Whaat? Is this ok and normal?

[danielwilu2525]

Ok so, Sammy ate last saturday 2 rat pups since I can't find a rat breeder local to my who sells live weaned rats. SO, I see that he's waay more active than usual, just not going into his hide. Last time he did this, I came here and I was told he was hungry. They we're right, I fed him a rat pup and he was calm. Now my question is, is it OK to feed a small rat to a 300g ball python? I feel like 2 rat pups Isn't enough for him.

[redshepherd]

I'd stick with 2 rat pups until he's a bit bigger, just to avoid the risk of regurgitation.. If you think it looks too big, it might be too big.

Depends on the individual body of the snake though, weight doesn't help much. My 270g girl is still on one rat pup every 5 days, but she's just a heavy-bodied little girl, barely past being a "hatchling", and possibly a little overweight.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Depends on the small rat, sometimes you go to a store and their definition of small is different than the one most people who actually breed rats is.

Small rat is 45 to 85 grams so that's a bit much especially for a male.

Next step up from pup is weaned which are rats that are generally 3 weeks old and 30 to 45 grams.

If that helps.

[danielwilu2525]

Well I'll try to look further Into my area, I just can't find anyone that breeds live weaned rats.

[Jeanne]

The best way to decide on proper prey size is to weigh your snake..figure out 15 to 20% of its body weight...find rodent or rodents that hit that total in that size range. This requires regular weigh ins or before long you may be under feeding due to snakes weight change.

Sent from my LG-V500 using Tapatalk