip and total cost is $71 for 20 rats. You could get 25 of each from Big Cheese for $65. A much better deal. If the snake starts to outgrow fuzzies, you could offer 2 per feeding until they are gone. Though some BPs seem adverse to accepting multiple items per feeding, it probably would not be an issue.

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Originally Posted by DennisM

You won't be able to purchase 10 of each from the online vendors. They sell by the bag and fuzzy/pups will be 25-50 per bag. I use Rodent Pro and Big Cheese. RP is 50 per bag and BC 25. So in your case I'd go with Big Cheese. Plus they have a $29 flat shipping fee special running right now.

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How long does the flat rate shipping special usually last?

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

How long does the flat rate shipping special usually last?

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I don't know. I place bulk orders for a few hundred rats every couple of months. Seems like the shipping special is available as often as not.