Questions about feeding

[chadphillips8352]

Greetings,

When I got my first ball python, I started feeding him pinky mice. I quickly realized these were too small. I moved up to fuzzies, and still felt they were too small, and then moved up to small mice. Unfortunately, my local pet store only carried frozen mice, so rats weren't an option at that point. Recently, I've found some local rat breeders and began to buy pinky rats, as they are similar in size to the small mice, and I've read that rats are better for feeding anyways. I've also read that after feeding, you should be able to see a noticeable "lump" in your python. I wasn't seeing this, so I tried feeding two pinky rats to see if the snakes (I have four now) were still hungry. All of them are eating 2 pinky rats a week now. Is this a normal thing? I'm looking at moving up to fuzzies, but I bought out almost all of the pinkies that the rat breeder had, and they are still a little ways away from having a few more litters. Can anyone give me some suggestions? I don't want to overfeed them, and I certainly don't want to underfeed like when I was using the pinky mice. Any help would be appreciated.

[PitOnTheProwl]

You might try looking for a larger rodent breeder in your area, move them up to either fuzzy rats or maybe rat pups.
What are the weights of your snakes?

[chadphillips8352]

My males are between 90-100 grams as of two weeks ago before feeding, and my females are 144 grams & 164 grams. The rat breeder also suggested moving up to fuzzies, so I was thinking of giving that a try. When I last got my pinkies, I got 20 at a time, and then froze them for future feedings. But if I'm going through 2 at a time, then I'm paying double per snake for each feeding, so I want to make sure I'm feeding the appropriate size.

[Crazymonkee]

Definitely get the females some pups, the males hoppers. I would skip fuzzies all together

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[NYHC4LIFE8899]

Go right to rat pups or even hoppers if rat pups a not available..basically what everyone else said.

i only feed my guys rats now. Better and filled with more protein and fat and calcium. Your guys will grow quicker

[chadphillips8352]

Definitely pups then. I found a guy that says he has some frozen pups in stock. Think I'm going to try and get them tomorrow to avoid him selling out. My breeder says they should have two litters of rats in other week and a half or so, and then probably another week after that to get them up in size a little, so that will be good. I also have what I believe to be a pregnant rat myself, so that will also start helping.

I've definitely noticed a jump in size during the last two weeks. I weighed my snakes just a few moments ago while I was checking on their shed. Definitely surprised by the jump in such a short time of being on rats. My het albino female had jumped 30 grams to 174. My normal male has jumped 30 grams to 116 and my spider female has jumped only 10 grams to 174. I haven't had her as long, so I'm not worried about not having a significant jump. Definitely a nice surprise though.

Also, I will definitely continue with only rats as long as it's possible. I've got two potential suppliers, and working on making my own, so hopefully I can keep it that way. If not, I'll have to settle for mice from PetSmart, but hoping that isn't the case.

Sorry if I'm rambling, but I'm still new to being a ball python owner, so this is all still kind of exciting to me. Hopefully, I'll continue to have the feelings for years to come.

[wycked]

You can order reasonable amounts of frozen rats of any size online as well. The prices are decent, and you don't have to really worry about them running out. This is what I do for my 6 bps. Easy just to order 50 of this and 25 of that and be good on feeders for a few months

[PitOnTheProwl]

Better and filled with more protein and fat and calcium. Your guys will grow quicker

Actually the only difference is the amount of mice you have to feed to equal one rat when your snakes get to larger size.

[Crazymonkee]

Actually the only difference is the amount of mice you have to feed to equal one rat when your snakes get to larger size.

Yes OP the big jump in weight you're seeing is because you've started feeding 2. Mine are growing and gaining fast on mice, they just had there first taste of rat this past weekend
Rats are larger therefore takes one per feeding rather than multiple mice.

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[Physician&Snakes]

I too recommend buying in bulk, I purchase about every 3 months. I have room for probably about 8 months worth but I am always afraid of the freezer breaking or a power outage in the heat of the summer.