Yummy yummy mice in tummy! lol

Here's some pics of monty gulping down some poor lil' frozen mice! :D

Here's the first mousie
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat11.JPG
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat5.JPG
And the second mousie!
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat21.JPG
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat25.JPG

And check this out, he looks sorta like a king cobra here! lol
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat26.JPG
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat27.JPG
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat28.JPG
http://www.kustom-built.net/miscpics/snakeeat29.JPG

I would try and get him onto rats asap or you will be feeding him 5 or 6 mice at a time soon ,good feeder tho even in shed looks nice and healthy

really? you think a small rat might do?

u dont even have to jump to a small rat... a rat pup will do, just so he gets the smell/taste of rat.

as long as the small rat isnt bigger around that he is at his largest point then it should be fine. The only issue i see that might come up is if it is used to smaller prey items, it might not take a larger one as readily, so you may need to start with smaller ones and work up to it. Also, sometimes they may go a little while with out eating during the transition, but thats nothing to worry about as long as it doesnt go on too long. There are people around here that can give you alot more info on that than i can though.

And why should you switch to rats? It would probably make this snake go on a fast if it were fed anything larger than a rat pup/wean. This is an adult male Ball, who only needs, at the most, 2 adult mice per week to maintain his body weight. I only feed mice to the Balls, and one of my girls who I got in at 780g in April or May, gained 1000 grams in those few months. She's now 1770 empty.

If he eats mice readily(obviously he does), and they are easy for you to get on a regular basis, then keep doing what you're doing. Some of my snakes look at rats like they are the plague and a half. Throw a live mouse in there and it's on like Donkey Kong.

Don't fix what ain't broke.

Looking at the snake; he looks to be of a fine weight and build.. I would say that the mouse diet is fine for him then. Personally, I can't stand mice, but I believe that there comes a point in every topic where you need to take it in the context of "to each, their own." As long as the snake is not underweight, and the keeper can afford the food, and no other health risks are happening, I don't see anything wrong w/ mice as feeders.
Congrats on feeding f/t' my snakes act like it's a throw pillow or something unless it's live!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

And why should you switch to rats? It would probably make this snake go on a fast if it were fed anything larger than a rat pup/wean. This is an adult male Ball, who only needs, at the most, 2 adult mice per week to maintain his body weight. I only feed mice to the Balls, and one of my girls who I got in at 780g in April or May, gained 1000 grams in those few months. She's now 1770 empty.

If he eats mice readily(obviously he does), and they are easy for you to get on a regular basis, then keep doing what you're doing. Some of my snakes look at rats like they are the plague and a half. Throw a live mouse in there and it's on like Donkey Kong.

Don't fix what ain't broke.

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I completely agree with Becky! There's no reason you have to switch. If feeding mice works for you and your snake, then go for it. :gj:

try and dissect a adult mouse and a rat of the same size the rat will have 20% more bone and muscle mass so a 3" mouse and a 3" rat the rat will be at least 20% heaver hence more food intake .you have a 3000 gram ball how many mice to keep it well fed ?? where only one rat just my 0.02 worth

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bighill_Reptiles

try and dissect a adult mouse and a rat of the same size the rat will have 20% more bone and muscle mass so a 3" mouse and a 3" rat the rat will be at least 20% heaver hence more food intake .you have a 3000 gram ball how many mice to keep it well fed ?? where only one rat just my 0.02 worth

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You actually pulled out the bones and muscle to measured them? :O

No one has said that you can't switch or that it may be easier to feed fewer prey items, but it's NOT necessary. It may be easier to come by mice, in that particular area or other reasons why they have chosen to stick with mice. You can achieve feed either rats or mice with the same results. All you have to do is weigh the prey items, if you are that concerned about exact measurements. ;)

And that matters why? Like I said before in a few other posts... If a rat had 16g of protein and a mouse had 14g... and a Ball Python only NEEDS 4g every week to maintain it's body weight and sustain growth, then what does it matter what the snake eats?

I have female Balls over 1000g(4 actually) that are all eating mice. They each get 2-4 depending on their size and how many I want to give them that week. They maintain their body weight and I get around 100-110g of growth per month. In the case of one rescue, Breth(780g originally when I got her), she gained 1000g in 8 months. That growth is only by using 2-3 mice per week. I guess that's just not good enough. Let me go tell the poor, emaciated girl that mice aren't enough for her and she needs 200g rats every week. :colbert: Two of my later 2006 girls are both around 500g on one mouse per week.

If two 25g mice are fed to one snake, and one 45-50g small/small rat is fed to another snake, they're both getting the same amount of nutrition and will each be within grams of each other in body weight. A 3000g Ball would only need 2-3 mice per week to maintain, maybe 4 if you wanted to give her a little extra(the same as 2-50g rats).

And also, what the snake doesn't need will then be pooped out the other end. Feeding larger meals(medium/large rats) will get you more poo and refusals. I haven't had refusals from any of mine unless a shy one is in shed.

What I'm saying is... What may work for one person, may not work for the other. Mice work for me and a few others on here, and rats work for the rest. Feed whatever your snake will eat on a regular basis, and then decide what works best for you. Besides, that's an adult male Ball. If he's been eating mice his whole life, trying to switch him to rats is a bigger deal than some may think.

Just my 15 pennies

Thanks for all the input guys! :)

I think I'll stick to mice for now. satanic, you were talking about 2 25g mice per week? i think my f/t mice container showed they were like 60g each. I wonder if that is frozen? or is 60g just not possible for a mouse? lol I dont have a scale yet, and can't estimate the weight in grams. I guess by the pics though, you can see the mice are definitely small compared to what he *could* eat.

Also...any of you'se guys bp's stand up like that when they eat? i've got a buddy that says he's never seen one do that before, and he works in a pet store! :carrot:

Hehe, yeah, it's very cute when they go all "cobra-style" on you. Gravity works wonders for something that has no arms and legs to help the food go down. Imagine you trying to engulf a watermelon with no arms :)

I'll weigh some of my mice later(if they'll sit still). Some of the males are fairly large, but I doubt not anywhere near 60g(I may eat my words, haha). We'll see though. I just gave a rough estimate about what two mice "could" weigh. It doesn't matter what you feed, it's the weight of the prey animal(s). So 2-25g mice is the same as feeding 1-50g rat, however you look at it. My snakes look at rats like they are cold, 10 day old meatloaf from the depths of the fridge. But they look at mice like a Royale with cheese. ;)

And if you saw some of my girls, you'd wonder why they're not eating jumbo rats because of their girthiness. But they get mice, and 2-4 of them every week. They all gain weight very quickly, no one stops eating for no reason, etc etc ad nauseum.