How fast to up food size?

We have a BP Frank (the Crank) that is almost 2 months old.
We have had him for about 3 weeks now.

We were told he was eating live fuzzy mice.
He has eaten f/t fuzzy mice for us every 5 days 3 times in a row now.

I am wondering how fast do these guys go up in food size???
To me he already seems like he should be onto hoppers or even weanlings.
Perhaps if he had a bigger meal he wouldn't want to kill us when we hold him.:oops:

It seems odd to me that he is eating the same size as our Hognose and our '07 corns...:confused:

Thank you:)

Live fuzzy mice for a 2 month old ball python seems too little. I would move up to something about 19g or so.

Thank you.
This is our first BP... the people I talked to said "they are like corn snakes but more docile and thicker"...
So far that has not been the case and I want to be sure he gets the right nutrition when he is growing.

I have read a lot about the ills of power feeding and wanted to make sure I did not mess him up either by over or under feeding.

He ate two f/t fuzzy mice tonight...
that would be about 10-14 grams total (5-7grams per mouse fuzzy)
Should I could go ahead and offer him another one?

Should I go ahead and bump him all the way up to
Rat fuzzies-19 grams???
Weaned mice are only 15 grams and
Adult mice are 25 grams:weirdface

I just don't want him to regurge by going from so little to such a big food item...
Sorry to be such a pain...new BP mommy nerves:oops:

I feed my 275gram ball python a 25gram adult mouse every week.

I try to feed a mouse that is 10-15% of the snakes weight, but with mice being so small that and no rats available readily in my area that is kinda of tough.

If you know the weight of your BP that could help get some better advice on what size you should be feeding.

I will weigh him on Tuesday...I don't want to handle him tomorrow and make him barf:(

So 10-15% is a good rule of thumb for the BP's entire life or just when they are growing?


Thank you!

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Originally Posted by Cam

I will weigh him on Tuesday...I don't want to handle him tomorrow and make him barf:(

So 10-15% is a good rule of thumb for the BP's entire life or just when they are growing?


Thank you!

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Not necessarily. Sometimes if they are skinnier in size but still bigger by weight that can mess up that amount. ;]
Take it by the rule of thumb of the mouse (or rat) size being about the same size as the THICKEST point on the snake. If the snake is a bit skinny, you can go down to a bit smaller than that.
It's not necessary to overfeed him, he will eat bigger mice than corn snakes at a younger age as corns don't get nearly as much diameter on their body as ball pythons.
My 120g year old male ball python is about twice as thick as my 5 year old female corn snake! :]

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

...My 120g year old male ball python is about twice as thick as my 5 year old female corn snake! :]

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What's going on with him? That is REALLY thin for a yearling :O

To the OP: Your snake is just little right now and so I would stick to the 10-15% amount until it gets a little older and has a little more weight on him.

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Originally Posted by starmom

What's going on with him? That is REALLY thin for a yearling :O

To the OP: Your snake is just little right now and so I would stick to the 10-15% amount until it gets a little older and has a little more weight on him.

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I think he's gained weight since I've gotten him to feed twice. He did go on a 3 1/2 month fast and I think thats a while for a yearling.
Hes a year old today actually! Woah I didn't notice that!

Anyway, I may have weighed him wrong. I had to use my uncles scale (I've already ordered one for myself) and it's in .pounds. So I converted and I think I could be off.
We'll see when my new scale comes, because he doesn't seem skinny by any recent pictures does he?

It will be good when you get a gram scale :D
It really sounds very skinny. You ought to post an update on this guy and how the feeding is going and changes you have made to encourage feeding. :gj:

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Originally Posted by starmom

It will be good when you get a gram scale :D
It really sounds very skinny. You ought to post an update on this guy and how the feeding is going and changes you have made to encourage feeding. :gj:

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Definitely!
As soon as I get my scale and get him eating a few more meals then I'll throw in weight updates.
But if you look at pictures like this.. which I took a week before he ate (sorry to hijack!) http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/DSC03794.jpg

OP: So if you follow either rule with the weight percentage or the size comparison, either way you'll probably notice a gain of weight one way or the other and move up as he grows. :]

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Definitely!
As soon as I get my scale and get him eating a few more meals then I'll throw in weight updates.
But if you look at pictures like this.. which I took a week before he ate (sorry to hijack!) http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/DSC03794.jpg

OP: So if you follow either rule with the weight percentage or the size comparison, either way you'll probably notice a gain of weight one way or the other and move up as he grows. :]

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I am willing to bet that you converted wrong. Without something next to your bp to compare it makes it much tougher to see how big he really is. Our BP is about 8 months old and weights only 316ish grams and I'm starting to get worried about her weight where she is now. I would think that if yours is indeed as small as you think it is, you would know for sure that there is a problem.

Just judging by the pic it looks like it weighs 300-400g or so... By the time you weigh it it could be even more (450-500g?)... Wonder how accurate that guess is... I am trying to go by the size of the head vs body since theres nothing else to compare in the pic :P

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Originally Posted by TanyaL

I am willing to bet that you converted wrong. Without something next to your bp to compare it makes it much tougher to see how big he really is. Our BP is about 8 months old and weights only 316ish grams and I'm starting to get worried about her weight where she is now. I would think that if yours is indeed as small as you think it is, you would know for sure that there is a problem.

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Your probably right, here let me get a picture with my hand in there..
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/DSC04900.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/DSC04898.jpg
What do you think? Should I take more pictures with a dollar next to him?

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Your probably right, here let me get a picture with my hand in there..
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/DSC04900.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/DSC04898.jpg
What do you think? Should I take more pictures with a dollar next to him?

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Yeah, I still think you converted wrong. He looks to be about the same size as Foster, my bp. What did the scale read?

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Originally Posted by TanyaL

Yeah, I still think you converted wrong. He looks to be about the same size as Foster, my bp. What did the scale read?

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NOPE. I'm stupid!
He weights 199.6 grams.
Well I certainly earned a ticket for the dumb train.

I was going by memory. Guess I'll never do that again. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

NOPE. I'm stupid!
He weights 199.6 grams.
Well I certainly earned a ticket for the dumb train.

I was going by memory. Guess I'll never do that again. :rofl:

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Either Foster is a big butt or your conversion is still wrong. Looking at the picture again, I would say that yours is a bit thicker than Foster is. I would still double check that again. Do you know how long he is...just for comparison against my bp? There is a snake measure download available on this forum that gives you a good estimate.

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Originally Posted by TanyaL

Either Foster is a big butt or your conversion is still wrong. Looking at the picture again, I would say that yours is a bit thicker than Foster is. I would still double check that again. Do you know how long he is...just for comparison against my bp? There is a snake measure download available on this forum that gives you a good estimate.

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5 months ago when he last shed at the breeders, he weight 194g. It makes sense that only 1 meal away from that that's his weight.
He ate once and then came to me and didn't eat until last week. :]

Point me to this download?

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

5 months ago when he last shed at the breeders, he weight 194g. It makes sense that only 1 meal away from that that's his weight.
He ate once and then came to me and didn't eat until last week. :]

Point me to this download?

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If your bp is over a year old (right?) and less than 200g and Foster is about 8 months old and over 300g then maybe she is not doing as bad as I had expected...but I think I need to look into it more.

Anyhow, here is the link to the download:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=28

What did the sale read anyhow?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cam

We have a BP Frank (the Crank) that is almost 2 months old.
We have had him for about 3 weeks now.

We were told he was eating live fuzzy mice.
He has eaten f/t fuzzy mice for us every 5 days 3 times in a row now.

I am wondering how fast do these guys go up in food size???
To me he already seems like he should be onto hoppers or even weanlings.
Perhaps if he had a bigger meal he wouldn't want to kill us when we hold him.:oops:

It seems odd to me that he is eating the same size as our Hognose and our '07 corns...:confused:

Thank you:)

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Have you considered trying to feed rat fuzzy's if it were me I would work on trying to get Frank to eat rats. That will save you later down the road when frank is eating you out of house and home in mice.
I tend to feed a little on the big side. Ball pythons can handle meals twice the diameter of the largest part of there body with no problem. That said it isn't a great idea to feed on the heavy side unless you know your snake. I think the best rule of thumb is a meal no bigger than the largest part of there body. The larger you feed the less often you should feed. I feed 7-10 days for juvi and 14-21 days for adults in general. I think you can look to nature to see that meals come in no schedule so I think varying the meal up is fine. Feeding more often then feeding less often. Hope that makes sense. I think the key is balancing it all out. There are very respected people who swear by a strict feeding schedule and a strict prey size to fit the snakes size. It works for them and I have noting to say other wise about it. Just trying to give my 2 cents. I feel like you can never go wrong with instinct and common sense.

Chuck

I just realized that BlackCrystal wasn't OP. OP, please forgive me!

No problem...all hijackers welcome...
I learn something from everyone here either way:)

Chuck...great advice...I have to place my rodent order today and going with the rats sounds like the smart thing to do since mice only get so big.
I am assuming that switching to rats now might be easier than when Frank is a year old and even pickier...

He was sleeping in his moist hide so I weighed him this morning...
He is about 100 grams and about 18 inches, and almost 2 months old.
(I weighed a moist hide from our other enclosure to subtract off the total).

Side question...can my corn snakes eat rats too???
It would make life easier so I bet the answer is no:)

There's no need to switch to rats if you can obtain mice easily in your area and your snake will eat them. All of mine(about 37?) eat live adult mice with the occasional f/t weaned rat(I had leftovers from a black blood I sent off) for the big girls. Small babies get 1 adult mouse a week, juvies get 1-2 adult mice a week, subadults get 2-3 depending on the size of the mice and if the snake in question is male or female, adult males get 2-3 adult mice every 7-10 days, and adult females get 3-4 adult mice every 7-14 days, plus the occasional f/t weaned rat if they want it(garbage disposals).

They do perfectly fine on either and will grow at their predetermined rate regardless of what prey type you feed.

Thank you for the information and the schedule!:D

I order the mice from TMF or Rodent Pro...
Way cheaper & more sizes than the Pet*&^%$ or Pet%$...
Even with shipping I can get essentially 2 for one...my rationale for more snakes;)

So, availability is not so much an issue as ordering in bulk...I only have 4 snakes so I wanted to try to order wisely so I did not end up with 100 frozen rodents nobody can eat...:weirdface
(pretty sur ethe hubby narrowly escaped a heart attack when he returned to the Hoggie and the BP and the Scorpion)...I belive we are 'all done now':P

I am used to our cornsnakes...their metabolism & food size etc.

I have found our 3 year old Hognose has a lot faster metabolism than our corns... and for sure the BP...
I felt like they all needed something way different than the other 'guy'...but it really seems like in general the schedules for feeding are the same just the prey size varies.

So, if multiples at feeding time are okay in order to burn through the smaller prey size for a couple weeks I won't sweat it...

Will the BP stop 'hunting' when he's full...or are they like corns and once he's in eating mode will continue to eat until he regurges?

Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

There's no need to switch to rats if you can obtain mice easily in your area and your snake will eat them. All of mine(about 37?) eat live adult mice with the occasional f/t weaned rat(I had leftovers from a black blood I sent off) for the big girls. Small babies get 1 adult mouse a week, juvies get 1-2 adult mice a week, subadults get 2-3 depending on the size of the mice and if the snake in question is male or female, adult males get 2-3 adult mice every 7-10 days, and adult females get 3-4 adult mice every 7-14 days, plus the occasional f/t weaned rat if they want it(garbage disposals).

They do perfectly fine on either and will grow at their predetermined rate regardless of what prey type you feed.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

There's no need to switch to rats if you can obtain mice easily in your area and your snake will eat them. All of mine(about 37?) eat live adult mice with the occasional f/t weaned rat(I had leftovers from a black blood I sent off) for the big girls. Small babies get 1 adult mouse a week, juvies get 1-2 adult mice a week, subadults get 2-3 depending on the size of the mice and if the snake in question is male or female, adult males get 2-3 adult mice every 7-10 days, and adult females get 3-4 adult mice every 7-14 days, plus the occasional f/t weaned rat if they want it(garbage disposals).

They do perfectly fine on either and will grow at their predetermined rate regardless of what prey type you feed.

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How much do your adult mice weigh in at?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

There's no need to switch to rats if you can obtain mice easily in your area and your snake will eat them. All of mine(about 37?) eat live adult mice with the occasional f/t weaned rat(I had leftovers from a black blood I sent off) for the big girls. Small babies get 1 adult mouse a week, juvies get 1-2 adult mice a week, subadults get 2-3 depending on the size of the mice and if the snake in question is male or female, adult males get 2-3 adult mice every 7-10 days, and adult females get 3-4 adult mice every 7-14 days, plus the occasional f/t weaned rat if they want it(garbage disposals).

They do perfectly fine on either and will grow at their predetermined rate regardless of what prey type you feed.

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That was not my point but whatever.