A little worried about my ball passing her mice

[AK907]

You must have some massive mice! I just weighed our large adult breeders and they average around the 30-32 gram mark. I don't think we have any adults that are over 40g. Our hoppers, which are a step up from fuzzies, weigh between 8-10 grams. I'd double check what you have.

Like I said, she would be capable of eating half her body weigh, I also said I didn't recommend it. 10-15% of body weight, which is usually a meal as big around as the fattest part of her body, is an appropriate meal. So an adult mouse wouldn't be a ridiculously large meal by any means for a 174g ball python.

Rat pups (rats right before/right after their eyes open) should suit your needs for the moment.

[aferland66]

Wow that is small, my 2 month old baby girls are already at 170g and eating small rat weanlings 35 - 40g twice a week.

Good luck getting her weight up.

André

[Riv]

Wow you were totally right @_@ I didnt read the box well enough. the box says net weight 30 grams for the fuzzies. Am I to assume that means all 6 together wiegh 30 grams? Im going to call house of tropicals and see if they carry rat pups. Couldnt find it on their site.

[C&H Exotic Morphs]

Wow you were totally right @_@ I didnt read the box well enough. the box says net weight 30 grams for the fuzzies. Am I to assume that means all 6 together wiegh 30 grams? Im going to call house of tropicals and see if they carry rat pups. Couldnt find it on their site.

Yeah that's 30 grams for all 6. Mice fuzzies usually range from about 3-6 grams.
Hopefully the new place you found will have the proper food size for you.
Rat pups should be roughly 20-30 grams.

[Riv]

Well the way I look at it, even if they dont carry rat pups, I can get her used to adult mice, and they should be roughly the size of maybe a little smaller than the small rats. It would just mean transitioning her to rats a little bit later than would be preferred. Im planning on offering her a rat pup tomorrow evening if I can find some.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Young animals utilize most of their prey for growth and when they are not fed enough everything is utilize leaving nothing to defecate.

Feed appropriate preys and sooner or later when your BP will have catch up it will defecate, might be once a week once a month but it will.

[AK907]

And when it does, you will be impressed! I remember seeing my first bp poop many years ago. To say I was proud would be an understatement.

[CoolioTiffany]

The hatchling male I produced came out on 7/29 and already weighs 146g. I agree with first post--she may just be using all the nutrients and have nothing to poop out.

A lot of my Balls take a couple weeks or more to take a full on dump. But during the time they'll pass urates and such. She'll pass it soon enough. I would definitely consider switching her to larger prey and to rats. by 8-9 months she should be over 500g at least.

[AK907]

The hatchling male I produced came out on 7/29 and already weighs 146g.

by 8-9 months she should be over 500g at least.

Yup. Our two youngest balls hatched in early June. I weighed them both the other day, both empty and they weighed 313g and 356g. By a year most of our females are close to 1,000g.

OP, I saw your ball in your pics. She needs groceries bad! Never take the advice from someone who works in a pet store. 99% of them don't know what they are talking about. Glad you came here. Like you said, whatever you can find will work. For now I would just get her bulked up some before worrying about rats vs. mice and the switch. Yall can cross that bridge when ya get to it.

Good luck and keep us updated!

[szynk.reptiles]

Also from seeing your pics and reading your other thread; if I remember correctly you said she was 8-9 months old and 150 grams; I would try to get her switched over to rat pups and get her on a 5-7 day feeding schedule.

8-9months old at 150grams def get switched to rats and feed every 3-4 days if she will eat.....