I think i have a mouser

[Gerardo]

I have a female BP that is kind of a pain to feed. And over the past few months ive tried different things to get her to eat every week. Well i found out she wont eat appropriate sized food. She likes smaller food. With small rats she wont eat at all, with rats pups its hit or miss and with mice she has been taking them readily but she rarely eats more than one. Is there any health issues that can come from eating small meals or is she just going to grow slower?

[Cissin]

Around where I live its hard to find the right size prey. The only real local reptile shop that has frozen rats here goes from 10g pinkies to 30g pups they don't sell anything in between. So basically what I've been doing is feeding my 2 85g 2013's balls 2 rat pinkies a week. I feed them on Monday and Friday. You could try that instead of trying to feed back to back.

[SlitherinSisters]

If she only eats small meals, you'll definitely have to try and get her to eat several at a time, or feed her every few days if they are a lot smaller than what she needs and she won't eat more than one. I had a male that was a mouser for a good chunk of his life so I had to feed him several mice each time I fed him.

[Gerardo]

Im having trouble getting her to take more than one mouse. And she wont take a single rat of appropriate size

[I-KandyReptiles]

Im having trouble getting her to take more than one mouse. And she wont take a single rat of appropriate size

I have a girl like this. I feed her every 4-5 days. Shell only take 1-2 mice. I suspect she'd eat a live Norway, but we can't have those here.

[DPBallPythons]

Have you tried to scent the rat with the mouse? Or do you feed live?

[MarkS]

Mice are fine, they're just as good of a food as rats. How big is your snake? I've had several mousers and find that most of them will take rats eventually once they get larger, but you're right that one mouse a week will make them grow slower. you might want to try feeding several times a week.

[Gerardo]

I feed live. She is currently at 480 grams. I might start feeding her more often to see is she takes it.

[Havalian]

I would also recommend you offer more often. Also, though it may be an inconvenience to you, have an extra mouse ready to offer at each feeding. That way your snake will have the option to eat a larger meal if she chooses to.
Perhaps you have a snake that simply prefers to eat a snack every 3 days than a meal every 7.

[S.I.R.]

I fully agree that frequent feedings is the way to go. Occasionally we have to "scent" our rats so that the BP thinks its a mouse. It can all be a pain, but definitely worth it to get them eating. Good luck!