Regular BP acting like she's never been fed???

[MaddyG43]

I have a Regular ball python that I got just this year in February (2014) The lady said she was just a baby given to her last spring. So I assume she's just over a year. I had kept her on the same feeding schedule one furry rat every 2 weeks. I recently bumped up the size, the bigger rats were too big so she's on large mice for now. Even with the rats I fed her, immediately after she comes back out all coiled up looking for more. She does this every time I walk by her tank, she tracks my head when I bend down to say Hi. She's constantly out hunting for food. The Reptile lady at the store told me to give her a day between feeding to be sure she's not just expecting food all the time. But I have and have fed her 4 in a week and she still comes out for more. The lady also said that there Spider Ball did that and grew 6 inches in a few weeks. Could it just be a growth spurt. It has been going on for just over a month. And her feeding schedule is getting confusing. I keep her in the proper environment, she's in a 25 gallon tank, plenty of water, No i do not go with 2 hides, if i did she'd be pretty cramped. I do have a bigger tank for her when she's bigger. She is not sick, all of this is for sure. I'm just getting worried. How much is too much???

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

She is growing you need to feed her an appropriate size prey weekly or even every 5 days if you have been feeding every other week it's was just not enough.

You also need to give the animal time to digest in other words you don't want to feed every other day.

The right prey is a prey that is equal the girth size of your snake.

[le miow]

My ball ( 6 month ) seems to always be hungry too, his food is a bit bigger than the thickest part of him. So will be interesting to see what anyone reply's.

[CptJack]

Honestly, I don't keep a regular feeding schedule for this reason. If my snakes want to eat every 4 days for a month or two and then go off feed for a month? No skin off my nose. They do need time to digest. They WILL go off feed to 'catch up' at some point, so if that's going to stress you don't.

But there are periods where my snakes are ravenous and will eat like WILD for a while and then go 'nah' and skip for a while. I really, really don't care. As long as their body condition stays good, they're not dropping weight/are growing? I really, really don't have an issue. It's easier feeding on a schedule and you will get a more consistent response, and it's easier on YOU, but I don't believe it makes any difference to the snake.

[MaddyG43]

My BP is eating the right size food for her size. And yes I give it about a day or more before feeding her again. Maybe I'll try the every 5 days or so. Maybe even a week. I thought 2 weeks was a little long too. Thanks! As far as i can see she hasn't grown too much. Maybe about 4-5 inches since i got her in February. She's about 27 Inches long at the moment.

[Zach Cedor]

My BP is eating the right size food for her size. And yes I give it about a day or more before feeding her again. Maybe I'll try the every 5 days or so. Maybe even a week. I thought 2 weeks was a little long too. Thanks! As far as i can see she hasn't grown too much. Maybe about 4-5 inches since i got her in February. She's about 27 Inches long at the moment.

One good thing to do is go out buy a kitchen food scale normally $15-$20 from Wal-Mart. Weigh your snake in GRAMS then find a prey item 10-15% of you snakes bodyweight to feed it for example when using this method a 500g bp would get a 50-75g rat and i would continue to try to stay with in this rule feeding every 5-7 days for a couple of months and see how your snake is acting then.On a side note MOST pet stores feed their reptiles smaller meals or less often or sometimes both to keep them in that cute baby stage so be careful when taking someones advice, and always get a second opinion heck get a third the more the merrier good luck!