Feeding Guide for Pythons

I'm looking for a better understanding and the best way to feed pythons. First of all, do the same methods apply for all pythons? If not, I would like to learn the best methods for my specific female python, the boelens. I would also like to mention the guidelines I wish to learn are for general health and for non breeding pythons. The first thing I would like to ask is, do all, or should all pythons reach there full adult size by the age of 4-5? If not, how many years? I guess you can grow them up very fast so that they are full grown by age 2-3, but this would probably be very unhealthy. At the same time you could grow them up very slow so they are full grown by age 6-7, but this would probably be very unhealthy also. Which is worse, to grow them up slower or faster? Not that I'm trying to do either one, I would think growing them up too soon would be worse than too slow. Then again I don't know and that is why I'm here. The reason I ask this is because just about everyone one I have spoke to say that female boelens max out at large/XL rats and assuming they should be full grown at 4 years old, it would be logical to me to begin feeding large/XL rats at 4. Is this wrong? Well my female is 33 months old and close to 6ft long. I was planning to start feeding medium rats after she is 3 years old, and large rats by 4 years old. I have been feeding her small rats every 7 days for a while and just this weekend think she is very under conditioned and gave her first medium rat in almost a panic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the best way to choose the appropriate size rodent is by the rodent and the python to have the same girth. Meaning that the largest diameter of both the rodent any python should be equal, not one being larger than the other. Should I actually measure the girth of the rodent and python for selecting the appropriate size, rather than just a visual? I'm not stupid and know how to match up the girth by a visual, but this doesn't seem to be working for me if my python continues to appear under conditioned. Then again, maybe she is not under conditioned. I have been told that if the python appears to be super round it is over conditioned and if the pythons back appears to have pointed shape it is under conditioned. Both of these descriptions are useless to me. Are there any other ways to tell if a python is under/over conditioned? I have also been told you can fed 2 smaller size rodents or 1 appropriate size rodent every feed and that one way isn't better than the other only personal preference for the keeper. I would think that in most cases 2 smaller rodents would add up to be more than 1 appropriate size, therefore I have decided to feed 1 appropriate size every feed more frequently opposed to the 2 smaller rodents less frequently.


Feeding frequency, something I have struggled to learn for years and hope to fully verify and understand with this message. What I have been told is to feed every 5-7 days until they become adults, and then cut it back to every 10-14 days. Does this apply for all pythons, even the giant ones? Every 5-7 days, I will choose every 6 days. I will feed 1 appropriate size rodent from a hatchling up to an adult every 6 days. Every 10-14 days, I will choose every 12 days. So, I will feed every 6 days until they become adults and then cut back to every 12 days? To me that sounds like to much of a gap between 6-12 days and how do I know when they become "adults", when they reach a certain age? I would think having 3 different feeding frequencies would make more sense. For example, every 5 days, every 7 days and then every 10 days. Another example would be, every 6 days, every 9 days and then every 12 days. I could also feed every 5 days, every 9-10 days and then every 14 days. For the way I have decided to feed my python which is by 1 appropriate size every feed, what 3 frequencies should I do and how am I to know when to change the frequency? Some may think that I am overthinking this way too much but understanding how and when to feed animals is the most basic and important thing when it comes to overall health. Plus, I had a 8ft, black headed python that died from FLD. She was 8 years old and I was feeding her 1 large rat every 7 days. She did not appear over conditioned at all and the vet agreed. This is just another reason why I need to understand this.

What is wrong with the typing in this forum, it took me almost an hour to type this and thought my keyboard broke?

Wow... A lot to respond to here haha. Let me know if I miss anything...

Snakes really never stop growing and sexual maturity can vary. Some female balls can breed as early as 18months and some may take up to 4-5 years. Same goes for size. Some females are sexually mature and lay clutches at 1300g and some get up to 5kg monsters. I'm sure the same variances apply to all species of pythons. There's no real SURE age or size where they're full grown and sexually mature. I can speak on boelens specifically because I'm unfamiliar with them. Not sure what their metabolisms are like at all. If they're in the morelia family I'd say feed something that leaves a small lump in her tummy every 10 days. Carpets seem to have a bit of a slower metabolism, guessing it may be similar for boelens. A good way to tell would be just like you said, just eyeball it. Feed something about the same size as her widest part and see what kind of lump it leaves.

I'm not sure what you mean by under and over conditioned.

You can feed two smaller rodents or one larger one. Really doesn't make much of a difference. Sometimes snakes will be picky and refuse to eat two so it's more convenient to just feed them one bigger one. Just depends on the snake really.

I would say your gal, at 3 years old and 6ft, is considered an adult. As I said, every 10 days would be an ok schedule for her. Every 12 would be ok too though. Schedules are for the keepers not the snakes. :)

I don't have a problem typing on here but the forum has been "unavailable" and giving me error signals pretty frequently lately whenever I try to log in on Tapatalk. It's rather frustrating