Do Ball Pythons HAVE to Eat Rats?

[RustHeart]

I have run into an issue with owning my 1 year old female ball python.

I admit I didn't do enough research before getting her. I wasn't in the greatest relationship when I got her and I basically just did what he wanted. When we broke up I kept Sunny, the snake, because I didn't think he could care for her properly. After all I always was the one that cared for her and the one time I asked him to feed her he forgot.

I realised that Sunny will eventually require rats. The issue is that I've owned rats as pets for years and I cannot handle the thought of getting one and feeding it to her. I know for a fact that I will not have the strength to do it. Just a glance at it and it'll be over, I'll keep it as a pet.

So what do I do? Can she live off of mice if I give her several? Will she not be healthy if she did? I want her to have the best life I can give her. If that requires feeding rats I will have to find her a new home as much as that pains me to do such a thing.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

Do you feed live? Maybe it would be easier for you to feed frozen thawed rats? A BP can eat quiet a few mice per feeding and it will eventually get expensive.

[wolftrap]

I'm sorry, but it's really better for them to eat rats. Rats give them all of their nutrients, and if they are started on small rats, the size of their food will grow with the snake. Mice are given sometimes to younger BPs, but the transition to rats can be tough, and might involve rubbing dead rat scent on the mouse anyway to entice her (which is just as bad as giving the snake a rat).

In my experience, F/T isn't bad at all because the rat is dead when you purchase it; I dropped a live rat pup in there once for my snake's first feed with me, and it was awful to watch for me. F/T guarantees that you won't feel any pity for the rat because you're not the one ending its life.

As far as I know, mice CAN be given to BPs for their whole life, but the nutrients might not be suitable long-term, and it's a pain to have to feed several mice instead of one large rat, especially since you have a female and she'll need large rats when she's to her full length.

[RustHeart]

Currently I feed her one adult live mouse a week because that's what the breeder told me. Is that incorrect? Does she need more?

I didn't think about frozen. If she would take it then it would definatly be easier for me to feed rats. I tried once to feed her a frozen mouse but she wouldnt eat it. Although it was the first feeding since I got her and maybe she was scared.

[Lord Sorril]

They do not have to eat rats. I have several females that are strict mousers that reliably lay 10-12 eggs every year.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

Currently I feed her one adult live mouse a week because that's what the breeder told me. Is that incorrect? Does she need more?
I didn't think about frozen. If she would take it then it would definatly be easier for me to feed rats. I tried once to feed her a frozen mouse but she wouldnt eat it. Although it was the first feeding since I got her and maybe she was scared.

She would probably take F/T pretty easily with a little persistance. There are also many tricks people have used to switch.

[RustHeart]

Now I am worried she isn't being fed enough. It seems like most people are feeding small rats and and adult rats. It doesn't seem like a single mouse is enough.
I'm out of state in school living in a dorm and for obvious reasons Sunny can't be with me. So a friend of mine has been caring for her and I haven't thought much about her until now. But now I'm worried. How can we judge how much she should be eating?

[KevinK]

As others pointed out, mice have less nutritional content....more specifically, much less fat. Rats contain a very high percentage of fat that allows speedy growth in snakes. However, I believe you can feed most snakes a different diet and be perfectly ok.....in fact maybe 10 years ago there was an enormous push to feed African Soft Fur rats to BP's and some keepers still do.....but most people abandoned the idea once they discovered ASF's grow very slowly, eat through tubs, are hard to find, and have nasty little attitudes.

So in summary, a BP's diet would naturally be ASF rats, but people fed normal rats instead for convenience reasons while maintaining nutritional value. BUT mice do lack nutritional value so unless the animal won't eat them, there's no logical reason to feed them.

I assume you're feeding live....why not frozen thawed?

...a mouse eating BP is an expensive animal, and a slow growing animal in the adult stage..

Feed rats, that's my advice. You're sacrificing nutrition for your animal due to your own feelings.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

No they do not and no it's not better for them.

Gram per gram of food it's all the same now the difference is, it will be better for YOU which ultimately is not the most important.


The advantage of feeding rats is that you will only have to feed one to an adult whereas mice you will have to feed multiples.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

Now I am worried she isn't being fed enough. It seems like most people are feeding small rats and and adult rats. It doesn't seem like a single mouse is enough.
I'm out of state in school living in a dorm and for obvious reasons Sunny can't be with me. So a friend of mine has been caring for her and I haven't thought much about her until now. But now I'm worried. How can we judge how much she should be eating?

Mice are okay for young BP's. It would be easier if we knew her weight to be able to judge what size of prey she should be eating