STILL hungry?!

[SnakeCharm]

Hello everyone! I have 1300g male BP who seems to be a fat boy. I fed him a 100g medium rat last night. I realize that this may actually be a little less than 15% of his weight (which is the general rule for feeders), but I had plenty of medium rats left and wanted to rid of them before I use the large rats I recently transitioned him to. After feeding him his medium rat, I realized that he popped his head out of his hide again, along with his "strike" pose. Typically after eating, he goes into his hide never to be seen for the next 48 hours. I figured that maybe the scent of the rat remained in his enclosure, which may have caused him to go on the offense just in case there was another rat to be given. I decided to let him be and thought that he'll probably get over the scent by the next day.

24 hours later, his head is out again and whenever I wave my hand over the screen top of his cage he goes on his "strike" pose, as though he's getting ready for that rat. Does this mean he is STILL hungry and wants more?? Should I feed him another medium rat since the last rat may not have been enough for him?

Thanks for your patience everyone! I would really appreciate your comments on this one.

[Reinz]

Well, that's just going to have be your call.

You said that you have a fat boy, depends upon how often you feed him and if you don't mind keeping him fat.

You should know his strike pose. We all hate for our pets to go hungry, however, it won't hurt him at all to wait unti the next feeding either.

On the other hand, if he is still growing, feed him.



My BP Aggresive Strike Pose

He was Tracking my every move and bouncing like a Hover Board

[Sauzo]

A male ball python eating large rats??? Holy cow! Even my 6ft BCI girl is only fed on large medium rats. Oh nm I just read the weight as well. 100g rat is more between a large small rat or a medium rat. That sounds better lol. Large rats are around 250g. Anyways my pied girl is like that, she is ALWAYS hungry even though she gets a weaned/small rat every week and she weighs around 500g. Some snakes just love to eat. Btw after about 500g, the whole weight of meals goes out the window. Then you eyeball them and give them something as wide as they are, generally a small to medium rat every week or 2 weeks. If you are just trying to get rid of the 100g rats then maybe up his feeding schedule to maybe 5 days but personally I would just leave him at one per week. The snake definitely isn't going to starve. Also remember, a fat snake is not a healthy snake. The breeder I got my sunglow from told me his first boa he ever owned years and years and years ago, he just fed it once a week and it died after 10 years from a heart attack from being too fat. I mean I personally have never really heard of a fat ball python but I know boas do MUCH better when kept lean and mean. now that said, my Colombian girl is rather chunky but she loved to eat and I felt bad holding food from her. Now she is paying for it with a diet lol.

[Ssssseeing Lavender]

I regularly give my balls multiple rats...they're small to medium sized rats but the snake will let you know if it's wanting another rat. It probably would have eaten another. I think we all have Our "garbage disposal" snake(s) in our collection that eats the leftovers.

[200xth]

Hello everyone! I have 1300g male BP who seems to be a fat boy. I fed him a 100g medium rat last night. I realize that this may actually be a little less than 15% of his weight (which is the general rule for feeders), but I had plenty of medium rats left and wanted to rid of them before I use the large rats I recently transitioned him to. After feeding him his medium rat, I realized that he popped his head out of his hide again, along with his "strike" pose. Typically after eating, he goes into his hide never to be seen for the next 48 hours. I figured that maybe the scent of the rat remained in his enclosure, which may have caused him to go on the offense just in case there was another rat to be given. I decided to let him be and thought that he'll probably get over the scent by the next day.

24 hours later, his head is out again and whenever I wave my hand over the screen top of his cage he goes on his "strike" pose, as though he's getting ready for that rat. Does this mean he is STILL hungry and wants more?? Should I feed him another medium rat since the last rat may not have been enough for him?

Thanks for your patience everyone! I would really appreciate your comments on this one.

A 1300g male eating a 100g rat will be fine for a while. I personally wouldn't feed him again right now, but my males aren't even on the food rotation for me...they just get the semi-irregular uneaten meal. Even averaging less than a weaned rat (45g) a week they do fine.

The 15% general rule is only for hatchlings and smaller BP's. You definitely do not need to feed adult BPs 15% of their bodyweight.

[George1994]

Agree with 200xth, even 10% is a bit much really, I have a 1200g male and he is fed a 70g rat every week or 10 days.

[Albert Clark]

I always heard that a adult ball python could thrive on a medium sized rat all of its life. Once every 7 to 10 days I think is sufficient. No need to overfeed or powerfeed, they both have consequences. Peace.

[SnakeCharm]

Hi everyone! Thanks for the awesome responses!

Sorry about the confusion when I mentioned he's a "fat boy", I actually meant "fat boy at heart". He's definitely not a fat boy physically lol. He is quite healthy for his size, according to our reptile vet. Nearing 4 ft. and now at 1300g+. No space between his scales, and definitely doesn't have the chunky/scales-are-too-tight-on-him look. He's also no more than 2 yrs. old.

I'll definitely just shy away from feeding him in the next few days and wait until next Tuesday to feed him again (since it'll exactly be 7 days from when I fed him). Also, if I do see him really obviously tailing my heat signature, like Reinz's BP, and getting into his "strike" pose more often than not, as though he's ready to eat, I may just give in and provide him another medium rat.

Also, thanks for letting me know about the 15% rule being obsolete to adult BPs! I've been weighing my rats for him and wanted to make sure everything matched his needs. I guess I will just go on with eyeing the biggest part of his body and go from there from here on out. At this rate, my supplier's medium rats (avg. 100-110g) are definitely too small for him. I fed him a large rat the other week to see if he could take it and he was in his hide for the next 48 hours. Not a single sight from the "fatty". No regurg, just a "happy" night-roaming snake 4 days later. I guess that means large rats will keep him content .

[George1994]

The 100g rats won't be too small for him at all. I have a male that size and feeding about 80-90g is fine.

[SnakeCharm]

That's good to hear! Being able to keep feeding him medium rats allows me to save more money than constantly feeding him large rats--not saying that I can't afford large rats, but it's nice to not have to spend $5-$6 on individual large rats. It also gives him a bit of a variety for his diet. A medium rat every 7 days, followed by a random large rat here and there. Believe me, I want him to thrive and be able to climb and roam without ever feeling like a fat blarb