accidental power feeding

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

You can't 'accidentally' power feed all ball python. Power feeding is when you make it eat more than it would on its own. If it ate a couple days after you fed it, that's not a problem, just means he was hungry already. :gj:

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Yep.

If I have a thin snake that will eat I feed it every few days to bulk it up.

Not trying to beat a dead horse, but there is a huge misconception about power feeding. I have had people that believe that feeding a hatchling ball anything bigger than a fuzzy mouse was power feeding.

It is really hard to power feed. If they strike constrict and swallow on thier own your good. They dont eat because they are bored or lonely, or snack all day long like we do. I have some females (they are my favorite for this reason) that eat extremely redily, and often take left overs when others dont eat their supper I had thawed out for them.

Another thing to keep in mind--yearling ball pythons can weigh anywhere between 350 and 900 grams! That goes back into 'how big will your snake eventually get?"
I've even heard of the occasional animal making it to 1500 grams at age 1. That's excessive, but the animal in question had normal proportions.

I frequently have yearlings over 800 grams, and others that are closer to 500, and they've been on the same schedule. The smaller ones refuse a few more meals, and the bigger ones of course get moved up to larger prey items faster.

The expectation is that a ball python should put on at least 500 grams in one year, at least if it is a female. That aims for the goal of having a 1500 gram animal at age 3. It's important not to hold them back if they want to grow faster than that! They could be aiming to be a 2500 gram animal at age 3, after all.

Small ball pythons make me nervous, so I don't hesitate to get some size on them quickly if I can. A small ball python can't withstand a long fast, if they should happen to become ill, or if they decide (for whatever reason) to go off feed. The heftier they are, the hardier they are.