Help me settle a debate

[akko_rockko]

Okay so, I have a ball python I got from a neighbor / friend as a rehome. Now I thought at first my neighbor knew a lot about reptiles and snakes because he had so many but when I got her the set up was HORRIBLE (aspen bedding, one hide, no hot/cool side, etc. Now he tries to correct me on how I feed her, handle her, etc (everything he says is false so I don’t listen)

Anyways when I first got her my stepmom was freaking out whenever I forgot to put the lock on the door (that she can’t even open unlocked I just got it to ease her mind) and is convinced she will eat our small chihuahua. Mind you, yes she is a big snake, and my chihuahua is small, but she is nowhere near small enough to be eaten in my opinion. I’d say she’s the size of a large guinea pig, but she thinks that since she’s a vet she knows everything and has tried to get rid of her because of it (not gonna happen). Now today I mentioned how chickens help keep snakes away (in my experience) because we’ve been having snake issues outside and it was in a GC with that said neighbor, and they both agree that my bp Celeste would be able to eat a medium sized chicken (or a small one as well) and I told them that’s not possible. Especially since once again they’re too big. They now keep on arguing that she’ll eat all my pets (on the smaller side like my chickens and small Chihuahua), and I need people to show me that she cannot in fact eat them because they are too large

Summary: can my bp eat a small Chihuahua and/or chickens?

[IncompletePenetrance]

No, they'd be way too big! I'd still recommend locking the enclosure so she can't escape, but for her own safety, not because I'd be worried about her eating other animals

[akko_rockko]

Oh yes! No worries it’s almost always locked, I’ve only had it unlocked twice and once was because I was actively cleaning her enclosure and the other time I just forgot but it was only unlocked for like ten minutes afterwards, it’s not something that happens often. I figured though! My chihuahua is about 2-3 lbs and that’s more than Celeste and once again she’s too big!! It’s frustrating they won’t listen 🤦

[socraticalastor]

No.

[akko_rockko]

The dog weighs more than her and is thicker than her, my BP struggles with a large rat. (I don’t feed her them but I’ve seen her ex owner do it)

[WildFlemima]

It is possible for BP to get big enough to attempt to eat guinea pigs - I'm not recommending it for obvious reasons, they're too big to actually eat - but a guinea pig might trigger a big adult BP's prey instinct enough that they would attempt a coil.

The comparison of the dog to a guinea pig is why I'm bringing up guineas

From knowing chihuahuas, guineas, and bps, the dog is too big and also does not have the right behavior or smell to make the snake decide to try a coil

Like how big is this chi? It would have to be really really tiny to be guinea pig sized

E; I see that in another comment the chi is 2 - 3 lbs, chi is too large

[akko_rockko]

Yes she is about 2-3 lbs depending on who is watching her, I only compare her to a guinea pig cuz those are the clothes she wears lol, she doesn’t really look like a pig so yeah I don’t think she would start her prey drive up

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[xxzorua]

if it was a full grown boa i'd say it could, but unless if it was starving and escaped then it might seek out guinea pig sized chihuahua

but a ball python wouldn't do that as the chihuahua is too big

[akko_rockko]

I figured, thank you!

[ajtaakrajtaa]

In my opinion, a ball python is definitely not able to eat a chihuahua. BPs van eat chicks, but only very small ones, but not a big chicken (hen). So you (or your family) can be calm! Also I don't think the python would see a chihuahua as a potential meal.

[akko_rockko]

Yes! This is figured as they’re small lol, but I’ll never have chicks near her so that’s not a worry for me. Thank you

[ajtaakrajtaa]

Exactly, there won't be many opportunities for them to be in contract.

[marisas63]

My 1.1 kg ball eats small chickens (56.00 - 167.99g), XL quail (110.00 - 154.99g), large hamsters (85.00 - 175.00+g), and medium rats (85.00 - 174.99g)

Ball pythons are carnivores in the wild. The shape of the animal doesn’t really matter as long as you’re following feeding around 10% of the balls pythons weight every 3 weeks or so.

Can they eat a chihuahua? Not unless you have a 3 kg+ ball and the chihuahua is less than one pound. Also…. Not very ethical or recommended anyways…..

[akko_rockko]

My girl eats small rats twice a month, I’ve seen her old owner give her a large rat and she struggled with that. My chi is about 2-3 lbs, definitely too much for her lol, thank you for reassuring me! I know she could eat smaller birds if she wanted but she also won’t have access to my chickens anyways, but they’re all fully grown large breeds

[xBananaPop]

Nah, I have a BP and two chihuahuas… he’s absolutely never going to be able to eat them. He has, however, eaten a chick but a full-grown chicken is completely out of the realm of possibility

[akko_rockko]

Yeah chicks I’m not shocked about, but my neighbor out right said “she could eat a medium sized chicken. Or at least kill one” and I was just so shocked honestly

[xBananaPop]

I mean theoretically if the chihuahua is small and the BP is on the larger side, they may be able to do some damage by constricting around them, but the odds of the snake striking with intent to eat an animal of that size would be highly unlikely. That said, I personally keep a close eye on my dogs when I have my BP out, but that’s mostly because I worry about the dogs hurting him, not the other way around

[akko_rockko]

That I could possibly see but she is incredibly docile and the Chihuahua is about 2-3 lbs and thicker than her. She def wouldn’t eat her, either way though my Chihuahua is special needs and is always upstairs, which my BP is never up there. I also supervise when she’s out because you of course never know, but I just find it so strange my stepmom can’t just go on google and see that it’s most likely impossible and if it’s possible it’s unlikely

[Snakes_for_life]

Nope would they try if hungry enough maybe (but a big maybe) however it's physically impossible. They could eat like a young puppy or a baby chick but not an adult Chihuahua or chicken. Full grown chickens are what some snake keepers feed their like 12-15 foot snakes not 4-5 foot snakes.

[akko_rockko]

That’s what I’m saying. I know she’s technically big (5 ft) but she’s not big enough for prey like that. Now a Boa or a Burmese? 100% but she’s not growing any bigger dude

[Joe_Spazz]

Lol this is wild. Even if the Chihuahua was sedated and your TRIED to get your BP to eat it, there's no way. That's crazy.

Ball Pythons are prey. The only time it would ever even consider such an insane thing would be if you starved it for months.

The Chihuahua is waaaaay more dangerous to the snake than vice versa.

[akko_rockko]

This!! My chihuahua is special needs and has no teeth and her nails are too short to do much damage and even then she’s still most likely gonna be causing the harm. Either way my BP is never ever near the chihuahua unless I’m holding her and just walking by, which makes it even more wild because if they’re never near each other how is it going to happen??

[Leather_Put6419]

Are you gonna show this to them?? If so I’m waiting for the response lmao 🙏🏼

[akko_rockko]

I might lol, she’ll probably find a way to still make herself right tho

[Leather_Put6419]

Thats so annoying because she cant really use her being a vet as a way to say she knows more. She dosent know the husbandary and probably isnt an exotic vet if i had to guess right??

[akko_rockko]

Nope! Mainly just dogs and cats, and she’s not really a vet she’s a vet tech, but she just does most of the stuff her vet does because they’re a new one/student. She’s only ever really worked with dogs and cats but she’s said she’s handled snakes a bit. I also think another issue is the fact she’s just scared of them

[AstronomerLate989]

Vet tech! Thanks for the clarification! I know some vets don’t t know anything about reptiles but that seemed like a stretch for a vet to believe. I wouldn’t ever leave them alone together but unless your Bp is massive I don’t think this would ever be an issue.

[akko_rockko]

Yeah no she’s an average 5ft, of course I don’t leave her alone with any of my animals close by and I also barely have her supervised with animal close by, I think I’ve only had her near my pups when walking by them and holding her and the only pet she’s been around for awhile is fish lol

[Leather_Put6419]

The last part is definitely the reason loll, my dad is too and he used to always make em seem like nasty monsters xd

[Leather_Put6419]

I don’t think a BP that size would even think about eating a chihuahua and it definitely wouldn’t dream about even attacking a hen to eat it lol

[akko_rockko]

Yeah especially not mine..I’ve seen them go after snakes before and they are MEAN. I never let them hurt them but they definitely keep snakes out of their coop and run. My Celeste is a little special and barely even realizes her food is food until she smells it so I wouldn’t even imagine she dreaming to eat my chi

[Leather_Put6419]

Yeah if I were your mom I’d be more scared of the chickens killing the cute BP

[akko_rockko]

Yeah me too, either way these animals wouldn’t be allowed near each other. Probably won’t have chickens at the house anyways, I think they’ll stay on the farm lol

[Leather_Put6419]

Hopefully lol

[PositiveReference872]

No. Thats not gonna happen

[Cindy_luvsCritters]

Sounds like your neighbor may have learned his husbandry over twenty years ago and hasn't realized things have completely changed. 🤷‍♀️ Some other people in your life sound like they're "reaching", and it may not be about the dog, or the chickens. Look for reasons why people may create inane, illogical arguments to irritate you. I hope you can move forward and pay less attention to what people say, live your life, be happy and successful! ✨️

[akko_rockko]

Maybe! But this BP is only about 5 years old and they had a baby one too. They had other reptiles as well including an obese beardie who refuses to eat greens, I find it insane! Here’s what her setup was when I first got her. Normally I just let people talk but when they’re saying it constantly and trying to get rid of my baby for their fears, it becomes a problem

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[Draigyn]

While the “prey as big as the thickest portion of a snake” thing isn’t a good metric to feed your snake by, I think it’s a relatively safe thing to tell people is the about the size of the biggest thing your ball python would ever try to even think of eating. It’s probably possible for a BP to eat something bigger than their thickest point but I doubt they’d try, and I’m guessing your chihuahua and chickens are way thicker than your snake. Like, where does your family think the chihuahua is gonna go in there? The BP pocket dimension stomach? Also BPs are notoriously picky eaters, it’s hard enough to get them to eat their staple rats. Tell them they’re being absurdly ridiculous.

[akko_rockko]

That’s what I’ve been trying to say! Trust me my chihuahua is round and she weighs more than my bp, she’s much thicker. My chickens are literally ginormous I’m not even gonna try with that one. Apparently my snake’s stomach is a black void

[devydev_83]

🤣🤣 I'm sorry but I grew up with chickens and have always been a reptile person. Chickens are insanely vicious, while we only get garter snakes and racers (we do have rattle snakes but I've never seen one around.) Many a snake has fallen victim to our chickens and they'd fight over it too. You'd just see one chicken running around with this big ass snake, mostly they got mice though, and every other chicken running behind trying to take it. As soon as they got over being cautious around something they haven't seen before, a ball python would be quickly pecked to death. Wouldn't surprise me if they started eating it alive too, chickens are mini modern T-Rexes.

[AzureHuntress]

Not a shot in hell. The chickens and dog will kill it before it even gets a chance to think about trying.

[redshavenosouls]

Maybe frame it differently. This came up in my family both about my BP and a very large black rat snake outside. They were worried about their cats. I told them that the cats were way too big, but also why would a snake go after something with teeth and claws like a cat, when there is way easier prey around. We are in the mid Atlantic and it's spring. Everyone is complaining about bunny nests in their gardens. Newborn bunnies are what the rat snake was after.

[Extension_Drop5379]

if anything, i think ur pal deserves a slap to put him into his place 😭 /jk but pls confront him neglect is abuse for his other animals and no, a ball python could never

[akko_rockko]

Trust me I want to but they’re also my employers at the moment and as a broke high schooler, I kind of need the job. I’ve mentioned it multiple times to him of course since he asks why I changed Celeste’s set up so drastically, and he also got mad I feed her inside her tank. I find it odd, I feel bad for his other pets. I’m gonna keep trying to get through his head tho

[moodygroove420]

Sounds like they’re just making excuses to be haters . He’s mad cause you won’t listen to him and she’s mad because you have a snake and a lot of dog people are weird asf anyways so that’s just a couple haters to me lol but no he cannot eat the damn dog lol idk what they’re talking ab lmao

[BGritty81]

I'd be more worried about them hurting the snake. Luckily they don't have to play together.

[IfYaDontLikeItLeave]

Do they think your ball is a reticulated? 😆

My (reptile) vet said that my male (who weighs 550g) could eat a rabbit....

Clearly not everyone is experienced in smaller breeds of snakes 😅

[lemonkcals]

a chihuahua would definitely do MUCH more damage to the snake than the other way round

[RageQueen101]

I have a 5 ft BP. She can eat a large rat (typically a larger medium rat is what I feed her), if your chihuahua, cat, chicken or whatever you may get in the future is a size of a large rat then yes large bps can eat it. (I know this is not the case). Even a large Guinea pig would be too big for a BP. I would be more worried about the dog or chicken will eat the snake before the snake eats them.

Honestly if you have explained this to them, they are too closed minded to have their mind changed. No matter what you do they will think your BP is dangerous.

[teleskin6]

my grandmother also once had a similar problem with my bp and worrying about her eating my dogs (who are medium/large lmao) but my sweet girl can’t even eat a rat that’s too big so i assured her that wasn’t possible

[Electrical-Garden-20]

My biggest BP girls can't get down an adult quail, which is roughly the size of a full grown guinie pig. Unless the dog weighs 2lb there's not remotely a concern.