New addition

[DavethePython]

My kids are so awesome , they bought us a new BP for a late Christmas gift . They went up and picked up Tequila the 3 yr old female that was displaced due to an apt fire earlier in November. She is such a good girl , so gentle and calm . Will get pics of both Dave and Tequila soon .

[Norm66]

Congratulations!

[Swany]

Superb ! A very happy Christmas in your home then ;-)

[DavethePython]

Thanks all , Tequila seems to be settling in just fine. She is very used to being handled . No real signs of stress . Just laying out on her basking space enjoying life. Just wants to come out everytime someone gets near her she starts poking for the top of her viv .

[GarterPython]

I wish my parents were as nice as your kids. My parents don't care how much I want a snake. They don't like them and I am still working hard at getting one.

[KORBIN5895]

Awesome! Enjoy her.

[DavethePython]

So we measured her this evening and she is 36 inches long . did not get a girth cause she is way too active lol . Not sure of exact age , we were told 3 years old but that info may be wrong and not 100% sure if she is female or not. We do know she was displaced after a fire in the high rise apartment she lived in and was turned over to the pet store . She is very healthy looking , very active and nice deep bright color. She is feeding on 4 adult mice per feeding . I am wondering if it is maybe time to move her up to something else like maybe rats . Any suggestions?

[spots]

I would go rats as one large meal is better then 4 small ones :)

[DavethePython]

This is Tequila . This is her Temporary home until I can get her new one properly set up .

[GarterPython]

She is beautiful. I love normal Ball Pythons, by far one of the best morphs and the funny part is they are probably the cheapest.

[DavethePython]

And this is Dave . He is starting to shed so he is a little shy right now . He is 16 inches long and about 6 months old .

[DavethePython]

Thanks spots , that is kind of what I was thinking too . I am wondering now what would be the best size ? probably a small rat or maybe a medium? I want to be sure it is not too big for her to swallow .

[jaleely]

That's really cool! NICE kids! And def move up in food size and less frequent. Glad to see she's got an appetite though!

[Lankyrob]

Not sure where or how you get your rats for feeding, but i go into a reptile shop and get to pick them myself out of the freezer, for my bp i go for a rat that is 1.5 to 2 times the girth of the snake at its widest point.

[spots]

Tequila is BEAUTIFUL!!

As for your size for rats I would do like Rob says. I raise my own, so I can choose size as need :) I find its mostly 46 gram rats I'm feeding my 29" BP. (medium small)

[DavethePython]

Went in to get med rats but they were out so I got Jumbo mice for her , that should hold her for another feeding or 2 until I can get med rats . I do not know what it is like in other areas , but here the pinkie rats are almost .50 cents higher than adult mice. A jumbo rat is almost $10 I pay $1.75 a peice for fuzzies. Still not a lot when compared to say a med to large dog for feed per month , but still gonna try finding a cheaper way to feed short of raising my own feeders . Due to space this is not an option . I know there are one or 2 more frozen rodent suppliers in town I still have to check into ,and I know for sure one of them is a snake keeper so I can trust the quality I am sure .

[Lankyrob]

The large rats i feed my sd and JCP come in a £4 a piece, the rats i feed my BP are classes as "weaners" and cost me £2.50 a piece - just a comparison for you (am sure someone clever can convert into dollars ;))

[DavethePython]

Thanks Rob, gives some perspective. I know at least 4 other friends in town here who keep one or more snakes. I am thinking of talking to them and we will all go in together on raising our own feeders.I know a few people in the past who have ended up with more than they can use etc , but I figure 4 people with a combined 6 snakes we could probably manage just fine. Also raising our own , we are in control of them to minimize the chances of diseased rodents or sick rodents in the bunch .

[DavethePython]

Thanks jaylee , I did go out and could not find any med rats as everyone was out , but I did get jumbo mice. So I am going to start her on those for now ans reduce her feeding to every 10 days instead of every 7 . Once I can get her onto rats then I will go to every 14 days.

[millertime89]

my 34 ish inch BP gets medium rats, but less often than if I feed him something smaller. He takes them with gusto but it takes some time for him to get it down. Its about 20% of his body weight.

[DavethePython]

I fed Tequila for the first time last night , and she is a very anxious feeder lol. I will post a picture shortly . She ate 2 jumbo mice and was still hunting for more afterwards , but I left it at that .She was so willing to feed that she was striking at the water as it was dripping off the mouse while I was putting it for her. Was a little nerve wracking getting the prey to her as I was a little leary she might tag me by mistake , but all went well.

[DavethePython]

Tequila patiently waiting for dinner

[Aaron_S]

I don't know why you'd get jumbo mice if they were out of med rats. Why not get small rats?

[DavethePython]

They were out of all rats smaller than large