weight of food vs weight of bp

[jsc230]

I have been feeding my BP 2 small meals a week. She is 144g, and her food is 7g. Tonight I tried to give her a small adult, 20g mouse. I held it up to her body to see if it was the same as her girth, it seemed about right. However, she struck it "killed" it, and never ate it. She sat there and looked it over sorta then after about 5 minutes she decided she would try to find a way out of her feedingtub.

Was this mouse too big for her? or is she no used to it? or maybe just not hungery?

Joe Conklin

[tigerlily]

She should be able to take a small adult mouse no problem. How long have you had her, and what are her temps and how do you measure them. It may be an environmental issue.

[recycling goddess]

it was suggested to me... that i only feed once a week... so perhaps your snake wasn't all that hungry?

[mr~python]

no, they can take food much bigger then their girth if they need to.

a ball python striking and killing but not eating is usually a sign of a stressed or sick ball python.

[jsc230]

I've had her 2-3 months or so. I measure temps with a thermometer, 90 hot 80 cool. The probe is always in the tank. I have a lot of those because i have other reptiles too.

She has been eating great up to this point. Moday she took a 7g mouse (a baby but fully furred). Maybe i stressed her by watching? But I always watch so not sure why it would be different this tme.

Joe

[tigerlily]

I missed the feeding twice a week. Sheesh I must be tired. Just feed once a week. That's plenty. Is the thermometer digital?

[jsc230]

Yes digital. Why not they are cheap.

But my origonal question was, is there like a normal size range foodfor a specific sized ball? like a 144g ball eats eats 20g food. Its hard to go to a store and imagine the size of the python compared to the mice on hand. However it is easy to weigh the mice and see how bigthey needto be.

Maybe i'm too pick and like numbers too much, the engineer in me coming out i guess

Joe

[recycling goddess]

i just pick a mouse who's hips are the the same size or a little bigger than the widest part of the snake.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Some ball pythons just prefer smaller prey items. Nothing you can do to convince them othewise.

If she wants smaller mice, there's nothing wrong with that.

-adam

[tigerlily]

Yes digital. Why not they are cheap.

But my origonal question was, is there like a normal size range foodfor a specific sized ball? like a 144g ball eats eats 20g food. Its hard to go to a store and imagine the size of the python compared to the mice on hand. However it is easy to weigh the mice and see how bigthey needto be.

Maybe i'm too pick and like numbers too much, the engineer in me coming out i guess

Joe

Sorry, I must have been outta it last night! SHEESH! You mentioned a probe, and for some reason it didn't register. You're right, but you'd be surprise how many people don't have digital thermometers. Lots of people get suckered into the dials or strip things.

I'm sorry there's no exact formula for the size of prey. It's a kinda of guess and see what works kinda thing. I'm sure that will just drive the engineer in you nuts. It'd be so much easier if that worked, but you could always measure your snake's girth and them try measuring a few mice (frozen ones would sit still the best) then weigh them. But that's not necessary, just thought it might appeal to your analytical side.