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Ball Python food/prey size

Posted By:

z0mbiieAp0c@lypse138

My fiancee and I are arguing about feeding our newly bought python, Hannibal, i may have accidently said boa in the title, if so i apologize, it is a yearling python (ball), we are feeding him pups, which i prefer small ones due to the fact that his fattest part isnt huge, its big but not huge ... anyway, my fiancee went to the petstore and came home with a 3-pk of pups, one of which looks like a full grown rat, and the other two are smaller, but still look a bit big for Hannibal, the guy at the store we bought him at whom I've been buying off for years said he was eating full grown mice, but i DONT feed my snakes mice, so my fiancee is about to feed Hannibal and won't wait for someone to respond, the rat seems to big is one of the problems but the other problem is, ive fed my snakes pinkies and fuzzies before and after i thawed them, yes i feed all my snakes frozen pret, after they thawed, none of them, well i never noticed, a stench that this rat as, none of the others smelled quite like this and his fur looked as if it were stained yellow as if from it urination on itself, so please if someone can message me back asap, i dont want anything to happen to my snake, i didnt choose to feed him this my fiancee will not take no for an answer and it just causes a huge fight, please someone help asap.


Points:	250
Topics:	Feeding , Digestive , Regurge
Tags:	Age, Ball, Feeding, Prey, Python, Regius, Size
Species:	Pythons > Pythons > Python regius
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Author Comment

5/18/2010 7:04:10 PM

z0mbiieAp0c@lypse138

ALSO I JUST NOTICED THE STENCH, ITS PISS, THATS WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE. JUST TO CLARIFY. THANK YOU.

Accepted Answer

5/18/2010 7:10:50 PM

dalvers63

I wouldn't worry about it - once a rat is a bit larger you will notice more of a "ratty" odor.

How big is the ball python? I start my newborns out on mouse hoppers or rat pinks and they quickly graduate to larger prey. Your snake can probably eat much bigger prey than you think they can - trust me, if it is TOO big he won't eat it. If he's been eating adult mice a rat pup/small weaned is not a problem.

Also, keep in mind that if he's been eating mice it is possible that he is not going to want a rat. They smell different and it often happens that some balls prefer mice and some rats. Most of the time you can convince them to eat rats instead, however be ready to feed mice for a bit if needed.

Assisted Answer

5/18/2010 7:11:36 PM

dalvers63

Just noticed that he's a yearling - at a year old, most of my ball pythons were eating weaned to small rats...anywhere from 30-45 grams

Author Comment

5/18/2010 7:16:23 PM

z0mbiieAp0c@lypse138

THANK YOU, YES HE JUST TOOK THE RAT, HES CONSTRICTING AS I TYPE, THE SIZE DIDNT REALLY WORRY ME AS MUCH AS THE ODOR IS URINE DID, I KNOW THE SIZE OF THE MEALS TO FEED MY SNAKES AND I KNOW WHAT THEY CAN'T HANDLE, IT JUST WORRIED ME SEEING HOW BIG IT WAS COMPARED TO WHAT IM USED TO FEEDING, BUT IM JUST GOING TO WATCH HIM AND SEE HOW HE ACTS, I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM FORTUNATELY SWITCHING FROM MICE TO RATS, THANKFULLY. I JUST THOUGHT THAT THE STATE THE RAT WAS IN WASNT GOOD, BUT I THAWED IT OUT AND CLEANED IT OFF AND DRIED IT, IT STILL HAD A BIT OF THE URINE STENCH TO IT THO. BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP, IT IS MUCH APPRECIATED.

Assisted Answer

5/18/2010 7:33:43 PM

Aimee

bear in mind if your feeder's a male rodent, anywhere near adulthood, it'll stink quite a bit more than a fuzzy or pup for sure. the urine's not a big deal - they pee when they get gassed. and before you get too grossed out, the snake's eating the entire bladder along with some other gross stuff so a little pee on the outside is nothing to worry about :D

Assisted Answer

5/18/2010 9:01:21 PM

aaron

Sometimes I'll have a bag of mice that has the strong urine smell, has never been a problem for me in the past.

Assisted Answer

5/19/2010 1:03:39 AM

cmor1031

f/t rodents usually smell pretty gross because lets face it, you're thawing out a dead carcass. And i think a yearling ball python should be eating at least either a weaned or small rat.

Assisted Answer

5/19/2010 1:34:42 AM

shellboa

The smell often helps with feeding response when feeding frozen. I know I wouldn't eat it but then I'm not a snake LOL As for size, all I can say is it will only take one time of your snake eating something to large and regurgitating it to convince your BF if its too big. My rule of thumb has always been the head of the pray item can only be 1.5 times the size of the snakes head regardless of what size its body (the snakes) is. The head is the only part they can't constrict to fit down their throat. Everything else stretches.

Assisted Answer

5/19/2010 3:49:09 AM

CA cowgirl

General guideline is about 15-20% of the snake's weight. Get a hold of a kitchen scale that weighs in 1 gram increments and give us the weight of your snake. Like others suggested above, it should be eating at least a small rat past weaning stage. Not much to fear since you are feeding it frodents. Good luck!

Assisted Answer

5/19/2010 3:52:44 AM

CA cowgirl

p.s. my post above is for ball pythons and snakes with similar metabolic rates. And once a ball python is regularly eating, and by the time it is a year old, you would probably be best feeding it every 7 days. Or every 10 days if you are feeding prey that's closer to 20% of the snake's weight. All this is my opinion from my experience and what I've learned from others.

Assisted Answer

5/19/2010 8:38:48 AM

JohnJohn

I agree with the others. Sometimes I've gotten a bag of rats that smell really bad. Usually a urine smell. My snakes eat them anyway and it's never seemed a problem.

I think it's better to get a BP on rats if possible. When they are adult a small rat is usually just the right size for them. (just my opinion) Actually my BPs are like my garbage disposals. They eat anything I put in front of them. Whenever another snake refuses food I just give it to them whether it's a mouse or a rat.

Assisted Answer

5/19/2010 1:52:34 PM

Nitram

rats stink. i got 2 yearling bps: the spider seems to have grown faster, he's taking small rats while the mojave is a little smaller (theyre a few months apart) and he's taking weaned rats. both are fed every 10 days. one time with the spider, when he was smaller i had him on weaned but by accident a small rat was packaged in the meat trays i receive my rats in from my supplier. i gave it to him anyway and he housed it like a champ. if yours is a year old id say pups are way small for him (even large mice would be small). id bump up the size to weaned for a while and if he has no trouble housing it bump him up to small rats.

Assisted Answer

5/21/2010 5:12:46 PM

EbonayiasGirl

yeah you're pretty much not going to find a "good" smelling rat, but like others have said, if it smells like a rat that's good...mean's they're going to smell it and pretty sure they're gona eat it. the way I've always looked at feeding my snakes (even though my boyfriend seems to think it's fine feeding a snake 2 times it's thickness...which "is ok") if it's gona leave a small lump you're good. I personally prefer not to go over 2 x the width of the snake. but then again...if I had a scale that weighed in grams I'd have a way easier time choosing what size is good :).

Member Comment

5/26/2010 1:51:29 PM

derrabe

The best advise I was given was the size of your food should be like three times the size fo the head of the BP and it should not be wider then the widest part of the snakes body

Member Comment

1/24/2011 7:19:44 AM

abi21491

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