Can they be fed a mouse only diet?

[ArtisticAardwol]

Hey guys... I love ball pythons. I also love rats... and I could never feed a snake a rat. They're just to smart.

So my question is, can a ball python live on a mouse only diet? How often would they have to be fed?

[craigafrechette]

Yes they can live on just mice. However they would require 3-5 mice as and adult per weekly feeding.

Sometimes they can be picky about eating, when being fed one appropriately sized rat, so feeding multiple prey items would likely prove fairly difficult.

[Tsubaki]

If you can get a steady supply of african soft furs you'd be set, its their natural prey. They're in between rats n mice in terms of size. If you're determined to feed just mice, don't go for a female bp, their adult size would be hard to sustain on mice.

Tbh, not meaning to be cruel.. I love rats too, have had many as pets. But mice are just as smart as rats, just different... Rats brains are more similar structured to humans than mice are, therefor we understand them easier and bond more readily. But in terms of intelligence, rats aren't smarter; Mice function and understand at the same lvl, this has been proven. Their vocal language is even more advanced and they are known to be able to sing.. So I dont really see what you're gaining by doing this. Unless you're a vegetarian yourself you probably eat an animals way smarter than rats are.. and if not, pet rats food contains animals smarter than themselves too.. its just something i put past myself in order to keep carnivorous pets.

[dangernoodles]

It depends on how big your bp will get. I would recommend getting a male, since they grow to be smaller. Once they are 1000-2000g i would switch to small rats because it seems the largest mice I can find are ex-breeders, and those are too small. You could feed it multiple mice in one sitting, but that would be much more expensive and some ball pythons refuse to do that. You could also buy a smaller snake that could only live on mice, maybe a corn snake. You could buy humanely killed rats (PerfectPrey is a good example) if that makes you feel any better. Good luck.