How long will pinkies last?

[piedpipper]

Start with fuzzies, pups are too big!

Wrong. You can't say whats too big if you don't even know how big the snake is. As bcr said they could even be on small rats by this time depending when they were born and how much they've grown.

[cristacake]

My 2015 is on adult rats already, it really depends on how big your snake is but it has probably moved on from fuzzies by now. I agree with Coluber, if you can't get a weight from the breeder then wait until you have the snake and can see how big it is

[Hammertime1977]

Second that, my early 2015 male is on small rats and handles them with ease at just shy of 600 grams.

Weight is a decent indication.

I also don't intend on feeding any larger than small rats. I'm not going to get my guy fat and I just don't see a large every 2 weeks when he can have a small every 7-10 days and not put his digestive system through so much stress. But I'm not a breeder, if my guy doesn't hit 800-900 grams by breeding season...I'm not out money. He's my pet

Buying a large amount might be a bad idea. I only buy enough for a month, not sure how true it is but you would think past 90 days freezer burn could become an issue. I buy mine 4 at a time and individually wrap them when I get home before putting them into my freezer, while removing all of the air.

Also you might have to use fresh kill for a while if your guy won't take frozen thawed. Would suck to have 50 in the freezer and you still have to transition from fresh kill to frozen thaw before you can use them.

The great part about a fresh kill, is that if the meal is missed...you can just freeze it. I did fresh kill for my first feed just to make sure he took it. Now he is on frozen thaw.

Best of luck...good idea planning ahead.

This hobby is a lot easier than people make it seem. We create most of the problems out Ball Pythons have, but it's not a steep learning curve. Just be careful of forum advice, forums seem to be filled with like minded people that follow like zombies :p

[usaf21stsf]

My reply didn't seem to actually post, but my little guy was born mid September of 15 is 165g and still can't do pups. He is good with medium move which is probably close to a rat fuzzy.

[highqualityballz]

Wrong. You can't say whats too big if you don't even know how big the snake is. As bcr said they could even be on small rats by this time depending when they were born and how much they've grown.

Exactly he did not give a size. He was going to start with pinkies which will be too small, so if he is going to start with anything it should be fuzzies. I said fuzzies just to be safe, if he listened to everyone else and got pups there is a big chance they are way too big, but if he got fuzzies he can still feed them off regardless.

[highqualityballz]

So I am really close to getting my BP He's a 2015 (didnt say which month) pastel. I am going to order some food for him before he comes (good planning, right) but I was wondering about how much of a waste getting pinkies would be. From Big Cheese rat pinkies cost about 50 with shipping... and there are 50 pinkies in the bag. My question is how long my BP will stay eating pinkies. And then the next size up.
Thanks

Just ask the breeder what he is currently eating, or you can order the rats after you see him once he arrives.

[piedpipper]

Exactly he did not give a size. He was going to start with pinkies which will be too small, so if he is going to start with anything it should be fuzzies. I said fuzzies just to be safe, if he listened to everyone else and got pups there is a big chance they are way too big, but if he got fuzzies he can still feed them off regardless.

Fair enough. Its just that the way you originally said it made it sound like pups were DEFINITELY too big. Still though, if it is a 2015 and still not big enough for pups then that means it would have had to eat practically nothing in that time span lol.

[piedpipper]

My reply didn't seem to actually post, but my little guy was born mid September of 15 is 165g and still can't do pups. He is good with medium move which is probably close to a rat fuzzy.

I don't know how big your pups are but typically they are around the same size as an adult mouse. I was comfortably feeding pups to my smaller ball python when he was ~100g. You should just go by a feeder the same size as the widest part of his body. If thats what you're doing than maybe you have extraordinary large rat pups

[usaf21stsf]

I don't know how big your pups are but typically they are around the same size as an adult mouse. I was comfortably feeding pups to my smaller ball python when he was ~100g. You should just go by a feeder the same size as the widest part of his body. If thats what you're doing than maybe you have extraordinary large rat pups

I bought it from a local reptile shop fresh killed. It seemed closer to a weaned than a pup honestly but they said it was a pup.

[piedpipper]

I bought it from a local reptile shop fresh killed. It seemed closer to a weaned than a pup honestly but they said it was a pup.

Makes sense. Pups are usually anything between 20-30g generally. But everyone has their own weight ranges they consider to be a certain rodent size and in the end (and this is to the OP too) theres really no need to overthink this with ball pythons. Just see how big the snake is and go with something the same size as the largest part of the body.