what if I feed him a mouse that is too big?

[mm91187]

i picked up a mouse today, and when i got home i noticed it is kinda big, bigger than his last mice he's been eating. so im wondering if i feed it to him will he choke on it or will he throw it back out? or is it nothing to worry about?

[Evan Jamison]

A little more info would be helpful to provide you with an answer worth reading. How large is the your BP? How large is the mouse?

[Lucifers_Mommy]

it shouldnt be very much thicker than the widest part of his body....the same size is ideal....if its just a tad bigger then i woudlnt worry about it and just leave him alone for an extra day than you normaly would after he eats.....he wont choke lol, i think its immposible for a snake to choke on there food because of that organ in there mouth...if im wrong correct me lol

[mm91187]

hmm.. well im not sure how old he is, maybe around 5-6 months? I got from him dixie reptile show in birmingham, from Big Al's or Big Daddy's wholesale, something like that. im taking pics right now with the mouse in a separate cage to compare their size

[Evan Jamison]

It's hard to tell exactly how large your BP from those pics, but if he has been eating well for 5-6 months, he should be fine. Just make sure he has access to a basking area of around 90 degrees so he can digest, otherwise you may get a regurge. If you thought mice smelled bad before they go down the hatch.....

[Colin Vestrand]

people blow this out of proportion... it's a python - the one thing they do well is eat! a regurge is more common with larger prey, but it's not a rule.

[Evan Jamison]

people blow this out of proportion... it's a python - the one thing they do well is eat! a regurge is more common with larger prey, but it's not a rule.

Yeah, it's not common, but once you've had a couple regurge on you, you avoid it the best you can.

[Adam_Wysocki]

people blow this out of proportion... it's a python - the one thing they do well is eat! a regurge is more common with larger prey, but it's not a rule.

It's a BALL python ... be careful on the advice you give ... balls don't eat the same way burms, bloods, retics, etc do ... anyone with enough significant experience with these animals will say the same.

Smaller meals are better ... if for no other reason than to avoid a refusal later down the road.

-adam

[adizziedoll]

Personally, if you aren't sure and looks a lot bigger than his girth, I wouldn't do it. To emphasize this, I'm going to share my personal horror story about when I didn't know... (warning, kind of graphic)

My friend gave me her 2 baby ball pythons when, who didn't know jack about them (we were like 15 at the time). She told me to get a mouse to feed it.. i didnt know there were fuzzies and hoppers, so i got a normal adult mouse. The male BP attacked it, and started swallowing. It was then that i realized that it was too big, because his scales kept stretching, and stretching until I saw skin. I tried to get the mouse out, but the python wasn't letting go! Then it all ripped open and there was a microcentimeter of skin left.... i could literally see the tail (it was going in backwards) and all the hairs on it...like a window. I still to this day cannot believe that he survived.

Just please be careful. It's probably not that big where something like this would happen, but i felt the need to share this story to express the importance of smaller meals...

Smaller meals are better for digestion anyways. Which burns faster.. a log or a few sticks equal to the size of that log?

[joepythons]

It's a BALL python ... be careful on the advice you give ... balls don't eat the same way burms, bloods, retics, etc do ... anyone with enough significant experience with these animals will say the same.

Smaller meals are better ... if for no other reason than to avoid a refusal later down the road.

-adam

Thank you Adam .To many times i have seen people give the wrong advice when it comes to ball pythons.