Should I feed my BP more?

[Ogre]

hey just wondering my BP is about 3 months and shes about the diameter of a 50 cent piece ( i dont have one to check but im just going on what i think the size of one is) and atm I feed her fuzzy mice once a week. should I up the amount? or am I doing fine. thanks in advance.

[Skittles1101]

IMO, ball pythons can eat more than fuzzy mice from "birth". If you want to continue with fuzzy mice you could switch to every 5 days instead of 7 days. Or you could attempt rat fuzzies, which are larger than mouse fuzzies

[Ogre]

the fuzzies Im feeding her are about the size of my thumb, maybe smaller. the package says they are like 5 days so they arent pinkies they have the white fur but I think I my just switch to rat fuzzys just to make sure shes nice and full.

[AK907]

Pics would help, but fuzzy mice are way too small for a normal 3 month old ball. Most hatchlings right out of the egg can eat larger than fuzzy mice. In fact, don't even bother with mice. Switch to rats. They are more nutritious and making the switch now will be easier than switching an adult mouser. Offer her a rat as big around as the fattest part of her body (roughly 10-15% of her body weight) once every 5 days. After she hits a year old, switch to a 7 day feeding schedule.

Edit: Looks like Lisa beat me to it. You'd be surprised what ball pythons can swallow. It may seem like a lot, but I assure you, it isn't.

[Skittles1101]

In my experience with my ball pythons and my boa, the rats keep them fuller, longer than mice did. Plus, it's best to switch them to rats as soon as possible sine feeding multiple mice per feeding as an adult could be a P.I.T.A.

[llovelace]

I would say that your snake is aroung 120-140g, it could easily take 18-22g rat fuzzies/crawlers

[Ogre]

thats her in my hand on my avatar, just so you know I do have large hands.

[Jonas@Balls2TheWall]

I try and feed a rat that is the same in diameter as the thickest part of the snake.

[dave g]

you should get a scale to weigh her and also use to weigh the food items. i just got a nice digital food scale for 30 bucks and love it. we have had our bp for about 3 months (around 4 months old now) and he weighs in at 216g(full). today he ate f/t for the first time which was an adult male mouse that weighed in at 26g. now i got him to take frozen thawed i will be making the switch to rats within the next month. we feed our 45 gram cornsnake fuzzy mice.

later, dave

[Ogre]

Yeah. My fiance and I are going to take Lou, my bp over to her parents place they have a scare that measures in grams and wieght her soon just to make sure we are feeding her right.