First meal ( From me )

[mckittie]

Just fed my snake and for all the stress and temp problems I put him through he ate like a champ!

I put one pinky in his cage and he stared at it, sniffed it, slivered around it and finally bit it. He picked it up and chewed it for a minute and dropped it to the ground and paid no more attention to it.

I put another one in there 10 minutes later and he came down from the corner, bit into it and wolfed it down. I am very relieved as I did not think he would eat for me.

First meal was a success, Let's hope for many many more!!!!




Also, How long is it I am not supposed to handle him after he eats? Did someone mention a day or two?

Pics coming this week!

[missi182]

48 hours is a good time frame to wait, especially with a new snake. Remember that it can take a while for bp's to get used to their surrounding so minimal handling is a good idea for the first few weeks.

[SatanicIntention]

A pinky what? Mouse or rat? Pinky rat, maybe, pinky mouse, no way.

Hatchling Ball Pythons can easily eat a good-sized hopper mouse or a rat pup. Pinky mice are much too small and it would take the snake more energy to consume and digest the pinky than the pinky would provide the snake.

How big is the snake? If he's small, say around a foot long or so, try a hopper mouse every 5 days until he sheds a few times, then move up to a small or medium adult mouse every 5 days.

Just watch how his growth rate is. It would be a good investment to get a small scale. If you have a Harbor Freight in your area, they have great digital gram scales for under $30. Wal-Mart also has a nice digital food scale, or you can buy online.

[mckittie]

Wow I must be doing everything wrong. I fed him a pinky mouse and he's a little over a foot long. Just doing what I was told when purchased?

So I should be feeding pinky rats instead?

[janeothejungle]

At the minimum, go to pinky rats. Prey should be roughly the same diameter, or slightly larger than the snakes diameter. It should make a nice little visible bulge after he's eaten it.

~Kat

[mckittie]

Should I feed him again today to make up for it or should I wait til next Friday?

Also, It did make a noticeable bulge.

[Darkice]

You should be able to feed them adult mice at that size.

[SnM_Man]

u should definatly be feeding him something with fur - whether its a hopper mouse or a rat pup - if it hasnt developed fur yet then it has no bone structure as well and the snake is missing out on the calcium it needs to grow strong bones

[mckittie]

This was the first time he's eaten since the pet store and they were feeding him what I fed him, So I doubt it'll do any damage this time around. Or atleast I hope.

This upcoming week I am going to purchase the f/t mice and see how that goes.


No one has answered my previous question yet!!!

Saying as he ate 1 pinky mouse, Do you think I should feed him another one today or just wait on the mice next feeding time?

Thanks for the great advice everyone, I appreciate it.

[wax32]

If it were ME, I'd feed him an adult mouse (or rat fuzzy) today. My small pin just ate a normal sized adult mouse. Barely left a bulge.