Feeding New Ball

[Bkbk84]

Thanks so much for helping me while I have been lurking. So my question is, I got a 2 month old normal BP 3 weeks ago. He is skinny. He was 72 grams when I got him. He refused F/T for 2 weeks and dropped to 67 grams. He ate a live mouse fuzzy on Wednesday finally. I am so happy. So many sites say 10-15% of weight for feeding, so say the thickest part of the snake.

My question is a mouse fuzzy is the physical girth, but under the 10-15%. A Hopper is 10-15% weight but larger in girth than my snake. So should I do fuzzies every 4-5 days until Rumple gets bigger? What do you all recommend? Thanks

[Taying]

Girth is the main concern with feeding, especially since hes a baby. It's great that hes eaten already! The first feed is always the hardest. Make sure you handle him as little as possible to reduce stress especially after feeding to prevent regurgitation. To be on the safe side, dont handle him for 48 hours after feeding. Keep his environment optimal too since it really affects their stress levels and interest in feeding

The fuzzies every 4-5 days is a good idea to get his weight back up. Since they dont exceed his girth, it should make it a faster digestion and let him feed again sooner. Once hes stabilized you can start feeding him once a week and step up to hoppers/small mice once hes girthier.

[Craiga 01453]

Mice fuzzies are too small for a BP. BPs eat hoppers fresh out of the egg, typically only for their first 3-5 meals and quickly move up to small mice.

[Bkbk84]

The only place in town has big hoppers and frequently goes weeks without getting any .

[Taying]

Do they sell rat fuzzies?

[Bkbk84]

No, it kinda sucks there selection can I put a male and female rat in a box and make my on stash. How hard is that on a small scale?

[Taying]

You can do that but that’s more maintenance and more common with people who have multiple snakes, and the rats age pretty quickly. If you can get him to eat frozen/thawed, you can find good pricings online in bulk. Do you know what the previous owner fed him?

[Bkbk84]

He’s refused f/t 3 times so far so I won’t try till we have some positive weight gains

[Craiga 01453]

The only place in town has big hoppers and frequently goes weeks without getting any .

Trust me, if they're hoppers your BP can EASILY eat them.
You said yourself that they're within the 10-15% guideline.

I have a hognose that's been eating hoppers since he was 50 grams. Your 67 gram BP can handle hoppers.

[Bkbk84]

We got a live rat fuzzy today, he got it and gobbled it down. We are going in the right direction. Thanks for all the help. I was so worried it would be to big for him. He didn’t seem the have any trouble with it!!!!