Year Old Ball Python Sizes (comparisons)

Freddy was 880 grams and 40 inches

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

I'm curious to hear why you go with this feeding schedule. Also what kind of results have you had? Do they eat consistently? Do they still go on random food strikes?
I see both snakes are still young, but I'm interested in learning more about your feeding schedule.
Thank you in advance.

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Allow me to preface: I'm a pretty new keeper, I've only been in the hobby for a little more than a year, and I only have 2 ball pythons. I do not have years of experience and data to back up my method at this moment. But if I had a larger collection this is an idea that I still think is worth exploring.


When I got my pastel male I followed the feeding chart that flies around here like religion until he hit 500 grams. Which was mid-November of last year, he was 7 months old at the time. Up until then, he was putting away food like a machine. I noticed that he was looking a bit pudgy and he stopped strike feeding and I was having to drop feed and cover the viv. He started skipping meals in January, was eating every other week. March he went off feed altogether and only ate one time between March to mid-May. I wasn't too worried, he is a young male I figured it was time. He came out of his fast and was longer and about 10 grams heavier than at the start and had a good growth spurt after. He was still only taking food half the time. The female was a little over half his size and still a chowhound, but it got me thinking about things.


1. It is generally accepted that many ball pythons end up overfed in captivity.


2. These animals are biologically engineered to be able to fast for long periods of time. Weekly feedings are probably really unnatural. In the wild, they probably have a season of plentiful food and seasons where grub is a bit more scarce.


3. My snakes are chubby, and skipping a week even if I didn't see a colossal benefit wouldn't harm them in any way.


I started feeding this way as part experiment and part fat roll management. I've been happy with the changes I've seen in my animals' behaviour. Fluffy hasn't had any refusals other than when in shed and is striking off the tongs again and is at the front of his tub on feed day. His body condition seems to have improved, and he has still put on a couple hundred grams, so I'm happy. Kitty is still eating like a freight train, she is probably close to the 1000g wall so I will be watching her closely.


While I might dabble in breeding at some point my animals were purchased primarily as pets, so I'm under no pressure to push them to breeding weight. If my female doesn't hit 1500 by the beginning of next year because I skip one feed a month it will not mean any kind of loss for me. I'm just trying to do well by my snakes.


I also think that it is probably good for them to have time to "clear the system" but I have not done enough research to substantiate and my evidence is little more than anecdotal at this point.

It seems to be working for my animals, but it could also be serendipitous timing.


I've been feeding this way since Mid-June. Not really long enough to tell if it will cut down on food strikes but I'm interested in seeing how thing go moving forward.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KillerKame

Allow me to preface: I'm a pretty new keeper, I've only been in the hobby for a little more than a year, and I only have 2 ball pythons. I do not have years of experience and data to back up my method at this moment. But if I had a larger collection this is an idea that I still think is worth exploring.


When I got my pastel male I followed the feeding chart that flies around here like religion until he hit 500 grams. Which was mid-November of last year, he was 7 months old at the time. Up until then, he was putting away food like a machine. I noticed that he was looking a bit pudgy and he stopped strike feeding and I was having to drop feed and cover the viv. He started skipping meals in January, was eating every other week. March he went off feed altogether and only ate one time between March to mid-May. I wasn't too worried, he is a young male I figured it was time. He came out of his fast and was longer and about 10 grams heavier than at the start and had a good growth spurt after. He was still only taking food half the time. The female was a little over half his size and still a chowhound, but it got me thinking about things.


1. It is generally accepted that many ball pythons end up overfed in captivity.


2. These animals are biologically engineered to be able to fast for long periods of time. Weekly feedings are probably really unnatural. In the wild, they probably have a season of plentiful food and seasons where grub is a bit more scarce.


3. My snakes are chubby, and skipping a week even if I didn't see a colossal benefit wouldn't harm them in any way.


I started feeding this way as part experiment and part fat roll management. I've been happy with the changes I've seen in my animals' behaviour. Fluffy hasn't had any refusals other than when in shed and is striking off the tongs again and is at the front of his tub on feed day. His body condition seems to have improved, and he has still put on a couple hundred grams, so I'm happy. Kitty is still eating like a freight train, she is probably close to the 1000g wall so I will be watching her closely.


While I might dabble in breeding at some point my animals were purchased primarily as pets, so I'm under no pressure to push them to breeding weight. If my female doesn't hit 1500 by the beginning of next year because I skip one feed a month it will not mean any kind of loss for me. I'm just trying to do well by my snakes.


I also think that it is probably good for them to have time to "clear the system" but I have not done enough research to substantiate and my evidence is little more than anecdotal at this point.

It seems to be working for my animals, but it could also be serendipitous timing.


I've been feeding this way since Mid-June. Not really long enough to tell if it will cut down on food strikes but I'm interested in seeing how thing go moving forward.

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Thanks so much for the reply! It's literally exactly what I was hoping for!!

I believe it just depends on the individual snake. I have had some females reach the 1000 gram mark at 1 year and others still sitting at 350-450 grams. Males same thing. I have one 8 year old female who to this day has never got much bigger than 1250 grams. She will just go on a lengthy fast from time to time. I finally bred her two years ago and she gave me a small clutch. She eats better now but still is not overly large for a female. I do agree with what was said about weekly feeding and it not representing the snakes natural feeding habits. However, in captivity it is accepted as the norm. I myself feed my adults once every 7-10 days. If they refuse they wait until the next time everyone is offered. So they will from time to time go several weeks without a meal.

My BP girl is 1 yr on I think September 9th, she currently weighs 478 grams and slams her weaned rats regularly. I also think she might be putting in another growth spurt because she was ready to eat 4 days since her last and she is definitely bigger and longer, but I actually feed anywhere from 5-9 days(sometimes I just don't have time due to school/work). She eats so readily I'm actually watching her for "chubby" now, if I see that I will slow her down.
For the record I want her to grow and she seems like one who wants to grow fast.

1000 grams in 1 year for some BP's O_O, I thought my girl was growing fast.

All three of my yearlings are nearly just under or a tad over 500g and have been fed every week like clockwork. Took about a month for Odin and Skittles to get on a regular feeding when we first got them but never miss a meal unless under typical shedding no feeding moments. And Odins birthday is today and Daenerys birthday was last month and Skittles birthday is next month. It really just depends on the snake. Daenerys is older then the other two but is smaller and has a voracious appetite. And is now quickly catching but. I’ve noticed with my 6 BPs the females have the insane feeding response in comparison to the males that I’m lucky to get them to feed maybe once every two weeks.


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