Proposed Ball Python Feeding Chart

[Crazymonkee]

The prey can be equal to or a little bigger than the widest part of the snakes girth.

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[NYHC4LIFE8899]

Not taking sides here (way too little experience) but "experience" must in some cases give way to scientific data. That's why we don't practice blood letting in human medicine, and realize that dinner shouldn't really be the biggest meal of the day.

Im not saying that y'all's experience is wrong, nor am I siding with the science guy. Just beware of using "experience" to counteract good science.

I've noticed the problem around here is there are a lot of know it all's, they have snakes,they know what works for them and they think that's the only answer. Well it's problem around here if u disaree with them and that's not what a forum is about...anyway,back on topic...and good point about the meal thing,as breakfast is most important meal and dinner shouldn't be the largest.

as for the chart I'd say it's accurate and exactly how it's gone for me,so to the OP,good thread and very accurate chart. I don't use weight for my rodents and feed according to the snakes fattest part of his body..but his prey size and weight lines up with your chart.

great job

[satomi325]

The OPs chart is all fine and dandy until you get to the sub-adult ball pythons and larger. That's where things are incorrect and skewed. I don't feed my adults any larger than a small rat either. And if I have them available, I *might* feed a 2000+g girl a medium at the very most. There's no way I would feed a large or jumbo to a Ball Python. That's way too much. You'd get obese animals at that point since they don't metabolize their prey at the same rate a growing hatching would. And its way too dangerous to feed a live large or jumbo anyway.

My Mojave girl for example, was given small rats when she hit 1000g. She gets fed 1 small rat once a week. She's currently almost 3000g at 2 years old.

As someone mentioned, African Soft Furs only get to small rat size at the very max. All the huge WC girls aren't eating jumbo rats. They're eating ASFs. And they're probably not feeding on a regular schedule as well. So they're able to gain a significant amount of weight and maintain a good body condition with eating small rat size equivalent prey.

I also eyeball my prey. I don't weigh it because I know I won't find a rat that matches my BP's weight exactly, nor do I really care. I'm just taking a wild guess, but I'm pretty sure snakes in the wild don't weigh their prey either.......
I just have a ball park figure/idea of what a certain size rat is and what my snakes can handle. And I offer something that I think falls into those certain perimeters.

If you do the math there, everything lands between 10 - 20% of the body weight and caps out around 120-150g. Those rats are also all about as thick as the snake of corresponding size.

This chart is more realistic and more accurately follows the growth-feeder size ratio of my own personal animals.


The dog feeding example is perfect.
I have two doberman pinschers. Both are full blooded sisters from different litters. The puppy is eating exactly twice as much as the adult sister. The pup is growing, thus needs more food to maintain that growth and healthy body condition. The adult sister does not get the same amount because that would be overfeeding. She would get fat if she ate the same amount the puppy is eating. Currently, the adult is maintaining the perfect body condition and isn't too fat or too skinny(maintaining a body condition to where we can see the last rib or two-no more or no less). We've had to adjust her food amount accordingly since she stopped growing in order to maintain that ideal body condition. We'll be cutting down the pup's food soon since her growth will be tapering in the near future.

Same concept applies to BPs or any animal really. If your snake is too fat, you're feeding too much. If its too skinny, you're not feeding enough. And from there, just adjust your prey accordingly. And those adjustments usually fall into the same range as the chart above.

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[themastiffman]

There are a lot of good posts here and I think a few of you have the right idea, there really is no set rule, especially with Ball Pythons. I have been keeping snakes for many years. I dont have alot of posts because I am a reader more than a writer. I currently keep mainly carpet pythons now but have 2 Ball pythons and have had others over the years. One of my boys eats small/medium rats every 14 days. any more and he will fast. The other will not eat rats, he will only eat mice and only one at a time, he is my PITA. HA HA So he gets 1 jumbo mouse a week. Sometimes he will eat 2 if I offer it but guess what, if he eats 2 he will not eat the following week. Both of these snakes are adult males and each one weighs within 100-200grams of the other, just shy of 1500 grams give or take. If I insisted on doing things the way the "book says", my snakes would fast and not eat on schedule. I have found Balls to be totally different than the Carpets and Boas I keep, they do things their way, owners wishes be damned. As long as husbandry and environmental aspects are maintained, they will eat when they want and what they want to our dismay. As long as they are a healthy snake and thriving it really doesnt matter whether they eat a 100 gram rat every week or two or a 40 gram mouse every week. Everyone needs to remember that these snakes sometimes fast for 6 months or more with no ill effects. When you factor that into the equation, as long as you are not feeding too small or too few prey items to an amimal that would continue to feed otherwise, you are not harming the animal. More times than not they are in control of how much they eat and they dont care about our rules. The Carpets and Boas on the other hand is a different story. Every one I have ever had would eat a Coke Can if I offered it. Sorry for the extended rant but with the fasting these guys often do and their individual personalities factored in, alot of the prey size rules for Ball Pythons are in my opinion irrelevant. JMHO

[Schmee123]

Not to be rude but I feel this is common knowledge, or easily learned knowledge. Many people do the "10-15% rule" for ball pythons (until a certain weight)

I hope I'm not coming off too abrasive, but "common knowledge" is relative. What may be "common" to one person, doesn't mean it is "common" for another.

[ballpythoncornsnake]

YOU need to make sure the rodent will fit in the snake mid section i go by size and weight so far it worked well for my corn snake and its also working well for my ball python my corn snake is 3/4 girth i give him 3 large pinkies a week in 2 different days about 6 to 8g which its about right for my corn snake a fuzzy be the same weight but its to big for my corn yet shes about to shed so maybe she will grow another 1/4 inch and i can try a bigger mouse my ball python is 1-3/4 girth according to the charts she should be eating 20 to 28 g i was giving her 2 hoppers a week that was 24g there only 1 inch in width but my local pet shop just got some rat pups 1 3/4 in width and there 23 to 26 grams so now i can just feed her 1 instead of 2 i'm pretty new snake keeper only 4 months experience but tha'ts the way 'im doing it and there growing.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

YOU need to make sure the rodent will fit in the snake mid section i go by size and weight so far it worked well for my corn snake and its also working well for my ball python my corn snake is 3/4 girth i give him 3 large pinkies a week in 2 different days about 6 to 8g which its about right for my corn snake a fuzzy be the same weight but its to big for my corn yet shes about to shed so maybe she will grow another 1/4 inch and i can try a bigger mouse my ball python is 1-3/4 girth according to the charts she should be eating 20 to 28 g i was giving her 2 hoppers a week that was 24g there only 1 inch in width but my local pet shop just got some rat pups 1 3/4 in width and there 23 to 26 grams so now i can just feed her 1 instead of 2 i'm pretty new snake keeper only 4 months experience but tha'ts the way 'im doing it and there growing.

This is a 5 years old thread with a chart that is inaccurate and should not be followed for proper feeding see the following https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines