Newbee question - about color change in females

[Evenstar]

Gosh, I thought I was doing right by her by feeding rats. I've been told (and read) that rats were better for Ball Pythons so I assumed this would be the case for Puffers. Mice won't be a problem though. I have plenty of those too. How many mice should I be feeding it? Is three per week enough? Doesn't seem like much given the size of this snake.

You obviously recognize your mistake thanks to Tikigator, lol, but never assume that what is good for one species is good for another. Balls are terrestrial snakes and do well on larger fattier rodents. GTPs, being arboreal, do much better with smaller lighter prey.


I feed my adult 5 ft male one large (maybe a jumbo) mouse every 2 weeks. No more than that. He is 9 years old and is a true 5 ft in length. He is a proven male and in his prime. Conversely, our 20 month old female Jayapura is about 30 inches in length and is eating a single mouse hopper each week. In other words, feed ONE mouse per week at this age. Once your baby is over 2 years old, you can, and most likely should, switch to feeding every 2 weeks. Less is better with GTPs.

Btw, some GTPs actually DO like to be handled. My male, Hunter, is a dreamboat and will settle with my hubby for hours at a time or hang out with me on my computer. Our female is also super sweet once out of her enclosure. She is young, so she tends to be more active, but she's very friendly. We handle both of them regularly. Of course neither one is a Biak....


This is Hunter. He is a PNG x OSHY male bred by Rico Walder and purchased from Rocky Gravley. Pictured here with Rocky's 8 year old son.



And this is Grianne. She is a pure Jayapura bred by and purchased from Alli Watson.