? for those of you that have mouse eating BP's

[rj1204]

I bought a female pastel BP from a reputable breeder exactly two weeks ago. She is just over 900g and over 2 years old. The breeder said she was a good eater but he could not get her to eat F/T rats, just F/T mice. She ate two 25g mice for me today and I am just happy she ate after having her for a short period of time. I am going to attempt to get her to eat F/T rats and scenting them with the F/T mice. BUT, if she does not, will she still gain good weight if she continues to eat 2 F/T adult mice each week? I am trying to get her to 1500 grams so she can breed this winter. I would think the mice should get her to a healthy weight in 5+ months. Do any of you have adult BP's that only eat mice? Thanks for any information and/or advice.

[MarkS]

I've got several snakes that will only eat mice and they breed just fine. 60 grams worth of mice is no different then 60 grams worth of rats. I know a few breeders that ONLY feed mice. I start all of my hatchlings on mice, I find it easier to get them feeding on a schedule, and once they're on a regular schedule it's easier to get them on frozen/thawed.

[angllady2]

You can of course keep her on mice, but please be aware as she gets bigger, she'll eat 5 or 6 mice in a sitting, maybe more.

At 900 grams, 10% of her weight is 90 grams, so she'd need 3-4 25 gram mice just to maintain her weight.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I know people here who have mice eaters, but you better be prepared for the work it involves.

Gale

[rj1204]

I plan on trying to get her to switch to small rats. For now, I just want her to keep eating and putting weight on. When I wiggle the mouse in front of her, she is very interested and flicks her tongue right on it. After about 30-60 seconds, she strikes and constricts it.

As far as work goes, she was the first one to get fed last night. By the time I finished with the others, I came back to her and she was done, so I fed her again. She is still sitting in the same place and when I walked into the room tonight, she came out and looks very interested and hungry. Next week I will try 3.

Adult mice are about 25 grams and jumbo mice are about 35 grams from my supplier, so I maybe able to get her to three jumbo mice in a couple months, then hopefully rats. As far as the 10% rule, I understand that is about the standard for younger snakes, but do 3000 gram snakes really eat 200-300 grams of rats?

[Coils]

My first ball python would not take f/t rats for me either. He started on the mice, but I really wanted him switched over so I wouldn't have to keep buying and then feeding so many mice in one sitting! It took a lot of work and was very frustrating, but I finally got him to accept!

What I did was just refuse to feed for a lil while. I made sure he was nice and hungry and then I dethawed a nice big rat for him. At first he still wanted nothing to do with it :/, but upon reading things on here I think I got him to eat because one special thing.

Obviously mice are smaller and keep the heat retained in them better right after being dethawed. When I offered the rat I think it was still way too cold for his liking and thus he didn't read it as being something to eat. I now use a heater(or could use a hair dryer held close) after they are thawed to dry them and keep them warm. I especially focus on the head area so when I dangle the rat it's right there all nice and toasty. He takes them no problem now and comes rushing from his hide when he smells me approaching with food. Maybe you should try getting them RLY warm (without overdoing it) and see if anything changes? That's all I know how to do and would be worth a shot if u haven't tried already!

[BPHERP]

I have over 100 BP's and I feed a combination depending on who's eating what. For my adults that are eating mice, I feed them 2-to-3 jumbo mice on feeding day (retired breeders).

For anyone in Southern California, my mouse guy is superb; if you have a large collection he will deliver live mice at .55 each, no matter the size of the mouse, pinky to jumbo retired breeder.

BrandonsBalls

[loonunit]

I have a 1 kg late 2008 boy that got to size eating nothing but one large mouse a week, every week. So I know they can get big on a mouse-only diet... but if she doesn't do the 5-6-mice-a-week thing in summer and fall, she won't be quick about it.

I'm interested in whether or not the scenting works for you. My 2008 girls are mouse eaters: one is 840g and the other is 900g. I'm desperate to get them to switch to rats, or at least to eat more mice in a sitting, but they're taking their sweet time about it. Right now I'm trying to "fool" them into eating rats by leading with small mouse to getting them biting, then following up with a rat pup. So far no dice... but hopefully their appetites will pick up in another few weeks?

[Lolo76]

My very first ball python (and snake) has never eaten rats, and I do both live & f/t feedings for my collection. She's around 1.5-2 years old now, and probably weighs a little over 800g... my het albino girl of the same age eats small rats, and weighs around 1100g. So it's not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless. The problem is that she won't take more than 2-3 mice (if that) per feeding, so I'm afraid her growth rate is slowing down considerably.

Bottom line, these mousers will eventually reach breeding size, but might need an extra season to get there! Just keep feeding her what she'll take, and maybe consider live if you're having doubts about her growth... speaking of which, have you tried a live rat before? And what about ASFs?

[Lolo76]

For anyone in Southern California, my mouse guy is superb; if you have a large collection he will deliver live mice at .55 each, no matter the size of the mouse, pinky to jumbo retired breeder.

Dammm, that makes me jealous... wonder if he'd deliver to San Francisco? It's not that far, LOL!

[Vypyrz]

As far as the 10% rule, I understand that is about the standard for younger snakes, but do 3000 gram snakes really eat 200-300 grams of rats?

Some can and will, but some won't take rats that big. I think they may be intimidated by the size or something. I used to have a large male that was 2500 grams, and 54" long, but the biggest rat I ever got him to eat was only about 120 grams. Anything bigger, he might strike and constrict, but not eat it. One thing to remember is, if you do have a snake that will take larger rats like that, then they are going to need more time to digest it so they would need to be on a 10-14 day feeding schedule...