Feeding my baby Ball *help*

Hey everyone.

I recently bought a baby Ball. It's really spoiled, already riding in the rearview mirror with me. :)

I plan on buying mice from Rodent pro, but am unsure which to get.
I was thinking about going with 5-7 day old pinkies/peach fuzzies and see how he eats.

However, there are 100 of these lil suckers in a bag-- and I don't see myself needing that many.

I guess my question is if anyone here wants to do a 50/50 split (literally) or are there any other suggestions?

Thanks again!

Welcome to the forum and glad you joined us. If you haven't already noticed it, we have an excellent care sheet for ball pythons available to you.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

Ball pythons, most especially young ball pythons, are very shy, secretive creatures. Allowing yours to travel loose in your vehicle may not be spoiling it so much as stressing it out and putting it at an un-needed risk should it manage to find it's way into your dashboard (an unfortunately not uncommon occurrence with snakes).

I hope you'll enjoy your participation in this forum. Please feel free to ask any questions, brag about your snake or just generally have fun meeting other herp minded folks.


~~Joanna~~

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Originally Posted by DJCraziAce

I recently bought a baby Ball. It's really spoiled, already riding in the rearview mirror with me. :)

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I don't need any frozen prey, as I feed live, but I was just wondering why your snake is riding on the rearview mirror, or even riding around in the car with you at all unless it's a visit to the vet?

Thanks for not answering my question, Rabernet.

Next.


And Joanna, thanks for the welcome.
This is the third I've owned. The first two were actually a long-time babysitting job.
I don't leave him by himself, he just didn't like to stay in the box on the transport home, so I let it on the rearview mirror. I drive an old-school Seville, with the flat dashboards-- there's NO way for him to get caught.

No signs of stress either, took him to the vet who said the snake was very content in that spot of the car.

Forgot to address your question regarding feeding sizes. What is the snake currently eating size wise? What did the supplier of this snake feed it on up to the time you purchased it? How big and old is your snake and how long have you had it?
I go by the biggest girth circumference of the snake and match the prey (at it's widest girth) to that, the prey being smaller and not exceeding the snake's girth. Since baby ball pythons can easily eat pinkie rats, pinkie mice are far too small for the average healthy ball python.


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

So sorry, forgot to address your question regarding feeding sizes. What is the snake currently eating size wise? What did the supplier of this snake feed it on up to the time you purchased it? How big and old is your snake and how long have you had it?

I go by the biggest girth circumference of the snake and match the prey (at it's widest girth) to that, the prey being smaller and not exceeding the snake's girth. Since baby ball pythons can easily eat pinkie rats, pinkie mice are far too small for the average healthy ball python.


~~Jo~~

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I figured pinkies were too small for him-- BUT that is what he had his first meals. I've had him for a few days, and will probably wait till he is fully accustomed to his surroundings before I try feeding him.

Is there a different company who sells LESS than 100 per bag? I feel like there's a lot of wasted mice/rats there.

You could try www.themousefactory.com and check what their minimum order is as far as number per bag and shipping costs. They have an 800 number and Edna is very helpful and informative about her product.

Just a suggestion though, before ordering frozen. If you have access to a local supply through say a decent pet store, you might want to let the snake settle in, feed it for a few weeks to make sure what size is right and that the snake will eat it readily for you. Wouldn't want to see you stuck with a bag of stuff the snake is refusing to touch. From what I understand, fully frozen mice/rats are good for at least 6 months but do check with the supplier about that (I feed live so not sure on that myself).

There's a lot of great information here as far as settling in your new snake properly so that you up the odds of a healthy, stress free snake that has a great, consistent feeding response. Just have a wander through the forum....gotta love that search button LOL.


~~Joanna~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

~~Joanna~~

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Thanks, Jo.

Feeding live will be a hard task as I raise mice (hobby) and I get sad at seeing a live one eaten.

A friend of mine who raises snakes has offered to let me bring my snake by her store and shell feed her, so I may take this route.

Thanks again!

No need to even consider live feeding really. It's just the method I chose. We raise our own feeder rats so it's very convenient for us. Live feeding, frozen/thawed or pre-killed are all good, acceptable methods of feeding ball pythons as is the choice of either mice or rats. Basically it's what works best for you, what you can get a good quality consistent supply of and what in the end the snake will take consistently with a good aggressive feed response.

Just another suggestion (hope you don't mind). Instead of transporting the snake to your friend's store for feeding and then taking it back home, perhaps your friend could drop over after the store closes, bring along "dinner" and help you get used to feeding your snake. Some snakes, if disturbed right after a meal will regurgitate and you really do not want to deal with that hassle. It's a mess and it's also damaging to your snake as they have very strong stomach acids that come up with their undisgested meal.


~~Jo~~

Yea, I completely forgot about regurgitation.
I'm not at all uncomfortable with feeding them, it's only when it's a live mouse that bothers me.

Oh not a problem, lots of folks don't feed live for a lot of different reasons. I don't advocate one over the other, whatever works and the snake is healthy and happy and the owner is comfortable with the feeding routine is good as far as I'm concerned.

We've had our snakes on both mice and rats and all types of feeding methods and they all did pretty well other than the occasional one that was very specific in it's likes and dislikes. Ball pythons are known to be pretty prey specific and very routine oriented, so sometimes we humans just have to adjust to the snakes (they sure aren't about to adjust to us anymore than they have to LOL).

We're still new to this ball python hobby in so many ways. Hopefully you'll find this forum a great, ongoing resource for you as much as we've found it to be.


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by DJCraziAce

Thanks for not answering my question, Rabernet.

Next.

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That was not necessary. :no:

As for your snake, driving with a snake loose in the car is a bad idea for so many reasons. First and most importantly is HEAT!! I don't transport my snake unless it is in a secure container, and then it's wrapped in electric blanket which I monitor to make sure the temps stay as stable as possible. Secondly, you should have all of your attention on the road, and not monitoring your animal. Please consider these things when you have to transport your animal.

I can agree with Jo on the Mouse Factory. They are excellent to work with. Wonderful. You may find your animal may not accept f/t immediately. I had one animal that required a couple live feedings, to get the routine of feeding down. Good luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DJCraziAce

Thanks for not answering my question, Rabernet.

Next.

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:confused: I thought I did answer your question of if anyone wanted to split 50/50 and I said that no I did not need to.

Yes, I did comment that having them ride around on the rearview mirror probably wasn't the best idea - but I did answer your question. :)

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

That was not necessary. :no:

As for your snake, driving with a snake loose in the car is a bad idea for so many reasons. First and most importantly is HEAT!! I don't transport my snake unless it is in a secure container, and then it's wrapped in electric blanket which I monitor to make sure the temps stay as stable as possible. Secondly, you should have all of your attention on the road, and not monitoring your animal. Please consider these things when you have to transport your animal.

I can agree with Jo on the Mouse Factory. They are excellent to work with. Wonderful. You may find your animal may not accept f/t immediately. I had one animal that required a couple live feedings, to get the routine of feeding down. Good luck.

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Yea, some people shrug on the mirror idea, some don't.

My mirror is heated and my snake does NOT move at all from there. Quite funny actually

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DJCraziAce

Yea, some people shrug on the mirror idea, some don't.

My mirror is heated and my snake does NOT move at all from there. Quite funny actually

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Really it's not funny at all. You can't keep an eye on the snake and the road at the same time. It may seem cool and not a big deal, but if you end up in an accident it won't. I think there needs to be a degree of responsibility while operating a motor vechile. It's really just not worth the risk, when putting the snake in a bag or container is so simple. :rolleyes:

In the end it's your snake and your decision no matter the good advice given here regarding snakes loose in vehicles. I don't think it's a very responsible idea as far as your or the snake's safety, to say nothing of the other vehicles on the roadway. Sometimes the things we do or decisions we make as keepers of snakes should they turn out wrong, cause a ripple effect throughout a community which ends up affecting other snake owners. Just something to think about.....

I did however miss your response to rabernet and would remind you that she was only expressing the same concern and doing so in a polite manner. I'm sure you intend to extend the same courtesy back to her in your future posts.


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by DJCraziAce

the vet who said the snake was very content in that spot of the car.

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I'm sure.

-adam