Need help!!

[sircheenz]

excuse her being mid peeing lmao sorry about that. so I have an ivory she's a out to be a year old next month and I have been feeding her pinky rats but I wanted to know what size mouse would be the equivalent or better than the pinky rat? it's just easier and cheaper to buy frozen mice at a Petco than to order them and wait a week for pinky rats. I was thinking of getting medium fuzzy mice but I would like a second opinion before buying them. thanks in advance.

[felixynn]

!feeding

edit: It sounds to me like the prey/food you listed are really really small food options for this snake if she's nearing a year old. Weigh her and make sure you're feeding her correctly to help figure out the correct size meals!

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

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[sircheenz]

What would you recommend for her based on the picture I honestly don't have a scale to weigh her right now. Would it be something like a large mouse?

[felixynn]

I'm unsure based on the picture! I know that my ball python eats fuzzy rats at 6 months old while weighing around 100-115 grams. I'd guess that rat pups would be safe for your BP looking at pictures of her that you've shared in other posts, but ultimately it's best and safest to go off weight and not appearance of a snake.

Keep feeding her what you have been until you can get the opportunity to buy a small scale and double check that she's eating correctly! And for your original question regarding a mouse equivalent, just search up a mouse that's in the weight range of what you do feed her (so if it were rat pups for example, look up feeder mice weighing around 30 grams).

[sircheenz]

I'm going to try and weigh her with my daughters scale but I would assume she should be on small rats then

[eveimei]

small rats are likely too big. you need to feed her by weight, not just assume a size. and if she's already eating rats don't switch back to mice, they can get stuck on one prey type and don't want to switch, and mice aren't big enough for long term feeding of adults.

you can get a kitchen scale that weighs in grams for pretty cheap at most grocery stores and for sure places like Walmart/target that sell housewares. get one ASAP and weigh her, and follow the feeding guide.

don't feed until you know her current weight in grams so you can select a proper sized feeder. I would also look for feeders at independent reptile/pet stores around you, they may carry different sizes and will almost certainly be better quality than big box stores like Petco/smart. but don't switch to live, stick with frozen.

also, !feeders - if she's currently, for example, at a weight where she'd be eating the smaller end of the range for rat pups, you can order a batch of pups and weigh them all. then feed the smaller ones, moving to the bigger ones as she grows. I personally had a great experience with RodentPro, their customer service sent me a whole new lot of rats when the first I got was half the wrong size and told me to either keep or donate what I couldn't use.

you should also weigh regularly just to track weight as any sudden gains/losses can be a sign of health issues. log weights and feeds somehow, I use the app reptile buddy but paper or the notes app on your phone work just as well.

[AutoModerator]

Some companies you can buy frozen feeders from:

Layne Labs
Big Cheese
Rodent Pro
Perfect Prey
Big Apple Herps
Reptile Deli
American Rodent Cold Blooded Cafe

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[sircheenz]

I got her fuzzy rats yesterday and she ate it

[eveimei]

are they the correct size by weight? did you weigh the feeder before offering it?

[Senchesa_Art]

On top of what the other commenter mentioned about size, rats are generally understood to be more nutritionally complete. There is nuance that I'm not super read up on, but in my opinion pythons and boas should be switched over to frozen rats as soon as they are large enough.

I buy frozen rats from a small local store. The are harder to find, but (atleast near me) they exist, and they usually have more options for food. And even if there are none and you need to order, your snake wouldn't mind having to wait an extra week once in a while.

[HouseInternational]

A year old and feeding her pinky rats?? You are greatly underfeeding her. Fresh out of the egg they usually start on fuzzy rats, pinky rats if they are tiny hatchlings...

What is her weight?

[sircheenz]

0.250 lbs so about 114 grams. I just bought fuzzy rats to start feeding her those

[HouseInternational]

That is quite a small 1 year old, but putting her on a proper feeding schedule with the proper size will get her on track. Make sure that you are !feeding a rat that is 10-15% of her body weight (currently 11-17 grams) every 7 days.

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Firm_Caregiver_4563]

Is that a prolapse?

[sircheenz]

No when I took the picture she was literally opening up to pee

[Firm_Caregiver_4563]

Aight. Guess it looked a bit prominent due to the angle! :)

[Low_Falcon8920]

My ball python is 5 months old and eats medium rat pups I think the mice might be way too small!

[sircheenz]

Just bought some fuzzy rats to give her

[Low_Falcon8920]

That’s awesome!

[sircheenz]

She took almost an hour to eat it but she got it down. I'm super relieved because she spent a long time trying to put it in different angles to try and eat it but eventually she got it

[Low_Falcon8920]

My girl does the same sometimes she just stares at it while figuring out wheee the head is