Feeding question?

[Achilles.10.7]

My snake is eating one mouse at a time right now but when can i start giving him two? Usually he used to eat one and go hide, but now he just gets really active like he usually does 4-5 days after feeding day, he's over 240 grams after eating if that helps.

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[sho220]

Depends on how big the mice are. At that size he could probably take two per feeding. Or just switch him to rat pups...

[Achilles.10.7]

I thought these pics could help judge if he should or not.

Pic of a mouse about the same size I'm feeding him


Pics of my snake that show his size



Thanks in advance to anyone who can give me advice.

And if i move him up to 2 mice should i feed him every 10 days instead of 7?

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[faulkan]

I'd definitely go with rat pups. They need to be the same size or slightly larger than the fattest part of your snake. Most newly hatched ball pythons can take pinky to fuzzy rats right from the start. Ours has been on rats since the day she hatched.

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[Physician&Snakes]

I would throw him a rat pup any day...will not be too long before you'll be giving him small rats, might be time now but it could just be how I am looking at the pics. If you want to get industrial about it, some keepers will weigh their prey items in 10-20% proportions...personally I just do a rough estimate based on girth usually making the prey just a touch larger than said girth.

[PitOnTheProwl]

You are at the point of multiple mice or trying to switch over to rats.
If you cant get him to react to a rat pup you might try a small hopper rat that is more active.

[Achilles.10.7]

Thanks, yeah i think he'll take rats without a second thought he's a viscous eater but If anything all my other bps are a little smaller so if i got a couple mice and left the rat in there with them would that help him think it's a mouse because of the smell? Thanks again for the advice everyone.

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[NYHC4LIFE8899]

I'd definitely go with rat pups. They need to be the same size or slightly larger than the fattest part of your snake. Most newly hatched ball pythons can take pinky to fuzzy rats right from the start. Ours has been on rats since the day she hatched.

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What he said.

Also OP switch to rat pups,I got both my guys eating rats,the switch from mouse to rat was no issue either.

[faulkan]

I would throw him a rat pup any day...will not be too long before you'll be giving him small rats, might be time now but it could just be how I am looking at the pics. If you want to get industrial about it, some keepers will weigh their prey items in 10-20% proportions...personally I just do a rough estimate based on girth usually making the prey just a touch larger than said girth.

For me personally I've tried to stay closer to 10-15% but I'm sure going all the way to 20% is just fine. Using the 10-20% weight rule, you should actually be feeding weaned rats which, according to Big Cheese Rodent Factory's website, weigh anywhere from 35-49 grams which falls well within the weight range given by Physician&Snakes. Your snake weighs in at 264 grams which means you can feed anywhere from 26.4-52.8 grams (26.4-39.6 using the 10-15%).