Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There is a question that sparky asked that I would love to have answered. here is is.

My 20Gl has ambient temps of 75-80 (taken with digi therm/hydo) but my surface temps are 93-96 hot 84-90 midlle and 74-82 cool side.. Are these ok or do I need to raise the ambient temps?? Thanks for any advise

Now 2nd question is this: my BP is a few months old, I give her 1 FT mouse every week, should I switch her over to rat? I dont want to overfeed her but I dont want her hungry either. i watched a ralph davis video where he mentioned that he gives all his snakes 1 rat a week.
what should I do?

P.S.
Seing all these egg clutche picture, Man I cant wait till my girl is ready....in 3 years ! LOL

There is a question that sparky asked that I would love to have answered. here is is.

My 20Gl has ambient temps of 75-80 (taken with digi therm/hydo) but my surface temps are 93-96 hot 84-90 midlle and 74-82 cool side.. Are these ok or do I need to raise the ambient temps?? Thanks for any advise

Now 2nd question is this: my BP is a few months old, I give her 1 FT mouse every week, should I switch her over to rat? I dont want to overfeed her but I dont want her hungry either. i watched a ralph davis video where he mentioned that he gives all his snakes 1 rat a week.
what should I do?

P.S.
Seing all these egg clutche picture, Man I cant wait till my girl is ready....in 3 years ! LOL

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I have NEVER fed my bp's mice. I start hatchlings on an appropriate sized rat. Do that once a week and you will be fine. IMP mice are a no no with balls.

Your temps seem fine to me. But, that range works for me anyway. everyone will have they're own opinion since everyones ambient temps are not the same.

Breeding? Go by weight not by age. Your girl wont have to wait 3 years if she's big enough (feed rats). I bred a girl at a year old but shes my monster and was 1450g at 11 months. She ate once a week but for some reason she just gained and gained and gained. I was scolded ([bleep]ed at actually. Some of you people can be real !$&*#&*'s) on this forum for overfeeding years ago and it got so bad I left for a while. I never overfed I just had a big girl and she has been giving myself and my local store nice clutches every year. If your snake is healthy, feeding and in the right size enclosure with proper temps, humidity, hides etc...do what works for you.
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"What are you afraid of? What ever it is, it's here. That and things your little irrational mind couldn't even dream of."

as far as your 2nd question, i always want my ball pythons to eat rats! simply because in the long run its cheaper, and in my opinion better for the animal. here is my theory on that, a large adult mouce is /-40g, thats about the same as a weaned rat. so you still have a lot for a ball to eat on the rat scale. my point simply is way more mice to 1 rat. hope this helps....

chris

First thing is take your temps were the snake is if it floats in the middle of the cage then that’s were you take it , LOL no take your temps from the surface hot spot 90-95 high side 82-87 and low side 75-80 .or around there , I said those because that is were mine leveled out at and they are just references any way . 2nd thing mice -rats what ever your snake likes ,I prefer rats as they get older at first mice . But you could give them rat pups instead of large mice . Just do what works for you and your snakes . David

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander
Abraham Lincoln.

I switch over to rats as soon as possible!
I start babies on mouse hoppers and by the 5th meal they go on rats.
Westcoast Pythons

Feed whatever your snake will eat on a consistent basis and what you can easily obtain. I feed exclusively mice to my 40-someodd Ball Pythons, even to the 2300g females. All adult Balls need to grow and thrive is around 50-65g of food a week. If that means 2 medium adult mice or 1 weaned rat, then who cares what prey type it is. As long as the weight adds up to an appropriate amount, the snake will grow and do just fine.

Also, if you feed live, mice are easier as they won't outgrow the snake in a week(they never outgrow the snake). Plus, you can vary the amount of mice the snake gets per week if it's an adult. My adult males sometimes get 1 mouse, sometimes they get 2 or 3, depending on if they've been breeding, or have been off-feed. If I want to buy a large order or live mice, I can easily keep them in a small space. Rats, however, need alot more ventilation and bigger caging, with less to a cage.

I don't think this female looks underweight(she's glowing)..

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-Becky Brown, RVT-
1.0 Lemon Pastel Classic Jungle,1.0 Black Pastel,1.0 Enchi,1.0 Yellow Hypo,0.1 100% het Butterscotch Hypo,0.1 66% Poss Het VPI Hypo,3.24 Normals,1.1 Spider,1.1 Yellowbellies(BHB),1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle,1.3 66% Poss Het VPI Axanthic, 1.1 Poss Het VPI Snow,1.1 100% het Genetic Stripe