Feeding Questions

[pastelballs]

Hey everyone! I've been sort-of lurking here and there, more so when I wondered or had questions of my own.

I have two balls, one female pastel het red axanthic at 196 grams, Nov 20th 2014 hatched, and a male pastel red axanthic at 275 grams, Dec 4th 2014 hatched.

They both eat f/t, and both started out great eaters, the boy still eating everything I offer him, though the last time he was in blue (my mistake, I had already warmed the mouse before peeking in at him, but he took it anyway), is it alright to feed in blue, if only by mistake? I try not to disturb them at all when they are, but he took it alright.
The girl on the other hand slowed down with her eating, and at points she would only take it if I put it down and she'd slowly grab onto it, not striking it. I thought that was so odd to see, and if anyone else's healthy snakes do that? She hadn't eaten for a couple weeks, though when fed a few days ago, she took it slowly without striking again.

1) Is there some way to pick her back up, could I be doing something wrong? (I assumed I'm doing things alright, because they are both housed the same and my boy does great)

2) I read people get their babes 600+ grams by a year old- so how could I pick up weight on my babies, as they are both over a year and under 300 grams?


I'm not looking to breed them until well later on, I'm in no hurry, I just wonder about their health in terms of weight/eating habits.
Thanks!



Also, noob question, I was planning on putting pictures of them here too, but I can't seem to figure out how, lol ?

[Mr. Misha]

Feeding during the shedding process is completely normal. Some BPs will eat while in shed while others won't. The choice whether you offer is yours.

In regards to their weight, what kind of meals have you been offering to your BPs? BPs do grow at different rates but usually newer owners tend to underestimate the prey item the BP can take. Eating without striking is normal.

The easiest way to add photos is downloading the Tapatalk app for your smart phone and doing it from there.

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[ItsAllNew2Me!]

I have never had an issue with feeding while in shed. I have had some snakes completely blind and not wanting to be bothered still slam. It is no problem if they still eat. I always heat up food and if they don't want it, i figure it was worth a try. I find that some bps just slow down for no reason but their own so i will continue to offer normally. As for feeding and slow growth i would make sure you are feeding the proper size. I would get a scale and do the 10-15% rule for feeder size. At 300g that is a 30-45g food item which would be about a weaned rats range.

Check out this thread for a great chart on food item sizes

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ht=feeder+size

[pastelballs]

Thank you, I guess I'll offer in shed more often and see who doesn't care being blind, haha


Thank you for the chart and 10-15% their size, I hadn't known about that one. I'm not sure the size of the mice I'm feeding, I had bought in bulk some f/t mice as well as rats but to be honest I can't really tell the difference, I just assume the bigger ones are the rats.

I had been feeding at least once a week, my boy eats once every 5-6 days because he'll accept them when I offer. They haven't eaten since the 4th. I've been so busy and there aren't many chances for me to be home long enough, waiting a couple hours for the prey to thaw out- I put them under a heating lamp after to warm them up and then feed with tongs.

I'll put some out to thaw today, and after they are I'll weigh them and see how close to 10-15% of their weight I am, and report back here with grams.

[pastelballs]

Weighed the rats(?), they're 30-35 grams.

What about double-feeding?

[gaitedappy]

If your little one will take two go for it, just wait to offer the second until the first is fully swallowed


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[ItsAllNew2Me!]

I have two balls, one female pastel het red axanthic at 196 grams, Nov 20th 2014 hatched, and a male pastel red axanthic at 275 grams, Dec 4th 2014 hatched.

Wow are you sure these animals are a year old? I just realized the hatch dates are 2014. I have had one bp that came in at 98g. She is now pushing 350g and i have had her for 4 months. That is acutally a bit slow as she went off feed a few meals. I am pretty sure your prey size is way off.

For the female i would feed 30g every 5-7 days. Some people do 4.

The male 40g on the same feed schedule.

I personally wouldn't double if your rats are that size as too large a meal could put them off feed also. Just feed more often and they will grow like weeds.

[pastelballs]

Yes, I'm sure, but I had been a bit worried as to how little they weighed compared to what others said they could be weighing... Glad I joined the forums, even just reading others is helping.

I guess my problem wasn't when I was feeding but the prey size! My family (and somewhat myself, to a lesser extent) thought what I was giving them seemed too big for them, so I never wanted to push it too much.


Just fed the little girl, she took a 32gram rat (not sure what that would be classified as?)! Little boy also took one no problem, I'm going to leave another in their tanks as sometimes they'll pick up a second one- only offered after they have the first down of course.

[ItsAllNew2Me!]

I would leave it at the one 32g rat and feed in at the least 4 at the most 7 days. You don't want to put them off feed. You have to think that the more food they eat the longer it will take to digest and the less likely they will want to eat. Just my 2 cents.