First BP, female mojave.

[Metal]

Here's my first ball python, actually, my first snake ever "Pie."
A female mojave. She was born on Dec. of 2008 and is currently slightly over 2' in length. No problem at all feeding her, she gets 1 mouse a week.

Speaking of which, quick question... is 1 mouse/week enough for her? I only have mice, med rats, and jumbo rats available in my area. Would two mice/week be fine, I think the med rat might still be a bit big. If so should I feed her the two mice at the same time, or on different days during the week?

Anyway here she is;

[Turbo Serpent]

Congrats on your first BP, she is a looker.

As far as feeding goes, what is her weight? You generally want to feed BP under 400g every 5 days, anything over 400g is every 7 days, and some feed over 2000g every 10 days. You want to offer prey that is between 10 to 15% her body weight.

Based upon your picture, her birth date, and the size you listed I would guess she is close to 200 - 250g, so you would want to offer her between 20g - 38g prey item, whether that is 1 small rat or multiple adult mice is up to you. Good Luck and Welcome!

[SUPERBALLS]

thats one hell of a first snake! shes buetiful, and it all depends on if you are conditioning her to breed or shes just a pet, if shes a pet then yeah one mouse a week is fine, but if you want to breed her i would switch her to large rat pups or small rats so she can gain good weight!!!

[BGdyl]

Awesome female and to answer your question, yes i would definetly feed her 2 mice a week

[Metal]

I just checked, she's about 210 grams. She is going to be just a pet, figured spending some extra money now on a nice snake isn't going to bother me 20 years down the road when I still have her.
Thanks for all the quick replies guys.

[Krista]

Killer mojo

[SlitherinSisters]

Gorgeous first snake!!!! You can't go wrong with a mojave!!!

If she's 210grams I would say one mouse a week is just fine.

[kc261]

If she is still only 210 grams, then one adult mouse is enough for now, but she should soon grow big enough to need 2. It also depends on the individual mice, though. Many pet stores sell "adult" mice that I would describe as weanlings, not truly fully adult yet. Your BP could probably eat 2 of those.

To figure out how much to feed her, there are 2 good rules of thumb. One is to feed 1 prey item that has the same girth as the largest part of her body. That works great for people who are feeding rats, and will always be able to find a rat of the appropriate size.

For people who feed mice, which don't get big enough to be a full meal for an adult BP, you can go by weight. This also works if, for example, you have a bunch of frozen rat pups that you want to use up before you order a bigger size. Feed prey items of the appropriate weight & size to add up to about 10-15% of her body weight at each feeding. Since she is 210g right now, that would be 21-31.5g.

Feed once every 5-7 days when she is little, and 7-10 days once she gets bigger. Also, since you say she will be only a pet, she will not be using up lots of energy & resources producing eggs, so you can stop increasing her prey size once she stops her rapid growth. She will continue to grow gradually throughout her lifetime.