# Ball Pythons > General BP's >  How Many Mice/Rats Do You Feed Your Snake??

## psycho

I was just wondering how many mice/rats do you guys feed your snake(s)...be sure to comment saying how long is your snake...

I've seen many people feeding upto 4 mice per 2 weeks to their snake...I was wondering if it's too much or normal for an adult...

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## mainbutter

For mousers who refuse rats, 4 mice per 2 weeks might even be not enough to feed an adult, depending on the size of the mouse.  I've seen "adult" mice sold at 25 grams.  At that volume, I've seen 08s who eat more per 2 weeks than just 100 grams of rodent.

As a general rule I feed 1 feeder weekly to BPs, sized to the snake(feeder is as wide as the widest part of the snake's body).

For large adults, one mouse a week wouldn't cut it.  Two particularly large adult mice(they can get big-ish) might be a little much for some smaller adult BPs but work perfectly well for others.

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_jsmorphs2_ (05-06-2009)

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## harm286

Well maybe you kan help me ...
My two pythons are about 19 to 21 inches 
wieght is around 157 grams to 185 now i think they are under wieght ... Do u think so ??? I feed them 1 hopper every sunday i would like to see if they go for two ... But is this bad and kan that stop them from eating next week??

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## Stewart_Reptiles

Hard to answer with the poll it depends on the snake.

This is what *I* do

For BP up to 100 grams I feed a prey slighty smaller than the girth size every 5 days

For BP up to 400 grams I feed 1 large mouse or a rat pup every 5 days

For BP up to 1000 grams I feed 2 large mice or one small small rat (45 grams) once a week

For BP over 1000 grams I feed 3 to 4 large mice or one small rat (55 to 85 grams) once a week (males are fed on the smaller side)

Works for my snakes.

Note: Prior to breeding season things change a little.

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## The Letch

If you offer and they don't eat they aren't hungry.  That's my mantra.  :Wink:   Good thread, though, as I was wondering myself whether to offer our BP two mice this week or stick with the one.  She hit and ate rather quickly last week so I'm giving consideration to offering two this week.  I can keep the mouse alive for a week or so as we set up a small cage for that purpose before we got the snake.

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## ChristinaP

Jake gets 1 adult small rat once a week (Ball)
Ira gets 2 fuzzie mice once a week (corn)

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## ApexPredator

I just had a 1400 gram female eat 1 medium rat and 3 small rats one after another in the span of maybe 45 minutes last Saturday. I do not feed mice at all if I can help it. All my smaller females and all of my males get small rats. My albino male use to eat a large rat pup every three days.

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## psycho

> Well maybe you kan help me ...
> My two pythons are about 19 to 21 inches 
> wieght is around 157 grams to 185 now i think they are under wieght ... Do u think so ??? I feed them 1 hopper every sunday i would like to see if they go for two ... But is this bad and kan that stop them from eating next week??


You can try feeding 2 fuzzies or maybe offer a bigger mice next time....I feed my snake (22") one adult mice every week...

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## psycho

> I do not feed mice at all if I can help it.


Well why dont you?

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## Turbo Serpent

I feed small rats to my yearlings and med rats to my older snakes. I just got a hatchling that will be eating hopper mice/rat pups.

Rats generally are better for the snakes, more nutrional content.  :Good Job:

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> Rats generally are better for the snakes, more nutrional content.


Do you have a study showing this?

While the nutritional value of rat is different no study has been done on BP nutritional requirement.

Gram per gram one is no better than the other it is all the same.

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_cinderbird_ (10-28-2009)

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## Greybeard

2 rat pups every 5 days about 18 grams each. If I give him just
 one he hunts like he is still hungry give him 2 and he goes into his hide to digest. He is 24 inches and weighs 190 grams. I seem to have one with a good appetite.

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DebbieDecker (01-24-2018)

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## Turbo Serpent

> Do you have a study showing this?
> 
> While the nutritional value of rat is different no study has been done on BP nutritional requirement.
> 
> Gram per gram one is no better than the other it is all the same.


Okay, well in my opinion its also easier to feed one large (proportional) prey item per week rather than 3 - 4 mice as an equivalent.  :Wink:

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## psycho

> Okay, well in my opinion its also easier to feed one large (proportional) prey item per week rather than 3 - 4 mice as an equivalent.


How can you change your snake from mice to rats???

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## Turbo Serpent

> How can you change your snake from mice to rats???


Just offer a rat....

I just picked up 3 adult females. 2 of which have been fed mice only for the last 6 years and they all took rats on the first try. Others are more picky.

I have some yearlings that still prefer mice. You just gotta work with them.

You can always try putting the rat in used mouse bedding... that way they are scented like the mouse.  :Good Job:

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## psycho

I've heard if you've fed them something like mice they will stick to it and refuse anything else you try to give them...

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## BrucenBruce

Some will, most won't.

Out of a little over a dozen snakes, we've had two who were / are pretty confirmed mousers. One of those, as she grew (slowly!), has started taking rats. The other, an '08 girl, is still taking mice only - and those not every time offered.

~Bruce

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## samzz

i feed my bp 2mice(abt 6cm long not counting tail) this week( I think i overfeed it this week)  my bp(abt 2ft) just ate it? now its fat and went to sleep  did i overfeed it?

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## Oroborous

All my BPs are on rats, even my 08 baby whose on weaned rats. My oldest female is picky about them and needs A LOT of coaxing to eat, but I think even the most stubborn snakes can eventually be converted to rats.

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## Denial

I feed 
12 mice a week
32 rats a week
and 10 rabbits a week

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## Denial

I also dont like feeding mice. But I just dont like mice they smell alot worse then rats do and I mostly keep larger pythons so theres really no use in ever feeding them mice they can take rats from birth so its easier just to start them on rats

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## jsmorphs2

My general rule (if you have a gram scale) is offer meals that are 10%-15% of their body weight once a week. Its pretty easy to figure out too. If I have to feed more than one food item to equal that weight I will. They usually go for a second item no problem however I buy meals by the size to make it easier on myself. 

10%:
150gm - 15gm meal
250gm - 25gm meal
400gm - 40gm meal
1000gm - 100gm meal
1500gm - 150gm meal
2000gm - 200gm meal
Etc.

Hope this helps.

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## euphuistical

I feed ASFs exclusively (well I have a few frozen rats that I  trying to feed off). 

I just started breeding my own and have a few weaned of my own growing up in my bin but for now I buy them (usually mediums) and fees those. For my larger females (approaching 2kgs) I feed them a lot, and I mean a lot of ASFs a week. Close to 7 or 8 a week to meet the 10-15% weight a week suggestion. For my smaller 250-900 snakes I offer medium ASFs 2-4 times a week. I feed live and let them chill with the rat for 30min tops and if it doesn't eat it I will usually just toss it to my big girls. I figure that if the snake isn't hungry he/she won't eat. All of mine are pretty good eaters and none look overweight at all.

And I know they may be opportunist feeders but I doubt I am over feeding them. And there is always a chance of a hunger strike and then I am glad they go in to it with a good weight. 

So my "system" is frequent feedings of relatively small prey(only the larger snakes get multiple items per feeding, others just get their ASF for the day and that's enough). Of course if, for example, my 950g spider ate a small rat I won't offer her anything for a good 5 days to a week.

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## Quickone4u

Well currently my bp is somewhere around 28-30" I beleive and weighs as of 3 days ago 290 grams. I'm currently feeding what my pet shop calls 2 adult mice every 5 days. I use the 10-15% rule also and weigh my feeders before feeding. I usually get somwhere between 30-35 grams total weight between the two mice and feed one right after the other as soon as my bp has re-aligned it's jaw and starts cruising around the tank again. My bp so far(knock on wood) has been a great eater and I've had no problem with this method. :Good Job:

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## Lolo76

Well, I have a different answer for each snake, so I had to choose "other."  :Embarassed:  Here's what my snakes get weekly...

Mona: One live medium rat; she's about 48-50 inches long, and over 2000g.

Delilah: Two live or F/T adult mice, since she refuses rats; don't know her length, but she weighs ~440g.

Toby: Whatever is available, LOL.  :Very Happy:  He's growing fast, so I've been increasing the prey almost weekly - last feeding he got 2 (live) adult mice, only because they were out of smaller rats. Oh, and he weighed 330g as of last Friday.

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## WingedWolfPsion

Just feed enough mice to equal to the weight of one rat that's as big around as the large part of the snake.  If you're not sure, estimate. 

Some mousers refuse to eat enough mice in one sitting, which is why it's generally better to switch BPs over to eating rats--it's also generally cheaper.

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## cinderbird

I'm lucky enough for all my animals to take F/T so i always have a variety of sizes available.

I feed everything from hopper mice to small rats. Some animals do get multiples if i have a refusal though since i never re-freeze rodents after i've defrosted them. (I take hours to defrost, and then meals get left in overnight. I've accidentally refrozen one rat to dispose of later and thawed it.. god that was bad.)

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## Mike Schultz

I'm feeding my bee 3 mice/week to get him up to breeding size... the others i will single or double feed depending on how hungry they look  :Wink:

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## illini4x4

1 mouse per week for Compton. He's only got one feeding in so far. He wouldn't accept f/t so I had to go live. At least now that he has one feeding in I can take a breath and try frozen again lol

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## Eventide

For babies, I feed one fuzzy/hopper approx. every three days until they start wanting two hoppers per feeding.  Then, I switch them to one mouse and slowly move the feeding to once per week.  I feed however many mice they'll eat once a week until they're big enough to accept small rats.

My female sub-adults/adults eat two small rats per week and the male sub-adults/adults get at least one rat (I offer two just in case they're extra-hungry one week).

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## Crazy4Herps

It all depends on what I have on hand. I usually feed every two weeks. For Cu and the blood, it's either one med. rat, two small rats, or four mice every two weeks. Prospekt gets two mice every two weeks, and Zalma gets one. I know it sounds pretty confusing, but it works for my busy schedule and it keeps them healthy.  :Smile:

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## Bruceweb

Mine are all mouse feeders, doing well, generally I feed an ex breeder every 5 days, mine are all youngsters growing..have a few that are over 1000g so now trying to get them to take two once a week , I'm finding that if I leave them for an hour in between they will take another but will not if I offer as soon as they finish the first  :Wink:

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## BrucenBruce

By preference? One prey item per week. Sometimes I haven't got the proper size available, and sometimes someone turns down a F/T, but . . .

Yeah.

My son would feed off a half-dozen rat pups to one of his snakes every week, and there'd be none left for any other animals - now that girl's over 2,000 grams - but she's the only one ready to breed this year.

~Bruce

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## Bruceweb

> By preference? One prey item per week. Sometimes I haven't got the proper size available, and sometimes someone turns down a F/T, but . . .
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> My son would feed off a half-dozen rat pups to one of his snakes every week, and there'd be none left for any other animals - now that girl's over 2,000 grams - but she's the only one ready to breed this year.
> 
> ~Bruce


Hey this can get confusing..I'm Bruce,my boys Bruce too  :Laughing:

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## BrucenBruce

Ever watch the old "Monty Python's Flying Circus"? LOL "I'm Bruce, this 'ere's Bruce, Bruce and Bruce..."

Like yourself, my son is the other half of "BrucenBruce".

And I'm 1/4 Scottish, on top of it!

Welcome, Bruce, and you too, Bruce!!

~Bruce

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## Bruceweb

> Ever watch the old "Monty Python's Flying Circus"? LOL "I'm Bruce, this 'ere's Bruce, Bruce and Bruce..."
> 
> Like yourself, my son is the other half of "BrucenBruce".
> 
> And I'm 1/4 Scottish, on top of it!
> 
> Welcome, Bruce, and you too, Bruce!!
> 
> ~Bruce


Hello Bruce & Bruce best wishes from Scotland from Bruce & Bruce..small world Lol!  :Wink:

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## SnakeGirl3

Since I've started feeding my snakes rat fuzzies/pups this year instead of mice, I've noticed a much better growth rate in them.  Rat pups seem to give them better nutrition (rat pups have larger bones and internal organs than mice, which IMHO equals more nutrition).  I've also noticed that while my baby snakes seem hungry on feeding day (laying in their hides with their heads sticking out) now that I've been feeding rat pups, they aren't starving like they seemed to be on mice (completely out of their hides and waiting with their heads at the front and top of the tubs where the food comes in at).  I've also started breeding my own feeder rats.

Here's my feeding chart; I feed once every 7 days, regardless of snake age:
Hatchling-99 grams: Rat Fuzzy
100-249 grams: Rat Pup
250-349 grams: Rat Hopper (between pup and weaned)
350-499 grams: Weaned Rat
500-849 grams: Small Rat
850-1199 grams: Small Plus Rat (based on RodentPro.com, their "small" range is so wide that I've divided it into two groups, with the "Small Plus" on my feeders being the larger of RodentPro's range)
1200-2799 grams: Medium Rat
2800+ grams: Large Rat (and yes, I have 2 ball pythons that are on large rats)

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## Bruceweb

> Since I've started feeding my snakes rat fuzzies/pups this year instead of mice, I've noticed a much better growth rate in them.  Rat pups seem to give them better nutrition (rat pups have larger bones and internal organs than mice, which IMHO equals more nutrition).  I've also noticed that while my baby snakes seem hungry on feeding day (laying in their hides with their heads sticking out) now that I've been feeding rat pups, they aren't starving like they seemed to be on mice (completely out of their hides and waiting with their heads at the front and top of the tubs where the food comes in at).  I've also started breeding my own feeder rats.
> 
> Here's my feeding chart; I feed once every 7 days, regardless of snake age:
> Hatchling-99 grams: Rat Fuzzy
> 100-249 grams: Rat Pup
> 250-349 grams: Rat Hopper (between pup and weaned)
> 350-499 grams: Weaned Rat
> 500-849 grams: Small Rat
> 850-1199 grams: Small Plus Rat (based on RodentPro.com, their "small" range is so wide that I've divided it into two groups, with the "Small Plus" on my feeders being the larger of RodentPro's range)
> ...


Mine is simpler  :Smile:  100g to 1000g..exbreeder mice..works a treat for me  :Mouse2:

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## Phantomtip

Mine use to get a good sized medium rat a week at 2 yrs. Shes down to a small rat right now after not being fed for goodness knows how long. I will be getting her back up to eating that medium and possibly large rat a week. I don't feed mice either. Rats are more nutritional,  and fill them better.

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## MrLang

Halloween is coming - threads are rising from the dead!!

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*bcr229* (10-29-2013)

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## 200xth

Right now I have an excess of frozen rat pups that average around 29g.  The ones that should be eating around 60g get two of the rat pups to help get rid of them.

The others all get 1 appropriately sized rat.

EDIT: Ahh...didn't realize this thread was that old.

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## scalrtn

Here's a question I have...is it better to feed multiple feeders (in my case rats) on the same day in a given week than feeding the same number of feeders on separate days in the same week, based on a snake's size?

for example, let's say your snake is 250 grams and you feed it a 25-30 g single rat pup every week.  When the snake reaches 500 grams, you'd feed it more,  but is it better to feed two 25-30 g rat pups at the same time, or space the two feeders 3-4 days apart ?  I guess the answer would depend on what's more beneficial to the digestive process, but I'm not sure...

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