How many times a week do you feed?

I usually feed my ball pythons a meal the size of their largest girth once a week and my bps are all really happy and healthy. I decided to go that way because i don't have them just to breed (they are all too small still, but eventually) but to handle as well. On this schedule it gives them time to digest and for me to handle. Well i was on the phone with a well know breeder (20 years + experience) the other day and he had a 6 month old male at 600 grams! He said he feeds mice at the appropiate size almost every day! And it really opened my mind to how much i should be feeding them if i wan't healthy female ready to breed in a few years. What are you feeding, mice or rats, and how many times a week, how are youre guys growing?

For me, frequency of feeding depends on the age of the snake. Little buggers get fed every 5 days and older one's get fed every 7 days!! Hope this helps!

What breeder? This is interesting.

For the record, my adults get fed once a week and babies and some juvies once every 4-5 days.

once a week.. 20 years huh? LMAO!

I believe that's known as power feeding. And from what I've heard, it's very bad for the snake, and can shorten their lifespans quite a bit. It might pack size onto your snake quickly but you will also have a snake that lives 4-5 years instead of 20 +. Snakes aren't made the same way we are, their digestive systems were not meant to handle meals every day. Their systems don't have time to absorb everything they need from the prey if you are pounding food down their gullet before they have a chance to properly digest it. Slow steady growth is a way better road to making a good breeder than rapid, unnatural growth. Think of it as the difference between building muscle naturally and taking steroids.

I feed mine 1 large meal on Sundays and 1 small meal on Thursday or Friday except when they are shedding. The small meal is about 1/2 to 1/4 the size of the large meal. I don't want them getting fat (only I'm allowed to do that), but I also like to see a little meat on their bones.

So who is that breeder with so much experience that he feed his animal almost every day? :rolleyes:

I feed a small prey once a week my 18 months old girls are over 1500 grams.

You need to understand that digestion take it's toll on a BP and feeding almost everyday is called power feeding, it's not healthy and not recommended.

There is no rush, this is not a race, feed them adequately, love them and let them grow at their own rate.

i dont think a snake wouldnt even eat every day... unless then meals were extremely small...plus you would be wasting a good amount of money

We feed the little ones Males under 600 grams Females under 800 grams twice a week. Our larger ones get fed every 6 to 7 days. Today is a feeding day for the little ones and unfortunately the pet store had no weaned rat pups or adult mice, so everyone of the smaller guys and girls are getting hoppers. Some of them will be getting 4 hoppers total. It is expensive this way.

The good news is our first mouse gave birth yesterday and seems to be nursing the pups just fine. It also looks like we have another mouse ready to pop soon.

great topic i was just about to ask is feeding every 5 days too much? n the i saw everyday...WOW. ive never heard of that before and cant imagine thats good for the snake. i feed mitch once every 5days btw

From now on i think im going to be feeding my females twice a week with a medium size prey. And the males once a week with a medium size prey. And im not in a hurry at all im not even going try breeding until they are at least at three years of age and perfect weight. Thanks for the suggestions.

Well, I wish I could join in the fun of comparing feeding schedules. All I CAN do is say that I ATTEMPT to feed every 3-4 days. It is so very frustrating.

up to 800 grams. 2 mice adequate for there size twice a week. 801 grams and over. 1 adequately sized rat once a week. My yearlings have never refused food, and I could probably just keep feeding them all day if I had the mice but I wouldnt. I go based almost solely on size of stool. If the poop is huge I know I am either feeding to much or to often or a combo of both, again this is based on size of animal. I noticed a few weeks ago after tossing in a mouse another snake refused to my spider who already ate 2. Her poop the next time she went was way bigger than normal. So I stoped doing it. Figured if I eat way to much, I poop way bigger because my motabolism isnt keeping up with the amount of food I am putting in. I dont know if anyone understands this, but I am not crazy. I evaluate my snakes one at a time while they feed. Even had a live feeder get messed up by a rat this week and I had to literally flick the thing over and over again in the head to kill it. After awhile of watching my snakes eat and poop, eat and poop.(forever and ever) I have noticed slight differences from week to week. So each snake has a feeding car with exactly what weight pray they should be given down to the last gram....Boy, I have a feeling everyone is ganna think im crazy...maybe I am... STOP JUDGING THE CRAZY PERSON!!:banana:

I feed all my yearlings and adults one small rat a week. Sometimes if I have too many mice I'll throw them a mid-week snack. My hatchlings get fed one small meal every 3 days.

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Originally Posted by WellyBelly

up to 800 grams. 2 mice adequate for there size twice a week. 801 grams and over. 1 adequately sized rat once a week. My yearlings have never refused food, and I could probably just keep feeding them all day if I had the mice but I wouldnt. I go based almost solely on size of stool. If the poop is huge I know I am either feeding to much or to often or a combo of both, again this is based on size of animal. I noticed a few weeks ago after tossing in a mouse another snake refused to my spider who already ate 2. Her poop the next time she went was way bigger than normal. So I stoped doing it. Figured if I eat way to much, I poop way bigger because my motabolism isnt keeping up with the amount of food I am putting in. I dont know if anyone understands this, but I am not crazy. I evaluate my snakes one at a time while they feed. Even had a live feeder get messed up by a rat this week and I had to literally flick the thing over and over again in the head to kill it. After awhile of watching my snakes eat and poop, eat and poop.(forever and ever) I have noticed slight differences from week to week. So each snake has a feeding car with exactly what weight pray they should be given down to the last gram....Boy, I have a feeling everyone is ganna think im crazy...maybe I am... STOP JUDGING THE CRAZY PERSON!!:banana:

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I don't know about the poop thing, but if any of my snakes grab a mouse or rat wrong, I just use a pair of tongs to pinch it's neck and throat for a few seconds. It's only happened a couple of times, but it works quickly and I haven't had a snake get bitten. I hate rodents.

I feed mine two times a week, 25 to 30 gram mice. They seem to love this schedule and never give me a problem. weight gain is good but not superfast.