Skinny Ball

[Hunkycorn]

I Bought my ball near the first of this year. He/she is my first snake, so I did all kinds of research before I bought and asked all the right questions but I'm starting to get a bit worried. When I bought it it was approx a foot one inch and was only slightly triangular and about 3in around and hasn't grown much. He/she eats just fine. He/she eats two fuzzies every two weeks and a pinky in between. Am I underfeeding it? I'm giving Him/her a lot more than the pet store who was giving two pinkies biweekly. Can anybody tell me what's up?

[spitzu]

At that size I would be feeding it a rat pup every 3-5 days. It sounds like it is being underfed.

How big are the fuzzies in relation to its girth? And are we talking rat fuzzies or mice?

[Hunkycorn]

At that size I would be feeding it a rat pup every 3-5 days. It sounds like it is being underfed.

How big are the fuzzies in relation to its girth? And are we talking rat fuzzies or mice?

They're roughly the same girth as the middle section of the snake.

[KatStoverReptiles]

At that size I would be feeding it a rat pup every 3-5 days. It sounds like it is being underfed.

How big are the fuzzies in relation to its girth? And are we talking rat fuzzies or mice?

x2. I'm also thinking underfed. Balls should be given a prey item approximately as big around as they are at their largest point every 5-7 days when young and every 7-10 days when adults.

[Hunkycorn]

They're roughly the same girth as the middle section of the snake.

They're mice, BTW... lol

[spitzu]

They're roughly the same girth as the middle section of the snake.

See if he'll take a fuzzy/pup every 5 days. He'll probably double his weight in a month.

[KatStoverReptiles]

They're mice, BTW... lol

Oh yes...much too small. Hatchlings sometimes start out on mice fuzzies.

You can also get a small scale and weigh your snake, then weigh the prey item(s). Your snake should be eating approximately 10-15% of its body weight every 5-7 days.

[spitzu]

They're mice, BTW... lol

Erm. He should be well past fuzz mice even as a hatchling. Try weaned/juvenile mice. They shouldn't be too much bigger than the snake girth-wise.

[DellaF]

Try switching to rats. I have one that won't eat rats for nothing so he eats 3 large mice weekly.

[Hunkycorn]

See if he'll take a fuzzy/pup every 5 days. He'll probably double his weight in a month.

Thank you so much. I'll give it a shot. I was a bit worried I was underfeeding. I figured PetSmart would know what they were doing... Obviously not, at least not herps anyway.