Keeping males small, feeding schedule/prey size?

I swear, honest to god i've been googling like crazy.
The topic says it all, i guess.

I've always heard that you should keep you're males small and lean, but i've never really found any info on how the successful breeders do this. I get the idea and everything, but not how some of you actually does it.

As an example, would you be able to keep a male HEALTY at 750-900 grams it's entire life?
This is the ''desired'' breeding weight, and it happends to fit perfectly with one of my racks. The tubs hold a 750-900g male just fine, and if i could keep them in this for the entire life, i can't say i complain.

How do YOU do this? Do you offer small prey items weekly? If so, around what weight for a 750-900g male? Or do you feed every other week? A normal prey every 3/4 weeks?
You get the idea.. Really need some help to get my mind around this one.:confusd:

Thanks!
SwedishBalls :)

The only thing I do differently for my males is top off their weekly rat offering at smalls vs. mediums for females. Beyond that I don't purposely hold them to some sort of target weight as they tend to self-regulate smaller than females on their own. It's much more important for them to have a solid body shape than define themselves by a number. I have had a few males on the larger side, but they are the exception rather than the rule and have bred just fine for me. Maybe they forgot to read the manual? ;)

I don't breed ball pythons, and only have males in my collection. I have never tried to manipulate a male's adult size. What I have learned is that one small rat per week will keep them fit and healthy for their whole lives. They technically never stop growing, but most usually plateau out between 900 and 1800 grams. Yes, that is a wide range, but these are living creatures and a wide range is expected. As is the occasional outlier. Had a Pastel boy that was a very fit 2300 grams.... Just goes to show you that these animals will do what they are going to do.

Just keep them in a smaller enclosure!!!! Lmao:rofl:

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Originally Posted by chilliscale

Just keep them in a smaller enclosure!!!! Lmao:rofl:

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That must totally be true! I read it on the interwebs...

Everything on the internet is true so it must be...

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I do breed ball pythons, as well as other species, and i absolutely would like to keep the males at the 750-900g range, for breeding and housing purposes. And from what i can see, several people do this..

I just can't wrap my mind around ''how'', what the feeding schedule is, prey size etc etc.
Ofcourse i know males can reach 5.5'' and 2000g, but that's not really the question.. They can be kept on the small side, i'm just interested in how some of you do this successfully. Of course, i can take my time and see how it goes, cut back on food etc as he grows, and i'm sure i'd get the hang of it, but i would love a few inputs on how some of you actually does this, written down black on white.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

The only thing I do differently for my males is top off their weekly rat offering at smalls vs. mediums for females. Beyond that I don't purposely hold them to some sort of target weight as they tend to self-regulate smaller than females on their own. It's much more important for them to have a solid body shape than define themselves by a number. I have had a few males on the larger side, but they are the exception rather than the rule and have bred just fine for me. Maybe they forgot to read the manual? ;)

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Jumping in with a related question: at what size / weight do you move up from small to medium? My snake is a little over 850 grams, eating smalls and the body width or circumference looks like it's big enough for mediums but the head seems too small and I don't want to freak it out by jumping from 80 gram f/t rat to 100+ grams.
Thanks in advance, Eric.

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Originally Posted by SwedishBalls

i absolutely would like to keep the males at the 750-900g range, for breeding and housing purposes

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What happens when what you want to do and what the animal wants to do are at cross purposes? Who comes out ahead?

Bottom line for me is, you probably will never have a male that's too large to house if you feed only small rats.

If you get one that upsets you're housing plan, shoot me a PM. I'm sure there's something that can the be done....

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Originally Posted by Slim

What happens when what you want to do and what the animal wants to do are at cross purposes? Who comes out ahead?

Bottom line for me is, you probably will never have a male that's too large to house if you feed only small rats.

If you get one that upsets you're housing plan, shoot me a PM. I'm sure there's something that can the be done....

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Are you serious? That shouldn't even be a question..
I shouldn't have to point out the obvious, but the animals health comes first. I won't keep the male at 750g if he becomes skinny, just to keep him at that weight. He should be athletic, not skinny. Sounds good to you? Great.
I't shouldn't be necessary for me to point this out. I din't ask how to underfeed a male and how skinny he can be before he passes away....

I simply asked how some of you feed you're males to keep them on the small side, at around that weight.. :)

As others have said, males will be fine on small rats, and should not put on too much weight by following this guidance. I do not own any males, so I'm just going with what I have heard/read.

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I know some breeders keeping males in those ranges of weight and to be honest a male can do as good at 1500 grams or more, what matters is that we are talking about a lean 1500 grams versus a fat 1500 grams and that has to do with proportions.

My males do not get anything more than small rats once a week (55 to 75 grams depending on the male), I also skip a week here and there. But it is a normal feeding regimen.

I have males well over the 1000 grams mark and they are some of my best breeders, again it's about proportion and looks, even a 750 grams male can be too fat to breed.

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New to ball pythons here, but I can't imagine dieting any animal to keep it within a certain weight range unless the dieting is done because it's overweight. I've heard of people doing this with small dogs to keep them smaller, but that seems cruel to me.

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Originally Posted by SwedishBalls

Are you serious? That shouldn't even be a question..

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Yes. It was a serious question. I've been around here for a minute or two....I've seen a lot of crazy crap. So apologies if I offended you, but I've learned to be a skeptic.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Yes. It was a serious question. I've been around here for a minute or two....I've seen a lot of crazy crap. So apologies if I offended you, but I've learned to be a skeptic.

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I'm pretty new to this particular site, but i've been keeping reptiles for about 7 years, so in some ways i can understand, i've seen my fare share of.. Well. But.. Believe me, i'm talking about a healty weight.. Not in any means underfeeding, or keeping them on a just plain wrong weight for they're size. If they're unhealthy at weight X, they're going up or down, depending on the specific animal. Not in any ways is my animals going to be mistreated :)

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Originally Posted by The Golem

Jumping in with a related question: at what size / weight do you move up from small to medium? My snake is a little over 850 grams, eating smalls and the body width or circumference looks like it's big enough for mediums but the head seems too small and I don't want to freak it out by jumping from 80 gram f/t rat to 100+ grams.
Thanks in advance, Eric.

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My general rule of thumb is somewhere between 1000-1200 grams for females. It's pretty snake specific though depending on how they react to the larger prey.