Transitioning 6 y.o BP from hoopers to rats.. help!

[BPmom]

http:// Upon recently posting a picture of my ball python, it has been suggested that maybe he is under fed. We just took him in from a family friend two months ago. We know he is at least 60 years old and around 3‘9“ to 3‘10“ based on the length of his last shedding. The person that gave him to us told us that he was fed three small hoppers every 7 to 14 days however many people are telling me that that is not enough for a snake this size. I have never owned a snake before so this is all fairly new to me. For the past 3 to 4 weeks, ever since he started getting comfortable in his larger habitat compared to the last one, he has constantly been out of his hides and climbing on the walls of the tank, as well as constantly putting his nose to the cover of the tank as if he wants to get out. Since I have had more than one person suggest that he is under fed and should be feeding on rats by now, I decided to go out and buy three frozen small rats to start transitioning him to larger food. He just ate three hoppers on Friday night and has already digested his meal as of last night.

My question is, I am wondering if I should feed him one small frozen racks today or if it is too soon after his last meal? Should I feed him one frozen small rat every seven days until he moves to larger ones? Or should I try feeding him two small rats in Seven days?

Day and night he is exploring his cage and mostly sniffing the cover which I’m starting to think it’s because he is so hungry. The only time I catch him in his hide is early morning when we first wake up. Once we wake up and he knows we are up and about the room, even with his cage covered on the sides, He is still up and about waiting for something. Any suggestions on when and how many wraps I should start feeding him?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What is his weight?

What I would recommend is to feed adult mice once a week for 3 to 5 meals give him time to adjust to the size. Once used to the size offer a rat that is the same size as the mouse offered and move up in size accordingly (see our feeding chart in the husbandry section)

Hoppers are what hatchling out of the eggs are offered so yes this animal has been severely underfed, and the priority IMO is to get the food size right rather than attempting to switch which can take weeks or even months and means no food during that time until the animal switches.

[Apiratenamedjohn]

Yeah mine was a punk about switching from mice to rats. In the end i would get a pinky and rub it on the rats and that seemed to work. After doing that a few times, he took and now is excited about rats. It took a couple months for him to switch.
I second deborah's thoughts on the issue.

[Sunnieskys]

Yep. What Deb said. I would also be tackling a proper set up with temps and humidity. You are well on your way to having a healthy noodle.

[BPmom]

So, going from 3 small mice in one meal to a small rat is too big of a jump? I have a small rat defrosting now. The rat is probably twice the size of the mice but I didn’t think of the size issue since he takes 3 mice within 15 minutes..

[Snakeydoodles]

I think that the concern with jumping from hopper mice to small rats is not as much of a size issue as it is a species issue. Many ball pythons take a long time to transition from mice to rats, and starting this process now is likely not the best idea as the animal is underfed and wouldn’t be getting as much food during the transition period. What the others are saying is that it’s more important to get him to a healthy weight right now and transition to rats after he has gotten accustomed to the size of an adult rat .

Someone more experienced than me is totally welcome to correct me, this is just my take on it!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

So, going from 3 small mice in one meal to a small rat is too big of a jump? I have a small rat defrosting now. The rat is probably twice the size of the mice but I didn’t think of the size issue since he takes 3 mice within 15 minutes..

Not the point

A/ we don't know the weight of the animal so what I call small (and what experience people and feeder producer call small) is 55 to 75 grams rat would be a HUGE jump in size since a mouse hopper is about 10 grams.

Of course if you have the wrong terms it does not help either.

B/ It's not about switching right now, it's about getting back on track with proper feeding regimen.

Again switching can take MONTHS during which the animal is not offered food if he refuses and he has already been underfed.

Changing prey is a major deal for most snake if you add to that offering a prey 7 times the size this is not gonna help.

Again what is his weight? Because that is where you need to start if you want to know what size to offer weekly.

Next weigh your feeder as well because a small rat is not twice the size of a hopper.

[BPmom]

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these are the mice we have been feeding him. Not sure if these are ‘hoppers’

[Craiga 01453]

I can't see the pic

[BPmom]

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