Feeding: More, less often? Or less, more often?

I started off feeding my girl a large mouse every 5th day. A few weeks ago I decided to go to a small rat instead, and she took it without any issues. It was a pretty good meal for her, she went into her warm hide and spent most of the week in there, so I decided to wait 7 days before offering again. By then she was showing signs that she was going into shed and didn't want to eat. I humanely killed the rat and froze it. 2 days later she shed and the next day I tried to offer her the f/t rat but she didn't seem interested. I'm guessing it was because it wasn't live, but I wanted her to eat so the next day I offered a live large mouse and she took it. Question is should I go to a small rat every 7-10 days or stay with a large mouse every 5. She is just under 300 grams right now.

She should be eating a rat pup or adult mouse every 5 days.

I think you can do both. That's kinda the way I feed my snakes. If they get a large meal they eat roughly 14-17 days later. If they have a small meal they eat 7-10 days later. I mix up their prey sizes, prey types, and feeding frequencies. I'm fortunate that most of my critters will eat whatever & whenever I feed them. And if somebody does refuse a meal there's always another snake waiting for a meal or snack. :)

Either way is fine, I occasionally give mine rather large meals, they let me know when they are ready for more because they come out and cruise or set up ambush positions when they are done digesting.

Either way is fine, I occasionally give mine rather large meals, they let me know when they are ready for more because they come out and cruise or set up ambush positions when they are done digesting.

I usually feed Paarthurnax once a week, Saturday is feeding day for me. He usually tells me he's ready by being out hunting the night before, i'm pretty sure he's aware of the schedule at this point.

I guess it would also be a behaviorthing too, pending weight right?:confusd:

I guess to piggy back would be to ask at what size is every 5 days too much

I don't keep the strictest feeding schedule, but I don't stray too far from it either. Sometimes I make judgement calls based on the snake's previous meal as well as my personal schedule to determine the next feeding day. Occasionally, something else like a refusal might change things up too.

For new keepers I tend to advise a weekly feeding schedule until you've had some time to learn more about your snake, their demeanor and ideal body structure.

There are two basic rules of thumb regarding prey size for BPs as well. A) the prey item should be about the same size as the snake at the snake's widest part or B) the prey item should be about 10-15% of the snake's body weight.

Hope this helps, good luck and feel free to ask any questions you may have!