Persephone had her 1st big meal :)

[Sharlynn93]

so, I got Persephone (my pastel BP) on black friday...petco had fed her 2 mouse fuzzies that day, which was waaay too small of a meal for her...I fed her the next saturday, and she ate 2 more (thats what they sent home with me so I used them up)...she refused this saturday, no big deal...well, today, I brought home a few more feeders since my breeders haven't produced any living babies just yet, and the only tank I had to put them in was one that I had another female in by herself because she was terribly aggressive and attacked all the other mice...well, she started attacking these too, and I had had enough...I pulled her out, and "stunned" her, and dropped her in with Persephone...BAM!! she grabbed her immediately and within minutes she was dinner!! and still barely a bump in her belly...hmm...may be moving up to rats soon... :yes:

[kwhitlock]

Congrats! :) I would try to get her on f/t so you can have access to rats easier. At least around here there aren't any supply anything besides live small adult mice.

[Sharlynn93]

same here...except petco where it is hit and miss whether they have anything or not...she is used to f/t but i needed to feed off that mean mouse and she was the only 1 besides the new brb that hadn't eaten this last weekend...i'm just excited she ate a whole adult mouse :) thinking about placing an online order for rats in the future...for now, f/t mice will work till she grows...she doesn't seem picky... :)

[MizCandice]

Glad to hear shes eating so well for you, I am a big supporter of rats over mice for BP, so let us know how she does transitions for you.

[Sharlynn93]

Seeing her eat that large mouse while she is still so young definitely makes me believe she is going to have to move to rats...I think I have the hubby convinced I need a rat colony now...lol..cuz his baby rainbow downed a small mouse last night too...gonna take alot of mice to feed those guys once they are bigger...not sure about Iris (CRB) im told its hard to transition them to rats if they are on mice too long and she has only ever been fed mice....

[MizCandice]

Just a warning, rats take alot of work to keep up, but definitely easier and more cost effective in the long run. Most of my ball pythons have never even had a mouse, I use the new born pinkies for the really tiny ones then upgrade them as their size allows.. I do keep beautiful lil mice for the smaller species, corns babies etc. Most f my balls will take F/T or live, pre-killed etc.. when on the weanling sizes I dont mind live though some of them can be pretty nasty so you still have to watch the feeding if you go this route. If your snake doesn't go for it right away ( first 10 min or so) Id remove it.. I learned the hard way that even the little guys can be devils :( so I pre-kill anything larger or that I'm going to leave over night for an animal that's being slow to dinner. Good luck :D

[Sharlynn93]

I had pet rats as a teenager :) and pet mice when I was younger and then my kids had mice when they were little...rats have so much personality im worried I would get attached :D lol

[drumcrush]

Congrats!!

[MizCandice]

I had pet rats as a teenager :) and pet mice when I was younger and then my kids had mice when they were little...rats have so much personality im worried I would get attached :D lol

I kept them as a youth too but a colony is a diffrent animal lol. Attatchment Definitely happens, I have the cutest lil tan baby right now I cant stop holding. I find myself stroking the older ones here and there too... Im hoping its a lil girl ( I think so but its so small right now, crawler) then ill keep her as a breeder.

[Sharlynn93]

I have a few of my mice that i am already attached to...gonna be hard to retire them when they get older, I think..lol...hubby is going to help me build a rack system after the holidays, he is on board for the project...he was wary when I started with the mice but I am meticulous about the cleanliness of the cages so he is fine with it now...never bats an eye when I find a nice looking one at the pet store and ask to pick it up...just reminds me that eventually I will have to retire it...lol

[MizCandice]

Well share some pics :) Im working on my calico and brindle lines and hoping to start with some curly hairs soon!

[Sharlynn93]

I will try and get some pics :) I am getting a nice camera for Christmas too so I should have some nice photos of everyone to share! :)

[Sharlynn93]

2nd mouse for Persephone! I apologize for her bad coloring, she is currently undergoing betadine baths to treat scale rot, and it is staining her skin...she is starting to go blue, so hopefully it will clear up! :)
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad187/Sharlynn_Sarnoski/169_zpsdab10cca.jpg (http://s934.photobucket.com/user/Sharlynn_Sarnoski/media/169_zpsdab10cca.jpg.html)
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad187/Sharlynn_Sarnoski/175_zpsb9869e7d.jpg (http://s934.photobucket.com/user/Sharlynn_Sarnoski/media/175_zpsb9869e7d.jpg.html)
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad187/Sharlynn_Sarnoski/181_zpsfe85ac5a.jpg (http://s934.photobucket.com/user/Sharlynn_Sarnoski/media/181_zpsfe85ac5a.jpg.html)

[EL Ziggy]

She looks nice and full.

[Aaron_S]

I feed an adult mouse to my fresh hatchling ball pythons. Within 3 meals they are onto rat pups.

Move her to rat pups. They explode with growth.

[Sharlynn93]

I just got my rats yesterday, hopefully will have some pups for her soon :) until then I have a bunch of mice that need fed off since my 3 smaller snakes are still on fuzzies...gonna move the 2 rainbows and BP to rats once I produce some :D

[Sharlynn93]

Since persephone had a nice poo in her bath tonight I decided to weigh her...she gained 50 grams since u got her! And is in blue so hopefully her scale rot clears up :)

[venom_king]

congratz nice bit of weight gain there!!

[Sharlynn93]

Persephone was on a bit of a hunger strike...3 weeks off, but downed 2 lg hoppers/small mice tonight! woohoo!

[Sharlynn93]

Persephone took her 1st rat today!! showed no interest last week, but this week she nailed it! a 30 gram rat pup! so excited!!!

[Tsubaki]

Nice to see her eat a big meal :D

[Sharlynn93]

check-in with Persephone...she has now doubled her weight since we got her :) she weighed in at 258g tonight...finally looks healthy...the weight gain was slow on mice, she really started packing it on once she went to rats, so hopefully we can get the new guy to start gaining some weight just as quickly once I get some more litters born...