Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard the idea of factoring in the animal's girth, then multiplying that by 150% to find the girth of the prey item (frozen-thawed rat). Simple, but not much help when you're new to this and don't really know the prey item's girth until after you've received your RodentPro order (plus $50 shipping). Therefore, I'm looking for some sort of ratio chart or listing of all the various sized prey items (rat -- pinky, weaned, small, etc) with a comparison size of the Ball Python that would find each appropriate. For example:

Ball Python Rat

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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

Obviously my attempt at a sample chart didn't post too well. But...you get the point. Like I said...I never actually know the girth of the prey item (RodentPro rats) until after it arrives, so the girth approach doesn't work too well. I'd find some sort of chart a bit more accurate.

Thanks In Advance,
Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I don't know if this will help but I ordered some f/t rat pups from rodentpro and the girth of them was about 3-3 1/2 inches. My 4 1/2 month old bp is eating them fine.

"I don't know if this will help but I ordered some f/t rat pups from rodentpro and the girth of them was about 3-3 1/2 inches. My 4 1/2 month old bp is eating them fine."

Something is wrong in the above post ... girth means "fatness" so no 4.5 month old snake, (with a girth absolutely no bigger than an inch or so), is eating rats that are 3.5 inches fat (imagine a circle/cylinder with a 3.5 inch diameter...) . The poster obviously meant to refer to the length of the rat pups.

Chris, how big is/are your snakes? If they are babies go with rat hoppers, juvies go with small rats, sub-adults to adults get medium rats, and big adults can get 1 or more large/jumbo rats.

This is not an exact science ... and a little bigger / smaller isn't going to kill anyone!

Joel
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1.1 Ball Python
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
2.1.1 Leopard Geckos
2.0 Crested Geckos

From what i have read in books, the correct term for "girth" is the distance all the way around something.

5 entries found for girth.
girth ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gûrth)
n.
The distance around something; the circumference.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
0.1 Red blood python (Rhianon)
0.0.1 ball pythons (FELIX!!!!!)
2.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, Bear, and Tony)

Yes. The distance around it's belly. Kinda like our belt sizes.

Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I had taken it to mean thickness ... guess I was wrong! (Not the first time today, for that matter!). My apologies to the poster I thought was wrong.

It does seem that thickness would make for a better means of measurement then circumference though...

My point stays the same ... its not an exact science.

Joel
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1.1 Ball Python
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
2.1.1 Leopard Geckos
2.0 Crested Geckos

I still think girth=diameter. Makes more sense.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
0.1 Red blood python (Rhianon)
0.0.1 ball pythons (FELIX!!!!!)
2.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, Bear, and Tony)

Joel (my middle name),

My animals (Ball Pythons) are as follows:

0.1 Normal (900 g)
0.1 Normal (250g - just ate again after 2 months - live mouse)
0.2 Heterozygous Piebald (500 g & 600 g)

I recently switched from weaned rats (RodentPro - 35g) to small rats (RodentPro - 70g) a few weeks ago. Before the switch my animals were eating sometimes two or three per meal. My biggest Normal (900 g) still may eat a few per meal, but my two Het Pieds (500 g & 600 g) were off feed for a few weeks, and they just started eating again, so it's hard to tell right now if they'll take more than one. What would be some nice juicy sized rats (grams) for these girls to eat? I've a feeling (after hearing feeding stories from other breeders) that I still may be under-feeding my girls. Is a small rat (70g) too small?

Thanks Again,
Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I can honestly say I don't know ... especially without seeing them and the prey for myself.

What I would do though, if it was me, was buy a couple of medium sized rats and see who would take them. Then, if they did try to eat it, I would watch and observe if they could get it down, if they appeared to be struggling, how full they looked after they got it, after how many days they became active again, and when the "bulge" was fully gone.

Based on the results, I would change my feedings accordingly.

Bear in mind that underfeeding a snake occurs far more often then overfeeding a snake, especially with younger animals. (How often do people post and say they have a year and a half old snake that weighs 300 grams and is 2 feet long????).

Joel
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1.1 Ball Python
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
2.1.1 Leopard Geckos
2.0 Crested Geckos

My 1000 gramish blood python is takeing medium rats. She is girthy. I have never seen a 1000 gram ball, but i would imagine they arent as girthy as my blood.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
0.1 Red blood python (Rhianon)
0.0.1 ball pythons (FELIX!!!!!)
2.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, Bear, and Tony)

when mine hit 500g I start giving them 200g rats if they will take them, both of mine in that weight range that are rat eaters do eat them the other male that is 500 - 600g but a mouse eater will eat 2-3 mice at 35g a piece.
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Nita Hamilton
5.9 Normal BP's
1.0 Het Orange Ghost
1.4 Humans (DH, Me and 3 daughters)

Joel (my middle name),

My animals (Ball Pythons) are as follows:

0.1 Normal (900 g)
0.1 Normal (250g - just ate again after 2 months - live mouse)
0.2 Heterozygous Piebald (500 g & 600 g)

I recently switched from weaned rats (RodentPro - 35g) to small rats (RodentPro - 70g) a few weeks ago. Before the switch my animals were eating sometimes two or three per meal. My biggest Normal (900 g) still may eat a few per meal, but my two Het Pieds (500 g & 600 g) were off feed for a few weeks, and they just started eating again, so it's hard to tell right now if they'll take more than one. What would be some nice juicy sized rats (grams) for these girls to eat? I've a feeling (after hearing feeding stories from other breeders) that I still may be under-feeding my girls. Is a small rat (70g) too small?

Thanks Again,
Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

.
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I understand what it is you're trying to get out of this, but it's completely unnecessary. In the wild, balls don't wait around until the perfect size 4 rat comes along, they're opportunistic, and will eat whatever they can find; the supermodel size 0's and even the size 12 "fat-bottom girls". Girth is simply a guideline for beginners, it's not "The Word". Feeding ball pythons isn't mathematics, it's trial and error.
For example, in my feeding routine, I weigh my balls before they've eaten and I weigh their measl before being fed also. Girth is not even considered. I use weight and weight only. I typically feed my balls anywhere between 10%-25% of the overall weight of the snake. 25% being the ratio for my hatchlings-juvi's and 10%-15% being the ratio for my larger adults. Example:
100g hatchling ball: 20-25g rat
500g juvi ball: 75-125g rat
2000g adult ball: ~200g rat
I've found that rats for the most part come in the same shape. I'm yet to see a "fat" rat (unless pregnant) but a 100g rat's girth is in proportion to their length and weight the same way a 200g rat's girth is in proportion to their length and weight. Hope this helps.
Link

Wow, you guys make this sooooo much harder than it is.
Here ya go....

Feed your snake what looks good, then..
If your snake still has a bulge in the belly the next day, then it is the right size of food.

If your snake loses its bulge only after a couple 2-3 hours after eating, the food wasn't big enough.

If your snake still has a bulge 3 days later, you might want to go a little smaller next time!

Jason

Yes. That's originally what I was concerned with -- weight (grams) not "girth". The girth thing was a guideline I'd heard, but what I wanted to know was approximate weights. This has been very helpful.

Thanks,
Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy