feeding

I want my female bp to catch up to the male what feeding tactics should i use, the male is probably two months older than the female i was thinking for obvious reason to feed her more but the question is 2 small rats a week or the bigger meal only once.

I, personally, feed my snakes once a week.

I feed them frozen mice that are no bigger than the widest part of their body. Some say you can go a tiny bit bigger but i'll wait till their grown up to try that.

Why do they need to 'catch up' to one another?

Just feed them one or two small rats a week....that is enough to feed a ball python through its entire life :)

she doesn't have to catch up it's just something i would like

Since female ball pythons generally grow larger than males....she will most likely catch up and surpass him in time....

How old and what size are your bps?

she might be a hatchling maybe 15 or 16 the male is probably 21 inches

the manager at the snake shop where i go says he grew a female to 1500 grams in one year does that sound right or healthy.

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Originally Posted by emilio

the manager at the snake shop where i go says he grew a female to 1500 grams in one year does that sound right or healthy.

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It may be possible but not common. Generally it takes 2 years to get a female up to breeding size.

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Originally Posted by emilio

she might be a hatchling maybe 15 or 16 the male is probably 21 inches

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So I guess by 'small' rats you are talking about rat pups......not small adult rats. I would feed appropriate sized rats until I got to the small adult size. Then, I would stay with small adults and offer multiples if necessary.

sorry i meant mice

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Originally Posted by emilio

she doesn't have to catch up it's just something i would like

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How about instead of treating your snake like a toy that you can play with, you instead acknowledge that it's a living creature and treat it with a little respect.

Feed her on a regular schedule and let her grow as fast as she wants, not as fast as you want.

I don't think anyone here would be too fond of an 18 foot giant stuffing 40 big macs down their throat twice a week.

;)

-adam