New Owner: Weight/Feeding Questions for 8+ month old BPs

Hi Everyone!
Apologies in advance, this is my first forum post ever (to any forum). I've got some questions about the weight/feeding/care of two balls I've recently acquired. These are the first snakes I've ever owned, but I've been researching my butt off to make sure that I'm caring for them in the right way.

I recently rescued a normal ball female (Vera) about 3 weeks ago- the owners said she was 8 months. She's about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 feet in length, and weighs 142g. They were feeding her hoppers and admitted that she hadn't been handled or had a proper substrate change in over two months. She eats well and is very active. We've been feeding her using the 15% rule every 7 days, but from the other forums it seems that she's very small for her age. Should I be feeding more food or more often?

http://i61.tinypic.com/2n0ms7p.jpg

I just purchased a chubber of a male pastel (Archimedes) because he looked just miserable in his Petco prison. They were power feeding him adult mice, as many as he would take (which they advised was typically 2-3 per week). They said they weren't positive on his age, but believe he's less than a year old. He's about 2.5-3 feet long and 348g. Based on what I've read he's obese, but I've struggled to find a definitive approach for getting them back to a healthy weight. What's the appropriate way to get him back to a proper weight?
http://i57.tinypic.com/ibwfbs.jpg
Aside from the weight gain, if via the pictures you see anything funky health wise, please let me know. Also, I have no intention of breeding these two, I just want them to be healthy!!

Thank you in advance!
-Sue

There are numerous trains of thought but most feed every 5 days until they reach a certain size. Some feed every 3-4 days until about 3-400gs and then run it at 5 days. I do my BPs at 5 days once up to size and my Boas at 7 days usually and then less frequent with age.

For your chubby guy, wait 7 days to see if he poops. If not then start the 5 day feeding until he poops and regulate his diet accordingly. At 348g its not obese. Obesity is an adult sized issue. Some power feed and they say it shortens lifespan to be powerfed to breeding size.

Good luck and you did excellent on your first forum post. Pictures and all.

Excellent, thank you for the feedback!

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I personally feed all my BPs every 7 days. I'm in no hurry to get them to grow faster.

I'd try giving your normal girl a rat pup and see if she takes it. At her weight, I think that would be a good meal.

In regards to your boy, feeding him a couple of mice doesn't sound too bad at all. Like ElliotNess mentioned, obesity isn't going to be a problem with a snake that size.