Feeding my ball python

How often should I feed my young ball python? I just got him and the place I got him fed him on Thursday.

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Hi Tim,

A good rule of thumb is to feed on a 5 or 7 day schedule. I feed my guy 15% of his body weight on a 7 day cycle with the occasional treat here and there.

It is best to let your new BP settle into his new environment for a week or two before feeding and keep handling to a minimum except for spot cleaning, water changes etc.

Good Luck!

Yeah, if you just got him I would let him relax and settle in for a week. You can obviously open his enclosure to give him water or mist, but other than that just let him be. It can be really hard, but he'll be a lot better eater if he feels more comfortable ;)

As far as how often you should feed him, I usually go by a 7 day schedule unless the snake is really young/thin, and then I feed them every 5 days. So wait for a week (til next Tuesday or Wednesday) and don't handle him, then try feeding him next Thursday and every 5-7 days after that.

Yeah i wouldn't attempt to feed him yet, wait a week with no handling and then go ahead and try to feed something the size of his body width.

Once every 4-7 days for a juvenile is ok, going to once ever 10-14 days when adults.

as far as the actual act of feeding, i use a separate tub for feeding, and either dangle the rat/mouse (for feeding adults) by their tail, and let the snake take it from my hand. with juvies feeding on fuzzies and less mobile prey, i just put it in the tank with 'em and let them go at their own pace. my juvie is shy, so i leave the fuzzy in the brown paper bag they come in from the store, lay it on its side and the snake will go in and take the fuzzy from there. after they strike, i pull the bag away, and the last two feedings i cut the bag down to less than half the height, so it's less and less "cover"...hoping to "train" the juvie BP out of being shy by slowly giving them less and less hide each feeding. eventually (hopefully) they won't need it anymore.

Is it ok to feed him in his cage?

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Originally Posted by BigTim55

Is it ok to feed him in his cage?

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That depends on a few different things to be honest. What kind of substrate do you use? If its something the snake could inhale when striking/swallowing, I would feed him in a separate enclosure. If you use paper towel, newsprint, some form of turf, go for it.

Another thing to take into consideration is that by feeding your snake in a separate viv, they will associate that alternate location with food, not the enclosure you will be reaching your hand into all the time :rolleyes:.

Cheers and good luck with your new BP!
Fatal

Im using aspen as a substrate, I was wondering because I have a group of vines in there that the mouse might hide in. Do you think it will get in the way of him finding his prey?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigTim55

Im using aspen as a substrate, I was wondering because I have a group of vines in there that the mouse might hide in. Do you think it will get in the way of him finding his prey?

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Eh, not likely, they will key on scent and heat signal for the most part, sight is only for the actual strike.

I take it that you feed live? Switch to f/t (frozen and thawed) or p/k (pre-killed) as soon as possible imho. Less stress for rodent and snake and a dead rat can't hurt your snake :).

Aspen is ok to feed on, has some risk but I know a lot of breeders who do it. I personally would suggest to never feed in the enclosure unless you use a rack system and own multiple snakes. With only a few, feeding in a separate bin is so easy and has so many benefits.

Cheers!
Fatal

I just got him and the people who I got him from fed him live food. Should I line the tub I feed him in with something?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigTim55

I just got him and the people who I got him from fed him live food. Should I line the tub I feed him in with something?

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I line the tub with paper towel.

Cheers!
fatal

Ok thanks!

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Another thing, you have awhile until they're going to be eating anything that can fight back (assuming its a baby) so you wanna get consistent feeding before considering switching to f/t. I wouldn't say feeding live causes stress, that's how things work outside of captivity so its not unnatural or anything. Mostly its out of convenience to the owner, being able to stock the freezer with food and not having to pick up live food for every feeding. Also, the issue with possible harm to your snake during feeding...I personally hold adult prey (mice or rats) by the tail and dangle it and let the snake take it from my hand. Then if the prey tries to bite while the snake is coiled, I just use a chopstick to stick in its mouth, chew on that instead of my snake. As long as you take necessary precautions and aren't just dumping an adult prey item in with your snake without supervising there should be nothing to worry about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fataltix

Another thing to take into consideration is that by feeding your snake in a separate viv, they will associate that alternate location with food, not the enclosure you will be reaching your hand into all the time

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That's not necessarily true. I feed mine in her tank and I've never had any problems with her thinking my hand is food. They know what their prey smells like and what humans smell like and they usually don't confuse the two. The only time they might strike at you is if they're starved and looking for any kind of heat signature (or if they're scared and defensive of course).

So you can feed in the snake's enclosure or in a separate one, it's really up to you, but a lot of times the snake will be more likely to eat in their enclosure since they feel more secure.

Also, I really like feeding F/T, but feeding live isn't bad. It does increase the risk of injury to the snake, and it's more of a pain to go out and buy a live rodent every week, but as long as you supervise the feeding it should be fine :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigTim55

Im using aspen as a substrate, I was wondering because I have a group of vines in there that the mouse might hide in. Do you think it will get in the way of him finding his prey?

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If the vines are easy to remove, I would take them out of the enclosure before you put the mouse in there. Even though the snake shouldn't have any trouble finding the mouse if he's hungry, you just wouldn't want him to get tangled up in them when he strikes and coils.

But if you're going to feed in a separate tub then I guess you don't have to worry about that ;)

if you MUST feed in the living enclosure, use long tongs to offer the food so that they don't associate you reaching into the tank with food. it's not that they can or can't sense a human hand vs. a mouse or rat, but it's a conditioning trait. not all snakes will develop it, but some will. it's just something to consider, and if you notice any strange behavior when you open the living enclosure (assuming you're feeding in that tank) it's never too late to change it up.