feeding qestions

[newblood2]

i have a few questions about feeding, the breeder i bought the snake from used 2 feed him rat pups, and he said he would strike at them really quick. Now the only thing that waz avalible to me at the time were hopper mice, and hes not really striking, he inspects then slowly cracks his mouth open and eats, should i try putting him back on rats?
thanks

[ethan]

Always keep them on rats if you can, sometimes the pet stores don't have them available especially rap pups, so give them an adult mouse.Baby bloods should be eating adult mice anyway or large rat pups.At round 6 months old they should be ready for small rats.As for him slowly opening his mouth now, he's just realizing he doesn't need so much effort now to have to get a meal.You should also start feeding fresh kill or frozen thawed, most prefer that anyway.

[axwielding1]

Mine has eaten like that from the time that I got her. She was 16" when I got her, and has eaten F/K or F/T mice or rats ever since... I was told the breeder only fed F/T, so I did the same... She NEVER strikes her prey, and the few times I've tried live mice, she doesn't bother with them. She follows them around, and probably scares them close to death, but no strike. Why expend energy if you don't have to? I imagine if I starved her some, and shoved in a live large rat, she'd whack it quick and clean. But then again, I probably couldn't handle her either....
Don't sweat the lack of strike, you may appreciate that when yours gets 6-7 feet and 40 lbs!!!
ax.
BTW, what kind of blood do you own?

[sapphire_moon]

Our blood takes 3wk old f/t rats. He usually strikes, but one time he actually opened his mouth and WAITED for me to put the head of the rat in his mouth! then just started eating.

He has been fed 3 times with us! :) Can't wait till he eats again, then we will be able to handle him a bit more. He hasn't tried to bite, but he acts so...alert, and HATES to be restricted in ANY way.

[Invictus]

Yup.. a blood should never even know what a hopper mouse looks like. Adult mice or rat pups all the way. However, the advantage with this species is that they are usually easy to switch. My blood came from a pet store where she was fed mice, now she takes medium rats with no hesitation.

[axwielding1]

I agree with Invictus. My blood will eat ANYTHING! I feed her med-large rats, she doesn't really like them fresh killed, although I try... I find she eats them best when they've been frozen and thawed the next day.I think she senses they're not quite warm enough to be alive. If I give her a fresh killed rat, she REALLY checks it over and may huff at it, or give it a few good bites. I've seen her nudge it around a bit as well..
Sometimes my ball pythons don't eat all the mice I've purchased, so after freezing and thawing, they make a good mid-week snack for my blood. She'll suck one down no problem, and will still eat her rat as scheduled.
ax.

[newblood2]

thanks guys, now i need 2 find a place where i can get sum rats, hes a malaysian blood i think, thats what i waz told, he looks a little too orange though. he also seems a little too skinny , but i cant seem to bulk him up, maybe bigger rats would help, thanks alot guys

[newblood2]

does anyone have a subsrate or type of caging preferance. im keeping him in a 20 gallon tall tank with a reptile mix bedding, he seems to be doing ok, but its a pain in the *** to keep the temperature and humidity right.
thanks

[Invictus]

Sphagnum moss all the way! It's the closest to what you'd actually find them living in in the wild. In the forests of Malaysia, if you want to find a blood, go digging in a mud hole or a marsh.

It has many advantages - looks good, holds moisture for WEEKS, doesn't trap heat, and the snake will bury in it, so it eliminates the need for a hide. I'd highly recommend giving it a try.

[newblood2]

thanks, what about caging?

[Invictus]

Rubbermaid when they are smaller. By the time the python is full grown, you will be lookiong at a 4x3 (MINIMUM... 6x3 is even better) custom built cage. Even into its jeuvenile stages, a custom enclosure should be built.

[sapphire_moon]

I have mine in a smallish rubbermaid with news paper (and hides, though he prefers to be under the paper), the humidity stays between 65%-75% with a once a day (sometimes twice a day) misting.

But once everything gets settled down, I want to try out sphagnum moss.
Is it easy to take out fecal and urate? I would think it would be harder to find it in the moss.

[Invictus]

I don't find it that difficult, but of course, you don't want to go digging with your hands. :D

[newblood2]

yeah haha thanks

[axwielding1]

I didn't have mine on sphagnum moss long but I found that picking out urate balls was easy, and weekly, I'd pull out all the moss and soak it in warm water and rinse really well. Th at seemed to clean it well... BTW' the moss keeps the fishy odor down although my wife said the moss was strong smelling ( I didn't really notice too much)
As soon as Lapar's belly scales are normal, I'll be returning her to the moss. She absolutely loved it and the added moisture was excellent for her. They love to burrow so the moss is probably best for them anyway....
ax.

[sapphire_moon]

Fishy smell? Mine don't have a fishy smell. Fine for the urate balls, but what about the liquid? I would HAVE to change it everytime I seen a urate, and would be paranoid about scale rot.