I'm back and have a quick question on feeding

[Spyderco1116]

I have a beautiful nice size pastel bp (VPI) I got him at the Hamburg, PA show this past weekend. He has been eating live rats (small to medium) I want to try and switch him over to f/t, but my local pet store only offers mice. Would this be ok to feed him until I can order him the correct f/t rats?

[Slim]

If he is nice sized, then letting him settle into his new environment while you order some F/T rats will hopefully accomplish two things: 1) He'll de-stress and adjust to his new surroundings and 2) He'll be a little hungery and more likely to take F/T.

If it were me, I wouldn't feed mice to a rat eater. You could have an issue with switching back to rats, live or F/T.

Skipping a meal or two while you order your rats won't hurt him at all. Just make sure he has clean water.

[Cameron Lamb Exotics]

I agree with slim, I wouldnt want to risk having him refuse to switch back over to rats.

[Spyderco1116]

I agree with slim, I wouldnt want to risk having him refuse to switch back over to rats.

I think I will do that. He looks like he is on the prowl now and most likely hungry, but I guess i can wait. I guess I can feed him a live rat until the f/t come too. IDK how I am going to be able to order over the internet. Won't it be hard for me to determine the correct size rat for my bp?

[RetiredJedi]

I think I will do that. He looks like he is on the prowl now and most likely hungry, but I guess i can wait. I guess I can feed him a live rat until the f/t come too. IDK how I am going to be able to order over the internet. Won't it be hard for me to determine the correct size rat for my bp?

If he is on the prowl right now he is probably still a little stressed and still needs to calm down some and get used to his surroundings so i would just leave him alone. You can use the weight reference to order. He should be able to eat rats that are 10-15% of his body weight. There are a couple of web sites to order from and they show the weight of the rats. Sites like Rodent Pro, Mice Direct, Layne Labs, Big Cheese Rodents.

THIS IS A GOOD SITE TOO.

[Slim]

I think I will do that. He looks like he is on the prowl now and most likely hungry, but I guess i can wait. I guess I can feed him a live rat until the f/t come too. IDK how I am going to be able to order over the internet. Won't it be hard for me to determine the correct size rat for my bp?

If you have the ability to weigh your BP, you can go by that as a guide for ordering. About 10% or so of the body weight should do it. Most rat breeders size their offerings a little differently. Some show relative sizes on their web sites. Here's an example:

http://www.gourmetrodent.com/frozen.html

You said he had been eating Small to Med rats before you picked him up. I consider a Small rat to be in the 70 - 90 gram range. To be honest, that's about as large as I would ever feed my males on a 7 day schedule. Big females might require a Med rat, but with males, I tend to lean toward slightly under feeding instead of slightly overfeeding. Again, the ability to weigh your snake is important to keeping good growth and feeding records.

[Spyderco1116]

If you have the ability to weigh your BP, you can go by that as a guide for ordering. About 10% or so of the body weight should do it. Most rat breeders size their offerings a little differently. Some show relative sizes on their web sites. Here's an example:

http://www.gourmetrodent.com/frozen.html

You said he had been eating Small to Med rats before you picked him up. I consider a Small rat to be in the 70 - 90 gram range. To be honest, that's about as large as I would ever feed my males on a 7 day schedule. Big females might require a Med rat, but with males, I tend to lean toward slightly under feeding instead of slightly overfeeding. Again, the ability to weigh your snake is important to keeping good growth and feeding records.

You bring up a good point. I think I may have to invest in a scale. I've been looking at RodentPro so I may go with them. I see alot of people on here talk about them and they seem to not have any problems with them. Sounds like I will be shooting for small rats.