5 or 7 days?

[Orangephoner]

so since i got my BP back in October i have been feeding her every sunday. i got her as just a little baby feeding on pinky mice. but now she is i believe around 21 inches long. ( im not sure about the weight cause i dont have a scale(next investment) i just started feeding her adult frozen mice and she eats them like a champ. i was just curious tho should i be feeding her every 5 days vs every 7 like i have? cause i have heard of people starting on 7 and then going to 5. cause sometimes she feels kinda empty after a couple days. anyone have any suggestions? and sorry if this is a really common question.
thanks

christian

[The Serpent Merchant]

I feed my young ones on a 4 day feeding schedule, then when they hit 500-600 grams I move to a 7 day feeding schedule.

You are only just now feeding adult mice? And you started on pinkies? I have yet to see a ball python that couldn't eat hopper mice straight from the egg. Sounds like you should be feeding a little more. Are you feeding a rodent about the same size as the fattest part of the snake?

[cmack91]

Anything under 1000 (grams) gets 7 days (every now and then i feed them twice also), anything over 1000 gets either a 7 or 10 day schedule, depending on how willing they are to eat.

[Crazy4Herps]

I am almost always a proponent of feeding less often. However, if the meals are relatively small she may be better off with feedings every 5 days. Besides, at that age it's difficult to overfeed a bp, so... A 5-day schedule wouldn't hurt. But it's your call.

[Orangephoner]

Yeah they are about the size of her body. I think she is a little behind cause a while ago she went 2 months with out eating so I'm sure that slowed her down. But she is growing fast now and always eating

Christian

[KrazyKevin]

I would go with a 5 day eating but I used to feed every 7 days as well at 21 inches you may be able to start feeding rat pups.

[Orangephoner]

Would rat pups be a good next step?

Christian

[decensored]

I feed my young ones on a 4 day feeding schedule, then when they hit 500-600 grams I move to a 7 day feeding schedule.

You are only just now feeding adult mice? And you started on pinkies? I have yet to see a ball python that couldn't eat hopper mice straight from the egg. Sounds like you should be feeding a little more. Are you feeding a rodent about the same size as the fattest part of the snake?

Agreed.

I feed 10-15% of body weight every 5 days for babies, 10% for juvies/ sub adults, and 5-10% for adults. People tend to feed adults every 7-14 days at 15% body weight. I believe in feeding every 5-7 days, and smaller meals. A scale is going to be one of your best friends when it comes to owning ball pythons.

NOTE: I feed ASF to most of my girls so to stuff them I am looking at 4 or 5 ASF at a time for my bigger girls. It's a lot of work for both of us, LOL

[KrazyKevin]

Would rat pups be a good next step?

Christian

If the rat pup is the right size IMO yes

[rabernet]

The most important thing that any keeper should learn is how to read their individual animals.

I feed hatchlings on a 5 day schedule, and eventually move them to a 7 day schedule but the animal "tells me" when that is.

When they start to have more skipped meals, it's time for me to scale them back to once a week.

Each animal is different - so while one may be on a 7 day schedule, its siblings may still be feeding well every 5.