Offering more food? (at same feeding)

Hello all! Been lurking here a little bit...wow, I am learning a lot! :bow:

I just recently got my first ball python, a baby. (I was told he was about 14-16 weeks old.) So far, he's been a good eater and has never refused food - been feeding 1 f/t hopper every 7 days.

I've only had him for 3 weeks but he definitely seems bigger already, and I'm not sure hoppers are enough any more. Last feeding he gobbled up the hopper in less than 5 minutes and instead of retreating to his hide he wandered around restlessly for 15 minutes or so, "standing up" and looking around.

My question is...should I offer him more food than this? And how does it work if you offer two small prey items instead of one big one...like, would it be okay to offer one and offer a second after he's gotten the first down, or should I wait a day or so and just feed him more often? I was afraid to rock the boat too much with his feeding schedule since it's been working so far, and I thought a small mouse might still be too big.

He's about as big around as a quarter if that helps.

Thank you! :D

You can either up his food size a little or feed every 5 days.
Some will eat several in one sitting.

While I don't think mutiples in a feeding is best, it won't hurt. Instead I would up prey size, or go to a 5 day feeding schedule. How much does he weigh?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

While I don't think mutiples in a feeding is best, it won't hurt. Instead I would up prey size, or go to a 5 day feeding schedule. How much does he weigh?

---

I don't agree with this statement. I have 2 ball pythons that are strictly mousers and I have to feed them multiple mice to satisfy their hunger.

Feed the snake more than one if it'll take it. It's fine. Snakes work like any other animal. When they are babies they need more. I don't know if you have kids, but when you have a baby you feed it ever 2-3 hours. I'm not saying feed your snake every 2-3 hours, but you can feed it multiples as a younger snake with a lot less problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

While I don't think mutiples in a feeding is best, it won't hurt. Instead I would up prey size, or go to a 5 day feeding schedule. How much does he weigh?

---

Thank you for your reply!

I don't have a scale yet but it is already on my list for today. I'll be back in an hour or so with an update - think I'll go ahead and pick up f/t small mice just in case. Maybe finish up what I already have and offer him a hopper and a fuzzy if that sounds OK?

Thanks everyone for responding! :D

I have offered 2 rats at a time to a baby cause they grow so fast I had lots of pups still :) But as has been recomended I would up the Prey size and try to get rats if you can. Some snakes will only eat mice and you could end up feeding 2-3 mice per feeding and I think one rat is a lot easier. I would invest in a scale if you don't alredy have on and get a good weight on your little guy takes a lot of guess work out of what to feed. As a rule I like to feed 10-15% of body weight every 5 days till they are abour a year old or 650-700 Grams. Then I move to a weekly or bi-weekly depends on how the snake eats.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PassionsPythons

Feed the snake more than one if it'll take it. It's fine. Snakes work like any other animal. When they are babies they need more. I don't know if you have kids, but when you have a baby you feed it ever 2-3 hours. I'm not saying feed your snake every 2-3 hours, but you can feed it multiples as a younger snake with a lot less problems.

---

:D I don't have any kids, but that sure sounds familiar as my sister has 3! Now I am imagining arguing about who has to get up to feed the snake at night...LOL.

I think I'll try to offer him 2 tonight and maybe start feeding him a little more often. It's easier to just feed 1 thing but I'm glad to know I can give him two at a time if I need to or if he just doesn't want to eat something large. whew.

We will be waiting.
Are you feeding fuzzy mice?? Might try to up to rats:gj:
Though I do have 3 mousers, the 2 girls are 800+g and the boy is 1000g.

Since your question was clearly answered, where's the pics?! ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RestlessRobie

I have offered 2 rats at a time to a baby cause they grow so fast I had lots of pups still :) But as has been recomended I would up the Prey size and try to get rats if you can. Some snakes will only eat mice and you could end up feeding 2-3 mice per feeding and I think one rat is a lot easier. I would invest in a scale if you don't alredy have on and get a good weight on your little guy takes a lot of guess work out of what to feed. As a rule I like to feed 10-15% of body weight every 5 days till they are abour a year old or 650-700 Grams. Then I move to a weekly or bi-weekly depends on how the snake eats.

---

Hmmm are rat pups bigger or smaller than mice hoppers? If they are bigger that might be a good thing to transition him on...

Yeah it definitely seems much easier to just feed one and done, especially since so far he's been good about eating.

I'm off to get that scale now! Thanks!

Here is a generic scale of aprox weight of prey :P
I would also look for a local breeder or supplier of feeders I just think they have better quality rodents for the most part than those offered in most CHAIN pet stores Plus they are usually a lot cheeper I pay about $1.25 for small rats and price goes down from there
MICE
Sm. Pink 1-2 grams
Lg. Pink 2-4 grams
Peach Fuzz 4-6 grams
Fuzzies 5-8 grams
Hoppers 8-12 grams
Sm. Mice 11-16 grams
Med. Mice 15-24 grams
Lg. Mice 24-28 grams
XLg. Mice 30 grams+

RATS
Rat Sm. Pink 3-8 grams
Rat Lg. Pink 5-12 grams
Rat Fuzzies 10-20 grams
Rat Pup 20-30 grams
Rat Wean 30-45 grams
Rat Sm. 40-80 grams
Rat Med. 80-150 grams
Rat Lg. 140-200 grams
Rat XLg. 190-250 grams

I bow down to restlessrobie! I've been trying to find a list of mouse weights. Now I have an approximation for switching our boa to rats :D

And I agree... Where's the pics! lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RestlessRobie

Here is a generic scale of aprox weight of prey :P
I would also look for a local breeder or supplier of feeders I just think they have better quality rodents for the most part than those offered in most CHAIN pet stores Plus they are usually a lot cheeper I pay about $1.25 for small rats and price goes down from there
MICE
Sm. Pink 1-2 grams
Lg. Pink 2-4 grams
Peach Fuzz 4-6 grams
Fuzzies 5-8 grams
Hoppers 8-12 grams
Sm. Mice 11-16 grams
Med. Mice 15-24 grams
Lg. Mice 24-28 grams
XLg. Mice 30 grams+

RATS
Rat Sm. Pink 3-8 grams
Rat Lg. Pink 5-12 grams
Rat Fuzzies 10-20 grams
Rat Pup 20-30 grams
Rat Wean 30-45 grams
Rat Sm. 40-80 grams
Rat Med. 80-150 grams
Rat Lg. 140-200 grams
Rat XLg. 190-250 grams

---

Wow, thanks for posting this! That's very useful. :gj: *bookmarks*

Okay I hope this works! *crosses fingers* Here are some pics!
http://i.imgur.com/cPCRp.jpg
On the day I brought him home

http://i.imgur.com/SrSkd.jpg
Checking things out

http://i.imgur.com/JBKN8.jpg
Posing (he came over to investigate the camera!)

http://i.imgur.com/HKJUb.jpg
No idea what the heck he's doing here but he does it a lot!

And these are from today before I weighed him (95 grams btw!):
http://i.imgur.com/vB7SC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GJYlU.jpg
I think he's going into shed? He's pretty dark so it's a bit hard to tell, but he's sort of bluish looking from an angle. Been trying not to handle him unless I have to.

I thought about posting about him in the "Is this a morph" forum, haha. I know he's probably a normal but he's just so pretty, I think he's ~speshul~ :P He's just too cute imo!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WifeOfSlasher

I bow down to restlessrobie! I've been trying to find a list of mouse weights. Now I have an approximation for switching our boa to rats :D

And I agree... Where's the pics! lol

---

If you want you could print out these charts on layne labs website: (on bottom of page, scroll down)

http://www.laynelabs.com/frozen-rats

http://www.laynelabs.com/frozen-mice

I hope these help :)

Love his black dorsal!!
Rat fuzzies or small mice should be good.
Just dont buy huge amounts because he will grow quick.

Thanks for posting pics baby PB'S are so cute well at least cute to me :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

If you want you could print out these charts on layne labs website: (on bottom of page, scroll down)

http://www.laynelabs.com/frozen-rats

http://www.laynelabs.com/frozen-mice

I hope these help :)

---

Ooooh, thanks for the link! (And that's soooo much cheaper than the pet store too...hmmmmm.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Love his black dorsal!!
Rat fuzzies or small mice should be good.
Just dont buy huge amounts because he will grow quick.

---

Thank you! I can't lie, I think he's a handsome fella. :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RestlessRobie

Thanks for posting pics baby PB'S are so cute well at least cute to me :)

---

You're welcome! Thanks for enjoying them...honestly...everyone I know thinks I'm crazy but I think baby BPs are adorable and can't resist showing off pics. (I forgot to mention his name before - Anon.)

Oh - one last pic!
http://i.imgur.com/zS1sq.jpg

Eating a small mouse. He'd climbed up on his branch to bask by the time it was ready, so I tried to lure him down with it on the end of the tongs. He was so excited when he caught sight of it that he struck right away and just sort of unspooled to the ground. He ate it completely with his tail still curled around the branch! :8:

Thanks everyone for all your help! :snake:

I found my local breeder of feeders threw my local my local herp society might be a good place to start. My Breeder has prices very close to the bigger mail order breeders and I dont have to oreder nearly as many :) Helps out a lot when you only have 3 snakes all eating different sizes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RestlessRobie

I found my local breeder of feeders threw my local my local herp society might be a good place to start. My Breeder has prices very close to the bigger mail order breeders and I dont have to oreder nearly as many :) Helps out a lot when you only have 3 snakes all eating different sizes

---

Hmmm! I live in FL, so I figure there must be herp societies around! is there a list somewhere maybe?