perhaps im under feeding :(

so i saw another ball python that i assumed was quite older then mine to find out he was younger. so i started thinking my snakes under fed. ADVICE IS NEEDED

Hes 6 years old and ive owned him since he was 6 months. currently hes just shy of 4 feet. i feed him 1 medium rat every 2 weeks. and im seriously thinking this isnt enough. he never seems tempermental, i hold him daily, and he drinks lots of water. but when he sees food he wastes but a second to scarf it down.

how much do you all recommend him eating and if adjustmens are needed how should i go about in a safe way.

Hiya,

Welcome to the forums, first :gj:

It would be helpful if you could give us his weight, in grams - preferably :)

Ever had a fecal done to rule out parasites?

If THAT feeding regimen works, stick to it.

When you say Medium rat, what does the rat weigh in grams?

i dont have a scale to measure in grams. i get my mice from petco and always have. if that helps at all????

its not so much im worried about my snakes health he really seems fine, full of energy and very nice. i just want to make sure im not under feeding him.

as far as parasites ive never had him checked for it because well....hes never done anything to give me a reason to. everytime i put new bedding in i spray the beeding and him with NIX lice medicine just as a precaution, but thats not to say hes parasite free by any means

Can you please clarify?

You said in your first post "medium rats" and in your second you get "mice from petco"

big difference :)

I would discontinue using the NIX as a precaution. No need to expose your snake to the poison when he doesn't even have mites. Lots of people will treat a new addition while they have it in QT to make sure they don't introduce mites to their collection, but that is different than doing it repeatedly.

If you do ever have a case of mites and need to deal with it, some people do use NIX successfully without problems, however as far as I am aware, no scientific testing has been done to see if it is safe for reptiles or if there may be long term negative effects. Provent-a-mite (PAM) is a product that was designed and tested specifically for use on reptiles.

As far as the food question, we could help you a lot better if we either have a pic of your snake with something in it for size reference (you could even show a pic of him with the size rat you are feeding), or if you can give us an accurate weight.

A size comparison to one other BP is not enough to assume your BP has been underfed. Females get quite a bit bigger than males usually, so if the other one was female, that could be one explanation for it.

lets just say i have always got my food from petco :)

i will take a few pictures tonight of the medium size rat next to the snake.

and i will discontinue the nix as a precaution. when i had my red tail people on a redtail site told me i should do that with all my snakes if i feed live.

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Originally Posted by Snyper02

when i had my red tail people on a redtail site told me i should do that with all my snakes if i feed live.

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Rodent mites to not feed on reptiles, so there is no need for the treatment.

Quite true--only reptile mites will feed and breed on reptiles. Mammalian mites will not. Mite products are very toxic, so never expose your animal to any medications or treatments unless absolutely necessary. Never as a preventative.

As for prey sizes--you refer to your snake as 'he'. Male ball pythons are generally smaller than females as adults. The adult sizes of different individual ball pythons can vary from 3 feet and 1500 grams (or even less) on up to 6 feet, and over 4000 grams for enormous females). Both ends of this range can be healthy animals that are well fed.

If the rat is as big around as the thickest part of your snake, then it's the right size. Feeding a rat that size every 2 weeks for a non-breeding snake should be absolutely perfect. A ball python that goes off feed for 4 to 6 months over the winter should probably be fed every week while it's eating, but if it eats year-round, every other week is best. Since snakes rarely eat while in shed, just skip those weeks. This should keep its weight up without allowing it to become obese.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Since snakes rarely eat while in shed, just skip those weeks. This should keep its weight up without allowing it to become obese.

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I have never owned a snake that never ate in shed. I realize some don't, in fact many don't(I have been blessed with strong feeding responses in my snakes), but I wouldn't say that snakes as a whole rarely feed in shed.

I offer my adults a meal every monday. I have a six year male that is just under 4 ft also. He is healthy and has bred for me several times.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

A ball python that goes off feed for 4 to 6 months over the winter should probably be fed every week while it's eating, but if it eats year-round, every other week is best.

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Then again, if that same snake were fed only every other week, or just fed a smaller meal, maybe it would decide not to fast. It appears that some fasts are caused by snakes that were overfed taking a break to even things out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Since snakes rarely eat while in shed, just skip those weeks.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

I have never owned a snake that never ate in shed. I realize some don't, in fact many don't(I have been blessed with strong feeding responses in my snakes), but I wouldn't say that snakes as a whole rarely feed in shed.

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I have to agree with mainbutter. I have 22 snakes, mostly BPs. I believe every single one of them eats while in shed at least sometimes. Most of them don't seem to care if they are in shed or not, or at worst are a little slower to strike.

I would say at least 70% of my collection routinely refuses food when in shed--some of them will take it occasionally, but they usually refuse.

I don't believe winter breeding breaks have anything to do with how much the animal was fed over the summer. I have had 2-year old juveniles take breaks, and they're still growing. I've had an underweight rescue take a break (she wasn't breeding of course). I have not had a single animal that was actively breeding continue to eat through the entire breeding season, though some females did eat right up til ovulation, and some males only took 2 months off.

I have some HUGE females that I had to reduce food for because they were actually getting too hefty continue eating right up to ovulation, while a smaller, pickier female stopped feeding in October and didn't start until May. So I have to disagree with the idea that feeding frequency or quantity has something to do with winter fasting.

Most of our snakes refuse food during shed as well.

We must keep in mind that our captive snakes almost always have more fat deposits than wild animals. And this is unhealthy, more so than most fatty deposits on other animals, because snakes hold their fat next to the organs, rather than inbetween the muscle and skin layers.