Switching to rats?

[Awesomethepossum]

It's not always that they're actually a lot bigger, but they are a stockier built rodent than mice for the same weight size which can seem larger from his perspective.

I've not had a BP drop feed for me, so I don't know if it is harder to get those to switch. All of mine strike off tongs for me.

As far as his size goes, they all grow at different rates genetically and some feed better than others or the owner feeds slightly larger prey than another and results in a bigger snake. As long as his body condition looks good, I wouldn't stress a out his weight much.

I generally aim to feed 10% of body weight until they're at their adult prey size (small rat for males, med rat for females), so you could feed about 15g. For me that's usually a weaned or small mouse depending on vendor.

Refusing a few meals isn't be end of the world, though; keep in mind that they wouldn't be eating this frequently and consistently in the wild and that's the frequency they evolved to grow with and handle well.

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It's funny, because Dante was supposedly an aggressive feeder according to his breeder. The one occasion I saw him actually take a f/t for myself, he daintily picked it off the ground and dragged it back into his hide to eat it. I've never seen such behavior before.

But yes, while the breeder was surprised to hear this, he refuses to acknowledge the prey item if offered with tongs. He waits until I cover his tank and leave the room. Don't know if that'll ever change, but whatever works *shrug* . And I just checked- the hoppers are about 11-12g.

Just making sure I'm doing right on my end. I know of someone that has an adult ball python, which is supposedly female of about 4 years, that's around 3 feet long. Seemed wierd to me, but my understanding was also that the snake wasn't fed adequately, and that this could have been the cause. But who knows.