Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what is your opinion on the size of prey we should feed this little girl? we are feeding her two adult size mice a week. Is that to much, just right, or not enuf?

2.0.0 red tail boas wiggles and squigles
1.1.0 ball pythons aragorn and arwen
1.0.0 rat snake alabaster
0.0.1 corn snake baby
3.3.0 cats BS, Brownie, Rockie, Laredo, Kole Kitters, Cami
1.1.0 mice Dinner and Breakfast
0.0.5 frogs
1.3.0 kids Dilyen, Dakota, Chyanne, Sierra

Was the pic taken right after she was fed? If so, you may want to feed her more.... Otherwise, it depends a lot on Arwen (nice name by the way).

A lot of people will tell you the "body width rule" which I won't use because I don't trust it - using that rule, I had a rat snake mutt hybrid (pet only) that actually tore the webbing at the edges of her mouth one time. Every time I fed her after that, the scars kept tearing, so the resolution was to only feed her many SMALL meals. That solved the problem, but the poor girl never looked the same. Because of that experience, I am VERY cautious about the size of prey items I will offer.

I know a reptile vet who has suggested feeding small meals (single prey items) about 4 days apart. I personally prefer a couple of prey items about a week or so apart, as you are doing. It's up to you.

Also, you may wish to consider young rats (comparibly sized of course). They may be priced about the same as mice, or radically different, depending on your supplier. My theory here is that young rats whose bones have not yet ossified (completely hardened), and don't have much fur yet, may be more digestible.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

that photo was taken a week after she ate last. We have decieded to hold off on feeding her this week until she sheds. her eyes cleared up last night. would you suggest rat pups or just weaned? we also worry that it might hurt her if the prey is to large. she is our baby we dont want anything bad to happen to her.

It's been about 7 years since I have been breeding my own rats, so I'm not so good anymore with how old the rats should be (# days old etc.). My female has already moved up to "small" (weaned) rats. If you are getting your prey items from a pet store or a rodent breeder, either should be able to tell you what is a good age rat to be about the same size as an adult mouse (or whatever size mouse you were feeding her). Once you are sure that she is eating those okay, you can judge by watching her if you need to move to a larger rat. By the pic you showed, she probably doesn't need to eat anything larger for now - but that's a guess.

Make sure that you DO NOT offer live rats that are old enough to have their eyes open, EVER. Before they open their eyes, I am not too worried about rats harming your snake, although it is good to get her used to eating pre-killed prey. Once the rats are old enough that their eyes are open, you need to (non-chemically) euthanize them before offering them to your snake, or buy them pre-killed or frozen.

Good luck! I hope that helps and doesn't confuse.

~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

ya i have seen the pic's of a feeding gone wrong.i wont feeding her live rats. right now we feed her 2 adult mice a week she likes that just last night we gave her 2 live (eyes not open) rats and at first she was un sure but took to it. now on the other hand our male bp ate his with no problem.here is a pic of her right ahter sha ate

thanx brian & chrissy

She looks good. That's a good-sized bulge in her stomach in my humble opinion; Ball Pythons aren't rat snakes, and you won't see the same obvious bulge in the middle after a meal with a Ball as you could with a rat snake. I'm glad to hear that neither of yours had a problem with the rats.

Have you tried buying frozen rodents yet? Once your snakes need larger prey that is one neat way to sidestep the issue of having to euthanize the prey, and you can buy in bulk too to save money... though I wouldn't buy in bulk while they are still growing fast, as their needs will be changing quickly.

Additionally, some snakes, of any specie, aren't crazy about switching from live or fresh-killed prey to frozen/thawed prey. I have to trick my female into accepting thawed prey by putting the prey item in a plastic bag while thawing, and once thawed, leaving the bag to sit in hot tap water for a few minutes. I usually thaw the prey item by the same method, but the water is usually cold by the time the prey item has thawed, and so change the water it is sitting in. ...Anyway, if the prey item is warm when I offer it to her, my female is a lot more willing to eat a thawed rat.

Good luck! She looks good!

~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

thanks for all your info. yes we have tried feeding her f/t mice she doesnt seem to like them much but maybe if we tried to warm them a little more befor feeding her. I would say that when we feed her the f/t mice the are typicaly at room temp. maybe she would like them better if they were a little warmer.