Aggressive snake. What size?

[PythonBabes]

So my male pastel, Kaa ate 2 rat pups on Sunday. He's still a baby, only a few months old and the thing is that he's still hungry. I left him alone for 4 days to digest. When I tried to pick up, let's just say yayy!! My first ball python bite!! Didn't hurt much, more surprised that Kaa actually bit me.

He's got a huge tub, so he can stay in the same one his whole life, but plenty of snug hides for him. Husbandry is all good, warm side at 92, cool side at 80. Humidity is at 55 right now. I've had him for a week only so he hasn't popped or shed with me yet, although he did pee on me lol

The ultimate question is, what size rat or mouse should I be feeding him??
I don't really know how much he weighs, I have yet to buy a kitchen scale.

So here's a picture of him:
http://imgur.com/OZntZtj

I would appreciate sizes for both rats and mice.

[LittleTreeGuy]

so... just because a BP strikes or is out moving around, doesn't mean they are hungry. It can mean they are scared, or stressed, or trying to escape. It sounds like your temps are good, and humidity is okay, but being that he is a young snake, he may be feeling overwhelmed in a large tub. They actually do better in smaller or very cluttered tubs. Do you have a picture of his tub and setup? If he is in an adult sized tub, 32 or 41qt tub, he can still be okay, but you'll want to clutter it up. Wad up some paper towels, get some fake plants and vines at the dollar store, and empty cereal box, etc... the more clutter and hiding places they have, the better.

As for his feeding, the best advice I can give, is what was given to me... get a kitchen scale that measures in grams. You can find them at Walmart or on online for less than $20. Weigh your snake. You'll want his prey to be 10-15% of his body weight. So if your snake is 100g, you'll want to give it a meal that is between 10 and 15g every 5 or 6 days. At a few months, he could be on mice hoppers or something slightly larger.

Here is an old chart I found on this site... it may help get you started:

Weight of python (grams)	Size to Feed (grams)	Common Name
Hatchling-99	9-12	Hopper Mice
100-199	13-20	Weanling Mice (or small rat pups)
200-349	21-30	Rat Pups
350-499	31-45	Rat Weanling
500-799	46-79	Small Rat
800-1499	80-149	Medium Rat

[Andylee11]

I use the slightly bigger then the largest part of the body strategy . Leaves a obvious lump but nothing crazy.

[O'Mathghamhna]

The weight suggestion is great, get his weight and you can feed properly, and keep track of him to make sure he doesn't have extreme fluctuations, which may mean health problems.

If you've only had him a week, be patient! He is probably still settling in and handling even 4 days after feeding may be a bit much in the very beginning. Just give him time, and definitely either switch him to a smaller tank or clutter that baby up.

[auraria]

You've only had him a week, he still needs to adjust!
I wouldn't handle him for another week.

I got lucky with my guy and loves to explore and is comfortable being held.

Also as others mentioned, 10-15% of their body weight about once a week!