Feeding size and frequency questions.

[Yzmasmom]

I don't want to over feed my girl but I ddont want to under feefeedher.

When we got her a month or two ago, it took her 15 minutes to eat a medium rat and now she can eat one in 5! The breeder said most ball breeders don't feed larger than medium rats because you just end up paying money for poop. (Meaning it's more food than needed.) She's 6.5" around (I measured her belly around with a soft measuring tape,) and that seems to be the size of a medium rat. She never refuses food either! She's a great nommer!!

I also feed her every Sunday, but I'm reading sites where people say 10-14 days.

So, 1. Is a one medium rat per feed USUALLY a good size for the life of a ball?
2. Do I feed every 7 days? 10? 14?

[BMorrison]

I feed mediums to my big guy and girl every 10 days or so. If either sheds I'll feed one immediately post shed also.


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[Yzmasmom]

So 7 days is too soon? 10 days is better? I don't want her to get fat. She seems hungry at day 7 though, lol. Amazing feeding response with this girl!

[JodanOrNoDan]

The biggest rat a ball python female will ever need is a medium. If she is not going to be bred, I would monitor her weight carefully and attempt to back her off to once every two weeks. If her attitude becomes negative or she is not making small gains in weight I would then return to the weekly schedule. If she continues to pound mediums like she is currently doing she will most likely at some point go into a prolonged fast. This doesn't bother me but it seems to drive a lot of people nuts when their animal doesn't eat when they want it to.

[BMorrison]

^what he said for instance today big girl is HUNGRY so she's getting another and it's been JUST 7 days for her, I feed the little noodles every 5 days and my big male goes on 8 months strikes so I feed him when he decides he's going to eat again about the same every 5-7 days with a medium because after 8 years with him I know he'll stop in a couple months.


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[Yzmasmom]

Really? They will eat a ton and then stop? OK, so I will go from 7 to 10 days and then after that jump go to 14? She comes out and looks for food a LOT by day 7 so I figured she was hungry.
She's approximately 3 years old (I'm her second owner,) and she's 3.5 feet long, 6.5" around at her thickest and her last weight on August 19 was 1321 grams. I had just been told to feed once a week as 14 days is a stretch, so I wasn't sure what to do.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If you want a B that eats with consistency you want to feed a small prey once a week, if you feed large preys while they can take them they will likely skip the following meal and the next, BP will also fast to catch up.

Even the biggest females 3500 grams or more do not need anything larger than a medium rat once a week, male don't need anything larger than a small rat once every 7 to 10 days.

The main issue in captivity people are over feeding than they will complain that their animal fast, there are also animals that have been diagnose with fatty liver disease. It's important to remember that they don't need as much food as we think they do and that their metabolism change tremendously from hatchling to adult, and finally because they can handle something big does not mean they should or need to.

[Yzmasmom]

Tasks for the responses. This is my first snake, so I have no idea what her weight in relation to her length, circumference or age is.... good or bad or perfect. I just want her to be healthy.