Feeding a female BP

[lunasjy]

I just recently picked up a female BP. She is 4 years old, and when I weighed her when I got home she was 1687g. The guy I got her from said she weighed 2040g during breeding season. I should have asked him how often to feed her, but i forgot. She is on F/T medium rats.

I have many other ball pythons but she is my first over the age of 3 years. Yes, I do plan on breeding but as of yet I have not had any breeding experience. All my other snakes are currently 2 years old or younger.

I should also mention that she laid a clutch on May 4th of this year and I will be breeding her this coming season. So how often should I feed her now? Same with my other females. When I get them up to breeding size, how often should I feed them. Currently my ball pythons under 500g are fed every 5 days. Anything bigger then that I feed once a week. My second largest female is only 1200g so this part is new to me.

[bcr229]

I would offer once a week but I also have snakes that will take a f/t medium (or larger) rat if she decides she's not hungry, so I'm not wasting a f/t rat if a picky BP doesn't eat. My big females will eat 2-3 weeks in a row, take a month off, eat every other week, take more time off, etc.

If you don't want to waste feeders you can offer every two weeks.

[lunasjy]

I would offer once a week but I also have snakes that will take a f/t medium (or larger) rat if she decides she's not hungry, so I'm not wasting a f/t rat if a picky BP doesn't eat. My big females will eat 2-3 weeks in a row, take a month off, eat every other week, take more time off, etc.

If you don't want to waste feeders you can offer every two weeks.

According to the previous owner, she is a super eater and only misses meals when breeding. That is also why I am asking. If she eats every time I feed her, I should I feed an adult female once a week. I do not like power feeding and I am not sure if this will be considered doing so and I am not worried about wasting rats.