Feeding help?

[Riyuu]

Im gonna feed my new bp for the first time.
but im not sure about some things.
I know u should take him out of his home
and put him in a differnt place like a box.
What time is a good time to feed him and how
much mice should i give him...hes not a really small
baby..maybe like a foot or so. Also should i just leave a mouse
in the box...or should i dangle it?

[tweets_4611]

First off, it's not nessecary to take your bp out of its home to feed. There isn't any harm in feeding in the enclousre, and since it's so new, it will be less stress for the snake if you just feed it where it's at.

As for sizing the mouse or rat you feed it, a general rule is that it shouldn't be any larger around than the thickest part of your bp. I don't know that the time makes a difference, but I would feed at dusk-ish. That's when they naturally feed....or something like that.

And are you feeding live, or frozen/thawed? If it's live, put the mouse in and you snake will do the rest. BUT, make sure and watch it the whole time. Live mice can do ALOT of damage to a ball if they aren't supervised. If it's f/t, you can do the "zombie mouse dance" and dangle the thawed mouse out and wiggle it a touch so you snake will catch the movement. I feed live, so I don't know much about the f/t feedings.

I woud look at the caresheet that's on here, and use the search feature to find the answers for this stuff too. This is all just what I would do...this is by no means the only way to do things. ^_^

*Edit* I guess I should ask how long you have had your new bp? You should let it settle in for a week with no handling and no attempted feedings before you mess with it at all. That allows the ball to get used to and get comfortable in it's new home.

[Riyuu]

First off, it's not nessecary to take your bp out of its home to feed. There isn't any harm in feeding in the enclousre, and since it's so new, it will be less stress for the snake if you just feed it where it's at.

As for sizing the mouse or rat you feed it, a general rule is that it shouldn't be any larger around than the thickest part of your bp. I don't know that the time makes a difference, but I would feed at dusk-ish. That's when they naturally feed....or something like that.

And are you feeding live, or frozen/thawed? If it's live, put the mouse in and you snake will do the rest. BUT, make sure and watch it the whole time. Live mice can do ALOT of damage to a ball if they aren't supervised. If it's f/t, you can do the "zombie mouse dance" and dangle the thawed mouse out and wiggle it a touch so you snake will catch the movement. I feed live, so I don't know much about the f/t feedings.

I woud look at the caresheet that's on here, and use the search feature to find the answers for this stuff too. This is all just what I would do...this is by no means the only way to do things. ^_^

*Edit* I guess I should ask how long you have had your new bp? You should let it settle in for a week with no handling and no attempted feedings before you mess with it at all. That allows the ball to get used to and get comfortable in it's new home.

Ive had my bp for about a week..i got it monday.
and the petco lady said i should feed it today.
she also said i could take it out of its home and feed
in a differnt box. but i guess i can just feed it in its home.
that would be better ...though i have that aspen wood stuff
i donno if that will be a problem. I got about 6 frozen mice...the lil
white fuzzy ones. Im not sure how many i should feed it.
should i try 2? also can i feed him like around 5 or 6pm?

[Jenny_Bp]

Hey We here at Bp.net have learned not to listen to petco employees. Am I right guys?? The Baby needs atleast a week in its new enclosure, then try offering its first meal. Alot of Petco employees dont have any knowledge about reptiles, No offense if any of you work there. If your on this site your probably the ones witht the knowlegde

[tweets_4611]

I've never used aspen, so I don't really know. From what I understand people feed on it, but just make sure it doesn't get any big pieces stuck in it's mouth. And if your Petco is like all the others I have been to, I'm guessing just feed one, but there really isn't any way anyone on here could tell you with out seeing the snake and the mice. Since it's your first feeding, my suggestion is to just feed one mouse. If it's a young be that should be a decent meal, and I would think it would be better to feed a smaller meal, than one that is too big.

[Riyuu]

I've never used aspen, so I don't really know. From what I understand people feed on it, but just make sure it doesn't get any big pieces stuck in it's mouth. And if your Petco is like all the others I have been to, I'm guessing just feed one, but there really isn't any way anyone on here could tell you with out seeing the snake and the mice. Since it's your first feeding, my suggestion is to just feed one mouse. If it's a young be that should be a decent meal, and I would think it would be better to feed a smaller meal, than one that is too big.

Ok thanks. So it would be ok to feed him one lil white mouse today
in his home? the mice are about 1 inch or 2.

this his him!

[tweets_4611]

Well, like Jenny and I both said, I would wait a few more days. A few more days won't hurt, and it will give him more time to settle in. A bp that doesn't feel secure, or isn't comfortable in it's home, won't eat. And with him being this new, a failed feeding may just stress him out more. So give him a few more days to get settled, without handling or any feeding attempts, then try. Ah, and yeah, Petco employees don't ususally know much about the animals themselves, they just know about selling them. This is a great site to get the info you need, so search around a little. ^_^

He's a cutie by the way!!

[Riyuu]

Well, like Jenny and I both said, I would wait a few more days. A few more days won't hurt, and it will give him more time to settle in. A bp that doesn't feel secure, or isn't comfortable in it's home, won't eat. And with him being this new, a failed feeding may just stress him out more. So give him a few more days to get settled, without handling or any feeding attempts, then try. Ah, and yeah, Petco employees don't ususally know much about the animals themselves, they just know about selling them. This is a great site to get the info you need, so search around a little. ^_^

He's a cutie by the way!!

Thank you! ^-^

Ill wait a few more days then.
and ill search around the site for some more info.

[Riyuu]

I just fed my snake for the very first time.
It went really well.Im really happy.
Its only been a couple hours since i fed him
and i only gave him one.When can i handle him?
or should i wait for that another week or so?

[rabernet]

I just fed my snake for the very first time.
It went really well.Im really happy.
Its only been a couple hours since i fed him
and i only gave him one.When can i handle him?
or should i wait for that another week or so?

General rule of thumb is 48 hours after their meal.

I, however, like to limit handling of new snakes until I've had 2 or 3 successful feeds.

If you decide to handle him in 48 hours, keep your handling sessions short, to about 30 minutes a day. If he begins to refuse eating, stop all handling until he feeds for you again.

He's a very nice looking snake, congratulations!