Help, ball python trying to escape

[Nephil]

Snakes grow at different rates (depending on temps & available food & genetics, etc) so age doesn't say much.

I suspect he should be eating adult mice, not hoppers att, btw. And sources don't go by the same exact description (or body wts) when describing a size, so it's possible your hoppers are on the small side, & 2 really isn't enough. Some snakes will accept multiple rodents at one meal, others won't; apparently yours doesn't mind, but before you "stuff him to excess", you should WEIGH BOTH your snake AND the prey you're feeding him. We all have better things to do than to keep guessing. And kindly look at the posted chart, please.

FYI- about switching to rats- rats & mice smell and taste differently- some snakes love both, some are picky & don't wish to switch without a battle, so I wouldn't use up all your mice when you try a rat for the first time, until you get his opinion on it.

Without seeing your snake, AND without knowing his weight, it's impossible for us to know IF your snake is underweight or over, etc.

Has he ever been fed live prey? IF so you might want to have a vet check his stool for parasites*, just in case that's what's bothering him. (*They are transmitted via live prey, not frozen-thawed.)

Frankly I haven't the foggiest notion what you meant by "sausage" or "salami"? But maybe this will help you:

I don't want to stress him out more with handling, but i am going to show an old pic of how he was before after gaining some weight. He stayed about the same width, and on the hopper mice pocket it's written that they weight from 7 to 12 grams. Some indeed look fatter, some thinner, but i try to get him the ones that look bigger. But i will repeat that ordering hopper mice was my mistake, since i thought they were the right size for him, so i try to give him more than one. Also by sausage and salami i meant that he's long and probably with not enough fat (like a sausage) meanwhile ball pythons from what i understood should be long, but also "fat" (like a salami) haha. But tbh the examples of weight pic you sent now makes me doubt if he's underweight or not, i feel really confused so i think it's better to just weight him. I'll do that after he calms down (if that won't be too long of a wait for) and try to offer him 2 hopper mice as usual today. Also no idea if he ever ate live mice, all i know the shop was force feeding him thawed mouse pinkies since they probably don't know much bout snakes and thought that he still has to "learn" to eat without help, like a bird.


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