Did I feed prey a bit too big ?

[Lesser-diablo]

So my noodle ate a week ago and he pooped both rats out what he ate already so today was feeding day obv. So I went to the pet store and chose a medium sized rat (my noodle is a year old and up to 100cm long ) so but the rat was a bit bigger than his widest part of his body, i often stun the rats but not that much since he was fed live all his life and refuses food that doesnt move. So I'm a bit worried he might regurgitate since it was a bit bigger than usual but he got it down easily , here's a couple of pics after feeding

I know that after they regurge they usually refuse to eat due to their stomach acid being too strong and it messes up their esophagus. He almost didn't fit back into his hide , but he's already basking in his warm hide. He poops after every second meal (I feed every 6 days) and he has shed his skin twice now in a month. He's super chill and doesn't show any stressful behavior , he even let's me stroke his head often , never balled up on me or showed any aggressive behavior.

[Dezoruba]

How much does the snake weigh?

Just looking at it i think it needs small (~50g) rats, not medium. But we won't know for sure unless you know the weight.

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[JodanOrNoDan]

Yeah, that was a little too big. Regurge is a possibility. Make sure your temps are right and leave him alone for a few days. For future reference the biggest prey a male will ever require is a small rat.

[Lesser-diablo]

I usually feed rats that are sized like this trust me the rat just looks like it is huge in this pic but it wasn't that big
This is what I feed usually without any complications , this time it was a bit bigger though , I usually leave him alone for 3-4 days after feeding , small rats just weren't enough I fed him a small one the first time I got him and he kept begging for more (didn't stay in his hide after feeding and kept searching for food) so I switched over to these well medium ones and never had any problems with rat cravings after that.
His weight well I don't have anything to weight him in so while handling he could weigh aprox. 400-500g (maybe even more need to weigh him somewhere)
I'll probably go back to smaller ones tho, gotta admit this was a bit too big , hopefully he'll digest it just fine.

[JodanOrNoDan]

First, know if the rat you fed was actually a medium. This is done by weight. Second, just because a snake will eat something does not mean it should. Snakes (usually not ball pythons) can eat themselves to death. They can develop fatty liver disease. In my experience, ball pythons will not normally do this but many especially males will go on prolonged fasts to counter the overeating. My males never get anything larger than a small. My females 3000+ grams do not get anything larger than a medium. Even feeding like this most of my collection will fast for about two months of the year. It is your animal. Do as you please however remember on this board there are many people that have a roomful of animals with many years of experience. You can choose to follow it or not.

[Willowy]

Also, don't stun the rat. That's cruel, plus a stunned rat can get very angry and disoriented and take it out on your snake. He knows how to kill rats, stunning is unnecessary.

I do think that's a bit oversized. My 500g guy is still on weanlings. Some snakes are "puppy dogs" and always want to eat. Don't listen to them or they'll get way too fat.

[Yzmasmom]

My female is 1321g and she gets one medium rat (between 100g and 120g) every 7 days. Being the size that they are, they are smaller mediums and she would totally eat another one the next day but that's all she gets. She doesn't need more, she just wants more. This is the biggest size food she will ever get. You just start paying for poop if you go any bigger really.

[Godzilla78]

I had to feed my snake small rats every week, from the time he was 2 feet long. Now he is 3 feet long in less than year!
He finally seems to be an adult and now he eats one small or medium rat every 2 weeks.
So, it seems growing juveniles need to eat more frequently than adults.


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[Godzilla78]

Oh, and the first time I fed him a medium rat, it was amazing to watch him kill and swallow such huge prey.
It was totally easy for him after the first one.


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[treaux]

It's more about the snake's weight and girth than it is about length. As for the OP, I think you are feeding your BP way too much and too big of a meal. BPs will often eat anything you put in front of them and can get very overweight and have medical problems. My biggest girl is 1600 grams and 4 years old and gets small rats weekly (and is still growing quite rapidly). She recently went to the vet and I was told she is overweight for her bone structure and that I should still cut back. If you keep stuffing your guy with medium rats at only 500 grams, he is going to end up obese.