Adult ball python weight gain?

[Azlayla]

I have an adult assumed male ball python I got from a reptile rescue a little over a month ago. He has gained 100grams in this time and is almost 4 ft. He is at 1780g now. He is eating f/t large rats every 8-9 days. Should I keep up the bigger rats or maybe go to mediums? He is nice and plump and I don't want to overfeed him

[Mike41793]

You'd have to try really hard to actually overfeed a ball. They'll go off feed before they get too plump, I've personally never seen an obese ball.

For a male that age and size you could switch to mediums or just feed a large rat every 2 weeks if you wanted to cut down his food just a bit. Males don't need the extra fat for breeding so keeping him plump isn't really necessary. It's totally up to you though

[albinos_rule]

My male is at 1,800 grams, and I feed him a medium rat every 10 days.

[Azlayla]

Update: I a doing mediums every 10 days now and the scale said 1995 today!! He has gained a bit of girth and is visibly bigger (even after digesting) Maybe he is a she? I know females tend to get bigger. He shed again too and measures over 4 ft.

[Mike41793]

Update: I a doing mediums every 10 days now and the scale said 1995 today!! He has gained a bit of girth and is visibly bigger (even after digesting) Maybe he is a she? I know females tend to get bigger. He shed again too and measures over 4 ft.

Not necessarily, males can get large too. Just because most top out around 1200-1500g doesn't mean there aren't some big ones that get over 2000g. I know of a few.

[Thomas Steele]

some big ones that get over 2000g. I know of a few.

Our 9+ year old normal male hovers right around the 2000g mark.

Here are some of his recent weigh-ins:
4/26 - 2035g
5/28 - 1985g
6/15 - 2040g
9/07 - 1965g

He's eating a F/T medium rat every 2 weeks. This is actually one of the best periods of feeding he's ever been on. I've had a couple years that he ate maybe 4 times the entire year. Enjoy the times when they are packing on weight.

And a picture of him with my 10 year old daughter:

[LLLReptile]

Big boys are out there I would not worry too much about keeping him from continuing to gain weight at the rate you are feeding him. If he's meant to be over 2,000 grams, he's just meant to be that big - as long as you're not seeing fat rolls and fat deposits (which I've never seen in a ball python either), he's not too fat.

-Jen

[GoingPostal]

My male is around 2400 grams, probably about 10 years old and he's a picky mouser who doesn't eat during winter.