Feeding Questions

[ArvadaLanee]

I've had Shiva for just over 3 weeks now, and today will be her 3rd feeding day with me. I plan to weigh her today, so I can start keeping a record. Shiva is almost 4 months old now, and I have been feeding f/t hoppers. She eats them fine, but I'm wondering how you know when to go up a size in prey items, and when/if she should be offered rats. I don't know if I'm just used to our corn snakes, but one hopper doesn't seem to make a very large lump in her body.Do you feed multiple prey items of the same size before bumping them up to a larger size? Right now I have just been feeding her one hopper each week. It doesn't seem like there is a feeding chart for ball pythons, but I have seen it mentioned to feed around 10 - 15% of their body weight. Is that correct? Is it necessary to offer her other prey items? What would be a good healthy weight range for her age? Thanks for all your help, everyone.

[LittleTreeGuy]

Honestly, there really isn't an ideal weight for her at this age. Snakes, like any other animal or human, grow at different rates. I would guess at 4 months, a BP may fall between 100-200g. That is just a guess. I'm still fairly new to BP's, with just under a year under my belt. I still like to weigh my snake and feed according to weight. More experienced keepers/breeders go more by sight and their experience. I'm not comfortable enough using that method yet consistently.

Weigh your snake. You should be offering prey that is 10-15% of the snakes total weight. I feed F/T only. So when I get some F/T feeders, I weigh each one individually and then put them in snak-sized zip-lock baggies and write on the baggie with a sharpie indicating the weight of that mouse/rat. This makes it easier, in my opinion. If you are feeing mouse hoppers, It is probably time to move up. If you are feeding rat hoppers, I would differ you to check the weight of the prey to be sure.

Using the 10-15% rule, I personally feed every 6 days. Sometimes due to life, I feed on the 5th or 7th day... it doesn't matter too much. Just try to be consistent. I think once the snakes reach a level of maturity (around a year), I may start feeding a little less often... maybe 7-10 days.

[ArvadaLanee]

Thanks so much. I love the idea of weighing each mouse right away and marking it on the bag. I think I'll start doing that. I will just keep going by that 10-15% rule. She has only had mice so far, but I may see if I can get her to take rats as well, since I have been reading that rats have more nutritional value. I might need to start feeding more often as well, since I've been feeding every 7 days. That's what the breeder was doing, so I just stuck with it. I guess tracking her weight will give me a better idea.

[LittleTreeGuy]

Some argue that rats have more nutritional value, but some will debate that... rats are just easier. it's usually easier and less time consuming to feed one rat instead of 2 or 3 or 4 mice. Especially as the snake gets older. Some folks say that the longer a snake is on mice, the harder it is to convert them to rats, so a lot of breeders/owners recommend switching them at an early age. I was lucky, mine converted with no problems at all. I have a log sheet that I can send you, if you'd like. It helps me. Just send me a private message if you'd like a copy. Or you can search for snake log sheets on google and fine one that works for you. there are a few out there.