Feeding..Too big?

[jglass38]

Hey all. New to the forum and the snake world. I got a CB BP from a local reptile store 2 weeks ago. They fed him a live mouse before I left. After one week I fed him a F/T large mouse. Wanting to move him to rats right away, I asked the guy at the store. He said a small rat would be no problem. I measured his diameter at his thickest part (3.5 inches) and the rat is about the same if not a little bit bigger. I dont think it will be too big for him but wanted to check with some experts. I measured him today and he is approximately 20-22 inches long. I have no idea about his age but the guy at the store called him a yearling (or so he thought). The small rat is defrosting in the fridge for feeding tomorrow. Wanted to check first though. Thanks in advance!

Jamie

[Marla]

It should be fine as long as prey girth matches approximately to snake girth. Welcome to the forum!

[mlededee]

hi jamie, welcome to the site! glad you switched your snake over to f/t too-much safer. we'd love to see some pics of your new guy too if you have some!

[jglass38]

Well as I mentioned, the rat is slightly larger around than the largest part of the snake. The rat is thawing in the fridge right now and will be fed today. I assume if it is too large, he wont accept it and if he does accept it, he can handle it?

[led4urhead]

He'll know if he can get it down or not. I've run into this problem once. The rat i picked out was too large. Sphinx hit it, constricted it, "killed" it ( it was already dead before it went in there ), and then kept looking at it. The rat was definitely too large for him to get down. He didnt even try, he knew before he would even start the attempt.

[jglass38]

Well that makes me feel better. I didnt want him choking on it or anything.

[jglass38]

So I defrosted the rat in the fridge overnight. Today I put the plastic bag under very warm water for a few minutes to get it warmed up. I went to put it in his tank and accidentally dropped it. Before I could pick it back up, he attacked it and decided he wanted to gnaw on it for a few minutes. Gnawed on its middle and then its feet. I got the feeling it was way too big for him. He let go and I picked it up with the tongs and started the rat dance. He looked uninterested for five minutes. Finally he took it. For the first 5 minutes, it really looked like it was way too big for him to take down. Everytime he seemed to get the his head over its head he would back off. But he is an eater for sure (2 weeks ago a live mouse at the store before I took him home, 5 days ago a F/T mouse no problems and now onto rats) so he kept trying and eventually took it down. He is fat and happy in his hide as I type! Here are some pics:

[led4urhead]

Photos arent working man . I'm glad he ate it for ya. Its amazing how much they can actually get through such a small mouth and neck isnt it

[jglass38]

I have no clue how to do these images. Any hints?

Amazing for sure...

[led4urhead]

This should explain it jglass38 : http://www.ball-pythons.net/index.ph...ewtopic&t=5035