For a younger ball python what is the ideal measurements for the mice/rats?

Question

I have a younger snake measuring to about a 1 1/2 foot or more and after going to the pet store, where they only had very small mice or larger rats I opted for a medium or smaller rat. Bringing it home I had a chance to really look at my snake verses the rat and was alarmed at how much bigger it seemed then him though it did not seem so much so that he couldn't take it down. Well I ended up throwing it in the cage and the snake went for it immediately so no worries there. Unfortunately he went through what seemed a slow process to get the rat down verses other times and only got half down before spitting it back up.

My dilemma is this what is the appropriate size to feed him? If I cannot find a good size mouse for him to eat and end up in this dilemma again can I feed him twice in one week per the small size of the mice?


Also how far is a snake willing to go to feed? Will he force himself to eat a mouse is too big and potentially hurt himself? Will he exhibit warning signs if so

Answer 1

Rule of thumb on food is take the diameter of the snake, and the food can be up to 3X's that diameter, thats a large size meal. A snake is pretty smart on there food, if they dont think they can eat it they will back out of it. Only on a very RARE occasion a snake will not be able to back out and choke to death. This does happen more often in Pythons only because they have teeth that curve backwards and "hook" into the prey. So backing out is more difficult. In the case you cant find the right size animal you can feed a smaller prey item. Dont feed more than one though just feed it more often. Feeding more than one animal at a time is not good for digestion. Also vary the snakes diet, dont just go for mice and rats, you can do gerbils, hamsters, chicks, and lizards like anoles and other cheaper lizards. Varied diets help in mineral and vitamin consumptions and keeps them happy with diffrent tastes. Instead of going to a local pet store you should see if you can get a good online supply company or someone that raises the animals for you. Pet store mice and rats are bulk raised and they sometimes use dog food to feed the mice and rats and that is no good for digestions. Also they dont vary in size very much they get what they get and you have to deal with that. After running into, dye food raised animals, bursted guts, moldy rats, broken bones, and bloody furred nasty frozen animals from the pet store, I began raising all my own prey food for my snakes. I could vary the sizes and types easily but for most snake owners thats difficult to do. Just buy what you can when you can. If they are smaller and he eats them fastly then feed once a week to 2 weeks. If you can find a good size meal they can go 3 to 4 weeks with out another meal.

Answer 2

Pet stores ( at least the ones I use) carry frozen baby mice(pinkies). They are not expensive. Just thaw them out and warm them up a little bit(microwave, NOT, hot) so the snake can smell it. This should work. Give it a couple of them to start with. Don't want the pinkies to go bad if the snake is full. But NEVER leave a live mouse or rat in the cage for more than 30 minutes and watch to make sure the mouse or rat doesn't bite the snake if the snake isn't hungry. Leaving the live food in the cage can cause the live food to bite at the snake and you may end up with a bad infection from the biting on your snake.

Answer 3

The way to determine proper size food is to look at the widest point on your snake - the prey shouldn't be any wider than this. If it's too big, it could hurt its jaw (or it just wouldn't eat).

If what you have is too big, try another pet store. From the sounds of it, your snake shouldn't be getting anything bigger than an small adult mouse or rat fuzzy/hopper.

ADDITION: From "The Ball Python Manual" (de Vosjoli 1995) "Smaller ball pythons, those less than two feet in length...on mice, fuzzy rats, or weanling gerbils offered intermittently, once or twice a week."

Answer 4

I have a baby ball about 18-20 inches long. I fed him a hopper last week but this week the pet stores around here didn't have hoppers so I had to give him an adult mouse (about an inch and a half long, maybe 2 inches). He ate it! Hesitated at first, but Slash gulped that thing down quick. If your snake is hungry, he'll eat.

I don't think you should have to feed him more than one mouse per week if he's only a foot and a half long (same size as my baby). Maybe two small mice? I'm thinking of doing that b/c he seemed hungry as hell when I fed him last night and he ate an adult mouse!!

Answer 5

The proper rule of thumb is the head of the prey item can be up to one and one half times the size of your snakes head. Put your thumb and first finger together...the first finger is your snakes head the thumb is the prey's head. get the idea!

If your snake is hungry it may strike and coil and even attempt to swallow anything! better to feed two smaller mice/rats than one that is too big. If cost is the issue just give a small meal until the proper size is available, your snake won't starve with a few smaller meals.

Answer 6

i also have bps that size. I typically feed them rat pups(fuzzies) probably about 2 inches long not including tail and little under half inch wide maybe bigger. a rat will always take longer than amouse because they are much harder to kill taking more energy making swallowing slow because of low energy. if you need to get mice that's fine, just feed him 2 or 3 a week. you'll do fine!

Answer 7

the fatest part of the body of the snake is the size u want its food to be

Answer 8

I think it should be a reasonable size. If it looks to big than it might be.

Answer 9

Try this safer and more humane alternative instead:
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/zoological/reptilediet.html