food....

[PO_0784]

ok my BP took his last meal in september...he is still growing (even with his empty stomach). I want to know if it is possible to feed mice to a 4 feet bp (or 5 feet )??? He wont take rats and im worried about this. Is it really bad to give him like 5 mice in a row. Well, he dont seem to work really hard when he is eating those little things..(jumbo mice arent THAT big :P). I would like to get him back on his feeding schedule soon! When should I expect him to start again?

[Aaron_S]

If you aren't breeding him then you can put him back on feeding when you like. It is ok to feed a few small items instead of the one large one. 5 mice should be ok if he is big enough to hold all those mice.

[Pythonian]

The best advice i've heard about this came from Linds. She is correct in saying don't feed it more then 2 items per meal (i think she says three but i would go with 2) imho it is easier to digest one big item then 5 little ones. plus it is more stress for the snake. I'd try small .. get it eating again. u don't want to bulk it up you want it to eat. give it one mouse. next week two next week a rat. and so on and so on.

Mike

[snakedude_03]

i thought it was... smaller prey would mean digesting faster??? :confused:

[PO_0784]

emm...I think smaller prey ARE easier to digest. I remember when he was on his 4 mice a week schedule...he went to the toilet every 5 day hehe ;)

[Linds]

IMHO no more than two meals should be offered, if you have to feed anymore than that you need to find a way to up prey size. It is my belief that too many meals causes too much stress on the digestive system. 3 or more means you definitely need to find a way to up prey size. What mthods have you tried? Winter fast isn't the best time to try and chance prey items since they typically don't have much in the ways of an appettite to begin with. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but did your BP not take rats at one point?
If he is still growing then he is probably just on his winter fast and I wouldn't worry about it. My male went off feed about the same time, some go off earlier than others, but as long as they aren't dropping alot of weight or showing any signs of illness there is nothing to worry about. Is he taking mice right now and not taking rats? Or just not taking anything at all?

[morph]

Linds I am wondering if you did research on this or if you think this is just a good idea or if you are using someone elses research. What about the wait time between meals are you still waiting a week between meals or a few days or what? Cause if you want to breed a female "in my opinion" you wont get enough weight on her too breed her safely on two mice a week.

Scott

[Pixie]

My BP won't have anything to do with rats, I tried everything over a 3 month period and na-da. The misses only lifted her nose at them. She's always been a great eater never turning down a meal. So I put her back to mice and she's eating normally again. She gets 2-3 big mice per meal but eventually I'm sure she will need more. I don't see the difference between one big rat and 5 mice (as long as they're eaten all in the same feeding), technically they would take up pretty much the same space in the snake's stomach so how can a snake tummy tell the difference? I understand there may be some nutritional differences but I don't see how it can affect the snake's digestive system. Just my opinion.

[Linds]

As stated, that is my personal opinion on the subject. I have done no personal research on the subject, why would I do something to my animals that I don't feel is best for them if its not necessary? This is my personal theory, which has been greatly influenced by some of the pioneers in the hobby. If there is absolutely no way possible of switching the snake over (many WC's can be pretty stubborn in their habits, etc), then there isn't anything you can do. But often the case is that (not implying anything to anyone here, just making a general statement) people don't try everything to switch their animals over. They may just try offering the new prey item or just one "trick" technique beofre assuming their snake will not switch over. And as I already mentioned, this time of the year is not the best time to be trying to switch balls to different prey item because many adults have a reduced appettite in the first place. When switching to a new prey item it is very important that the snake is hungry.

When you have a female you intend on breeding, you feed them very different than you would a male or non-breeding female. I would feed a female more often to increase weight. As everyone knows, snakes turn all that weight into either eggs or babies, so its best to feed them heavily prior to breeding - again - IMHO :).

[Jezabel]

Here's opinion from a really long time keeper/breeder of bp (copy and paste the link and remove the blank space) that have the proof that bp can live long and healty on a stritly diet of mice as well as a stritly diet of rats.

http://forum.king snake.com/ball/messages/61048.html

[PO_0784]

thx everyone for the help!
well my Bp isnt feeding at all since september (winter fast)
but I tried rats several times...He took one and never got interested anymore (bad experience with the first?? hehe)
anyway thx!

[morph]

thats exactly what I am saying linds how can you heavily feed on only 2 mice its impossible. Believe me I'm in the middle of that problem right now and I can gaurantee that some balls will mot switch to rats no matter what "tricks" are tried.


Scott

[morph]

PO I would definitely wait it out and keep him on rats as the balls I have do alot better growth wise eating one rat a week or every second week depending on size of rat. I have females that will eat 10 mice and are getting completely outgrown by a rat eater.But if you have no plans on breeding mice work just fine but when the extra fat is needed i just can't get it with mice especially if i tried to feed only 2 per sitting.

Scott