Question about appropriate food size.

[ceca2015]

I just bought some medium sized mice (14-20 g) and I was wondering if this is an appropriate sized meal. I know the 10-15% rule, and it fits. She's 105 g right now, but she just defecated and passed urates 2 days ago. Before then, she was 110 g. The mouse doesn't give her a lump or anything. I gave her a mouse today and it weighed 15 g. Also, how often should I be feeding her now? Before, she was eating 9-13 g mice and I fed her every 5 days. She was also underweight. Should I stretch the time between feedings to a week or keep it at 5 days?

[Dracoluna]

I just bought some medium sized mice (14-20 g) and I was wondering if this is an appropriate sized meal. I know the 10-15% rule, and it fits. She's 105 g right now, but she just defecated and passed urates 2 days ago. Before then, she was 110 g. The mouse doesn't give her a lump or anything. I gave her a mouse today and it weighed 15 g. Also, how often should I be feeding her now? Before, she was eating 9-13 g mice and I fed her every 5 days. She was also underweight. Should I stretch the time between feedings to a week or keep it at 5 days?

Honestly, depends on how old she is. With babies that are still growing (which I'm assuming she is at that size), I feed every 5 days. Once they are older, it drops to once every 7. The size sounds right though. Doesn't have to make a lump as long as the weight works out.

[ceca2015]

I'm estimating her to be about 6 months old. (bad owners before I got her, which explains why she is so tiny). And shes 21" long. (actual body, not shed) I've had her for a month, and she's gained about 10-15 g. Should she be gaining more? What is the average growth rate for a ball python this size/age?

[satomi325]

There is no set growth rate. Every snake grows at their own pace.
But somewhere between 50-100 grams a month seems to be the range my snakes grew from 100-1000 grams.

The 10-15% rule only applies to babies and juvis. You can always eyeball the prey and match the size to the widest girth of the snake.

All of my babies are fed ever 4-5.
Anyone above 500 grams gets bumped up to a 7-10 day schedule.