Feeding Questions

I adopted my BP yesterday and they said she is eating F/T Hopper mice. Is a hopper mouse the same size as a size small mouse?

No, a hopper is too small for your BP. BPs eat hoppers for the first 3-5 meals only and are ready for small adult mice after that.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...51b6d6c5bd.jpg

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Yea as craig said, a hopper mouse is smaller than a small adult. How big is your BP? We'd be able to give your better advice based on that.

If you don't have a scale, then take a picture and use something for size comparison.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

No, a hopper is too small for your BP. BPs eat hoppers for the first 3-5 meals only and are ready for small adult mice after that.https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...51b6d6c5bd.jpg

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She is 6 months old. Is that big enough for a small mouse?

I'm going to weigh her tomorrow, would that help with deciding what size?

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Originally Posted by AnnieHeart

She is 6 months old. Is that big enough for a small mouse?

I'm going to weigh her tomorrow, would that help with deciding what size?

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Honestly, I was feeding rat pups well before 6 months.

At 6 months she can no doubt take a small adult mouse.

Weighing her is handy too.

There are two basic rules of thumb regarding prey size for BPs.:
1) the prey item should weigh 10-15% of the snake's body weight
2) the prey item should be about the same girth as the snake's widest part.

Keep in mind these are general rules of thumb only.

Also, this changes a bit as they reach adulthood.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Honestly, I was feeding rat pups well before 6 months.

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They said they were starting to get her weanlings,I'm assuming the equivalent of a small mouse?

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Originally Posted by AnnieHeart

They said they were starting to get her weanlings,I'm assuming the equivalent of a small mouse?

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The problem with going off certain terms for stuff is that they may consider it something else. If they said weanlings, I'm thinking weaned rats, but that not may be the case. How big around is her thickest part?

Also if he's talking about weaned rats, that's larger than rat pups and well largrer than a small mouse.

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Originally Posted by Neal

The problem with going off certain terms for stuff is that they may consider it something else. If they said weanlings, I'm thinking weaned rats, but that not may be the case. How big around is her thickest part?

Also if he's talking about weaned rats, that's larger than rat pups and well largrer than a small mouse.

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I think it was weaned mice. In that case, would it be a small mouse?

Do you think it's fine to go and weigh and measure her on her first day?

There's no such thing as weaned mice.

Pinkies, fuzzies, hoppers, small adult, adult, jumbo.

Rats are
Pinkies, fuzzies, pups, weaned, small, medium, large, jumbo, colossal.

I'm sure it's fine to weigh him. But you don't have to do it now, wait until you get ready to feed him.

Weight: 160g

A little over one inch wide.

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Originally Posted by AnnieHeart

Weight: 160g

A little over one inch wide.

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follow the chart posted above, and weigh your prey item.

Okay, according to the posted chart a BP with the weight of 160 should have small mice, correct? Thanks for the chart!!

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Originally Posted by AnnieHeart

Okay, according to the posted chart a BP with the weight of 160 should have small mice, correct? Thanks for the chart!!

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correct.

any place that sells feeders will have the feeder weight posted somewhere, either on the box or in the info online. you can always weigh the prey item yourself before offering.

trust the chart. it was created by one of our own members, and very reputable breeder, @Eric Alan.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

correct.

any place that sells feeders will have the feeder weight posted somewhere, either on the box or in the info online. you can always weigh the prey item yourself before offering.

trust the chart. it was created by one of our own members, and very reputable breeder, @Eric Alan.

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Cool! I love the chart, it's very easy to follow.

So I used this video to help me get a better idea of the terms and what they refer to size wise.

https://youtu.be/UXF-GaoWot0

It helped me understand what I needed to get. I just got my BP a few weeks ago and the breeder said live hopper is what it has eaten yet petsmart didn't have "hoppers", they just had pinkies, fuzzies, small, medium and large mice so I went with the small mouse and my boy had no issue with it. Specially for his first time feeding for me and first time eating F/T. I weighed him last week after his first feed with me and he came in at 93g

That's a great idea. I'm going to print that chart and post it on the freezer at work and on the mice cage! Yes!

Yes, I would go ahead & weigh her now, then let her settle in for at least a week (2 is even better) before any more handling or feeding.

That will give you plenty of time to figure out what she's been eating (best to continue with SAME for the first few meals, even if it's smaller than you think she needs),
& by all means, ask them specifically whether they were feeding mice or rats: they smell (& presumably taste) quite different & you don't want to throw a 'curve' to your
newly acquired & still nervous BP. For best results, give them TIME to settle in, undisturbed...then offer food. If you feed a new snake too soon, some may up-chuck it-
just because they are still nervous about being in unfamiliar ("scary") surroundings.

BTW, a "hopper mouse" is basically a "weaned" mouse, smaller than an adult mouse but eating on it's own (unlike a 'fuzzy', which is still nursing).