How much to feed adult male BP?

My male ball python is now 1147g and his growth seems to have slowed down. I was wondering if I should be continuing to feed him 10-15% of his body weight? I saw somewhere that once a snake is fully grown it should only eat 5% of their body weight and wanted to confirm if that is true.

He’ll likely never need anything more than a small rat every week or two for the rest of his life. 10-15% rule is for juvenile BPs. Once they break 500+ grams that rule can sort of be disregarded. My ~1600gram, 11yr old male eats a small every 10-14 days and will still go on the occasional fast for months at a time.


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My adult males get offered a small rat every 2-3 weeks and they will still periodically fast for months.

The whole 10-15% thing really only applies to young, growing snakes.

Thank you both for the input! Just to confirm, what counts as a "small rat"? 45-85g? My BP continues to act hungry when I feed him rats that are on the lower side of that weight range.

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Originally Posted by Luvyna

Thank you both for the input! Just to confirm, what counts as a "small rat"? 45-85g? My BP continues to act hungry when I feed him rats that are on the lower side of that weight range.

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Yes that weight range is pretty standard. You can try feeding him smalls on the high side of the range, or mediums on the low side of the medium range.

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Originally Posted by Luvyna

Thank you both for the input! Just to confirm, what counts as a "small rat"? 45-85g? My BP continues to act hungry when I feed him rats that are on the lower side of that weight range.

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Define acting hungry?

My 14 year old BP gets a small rat every 2-3 weeks btw.

my guy hit 1200 and slowed down quite a bit. He gets 1 small rat every 2 weeks. It's what works for him.

TBH, I think there's times during the year when he could definitely take a small rat 1x per week, but there's also times during the year when he could take 1 rat per month. Not sure why that is or what dictates it, but he was voracious in September. October, not so much.

My adult males both eat small rats every 10-14 days or so. I let them dictate when they eat. I watch for hunting behavior in the evenings. If I see it on consecutive nights I offer on night 3 or 4. I haven't had a single refusal in over a year from either of them since applying that feeding technique.

The past few months they would have eaten every 6-7 days if I let them, but as winter approaches they've already slowed a bit. During the winter they're usually much closer to the 14 days end of the spectrum.

This approach has worked for me and my two boys. They maintain a healthy body structure, they're solid muscle and they eat year round. No complaints from me and the snakes have never complained either ��

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Yes that weight range is pretty standard. You can try feeding him smalls on the high side of the range, or mediums on the low side of the medium range.

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Fantastic, thank you!

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Originally Posted by GoingPostal

Define acting hungry?

My 14 year old BP gets a small rat every 2-3 weeks btw.

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If I give him a small rat on the bigger end of the range, he will immediately withdraw into his hide after eating. If I give him a smaller rat, he will continue to stick his head out of his hide in an "S" shaped position, sometimes for hours, and may even continue to do so the next day before he withdraws to digest. If he had a smaller rat he will also start "hunting" closer to 7-10 days instead of 14 days, sticking his head out of his hide in an "S" shape, coming out of his hide and night and trying to escape his enclosure.

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Originally Posted by Andiamo

my guy hit 1200 and slowed down quite a bit. He gets 1 small rat every 2 weeks. It's what works for him.

TBH, I think there's times during the year when he could definitely take a small rat 1x per week, but there's also times during the year when he could take 1 rat per month. Not sure why that is or what dictates it, but he was voracious in September. October, not so much.

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This is pretty much the schedule I am using for my BP. Interesting that you mentioned the thing about your BP being hungry in September but not in October, my BP was slamming rats in September but now he kind of gives me a "maybe I want it, maybe I don't" vibe before eating. He has never refused a meal or fasted with me though and I'd like to keep it that way, as wishful and impossible as that may be lol. I did also move with him recently though so that may be why he is less enthusiastic.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

My adult males both eat small rats every 10-14 days or so. I let them dictate when they eat. I watch for hunting behavior in the evenings. If I see it on consecutive nights I offer on night 3 or 4. I haven't had a single refusal in over a year from either of them since applying that feeding technique.

The past few months they would have eaten every 6-7 days if I let them, but as winter approaches they've already slowed a bit. During the winter they're usually much closer to the 14 days end of the spectrum.

This approach has worked for me and my two boys. They maintain a healthy body structure, they're solid muscle and they eat year round. No complaints from me and the snakes have never complained either ��

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This sounds like a good strategy, I also use my BP's behaviour to determine whether to feed sooner or later every 10-14 days. It's good to hear your snakes have not refused any meals with this technique, I think I'll do something similar!