How much and what should I be feeding my BP?

[Robotsonmars]

I just got my first ball python a couple days ago and I was wondering wether it would be best to feed them mice or rats (is there a difference?) and how often and how big? The person at Percocet said that it was eating a mouse (I'm not sure what size) every Sunday. I'm not sure how old they are or their weight (or gender) but if someone could tell my how to link a picture I can post one. I just want to make sure I'm doing this the right way. Thanks!

[Eric Alan]

How to Post Pictures

We'd love to see your new addition! Depending on size, we'll certainly be able to give you appropriate feeding recommendations. Make sure to have something in the picture that will give us a good size reference.

Best regards,
Eric

[HenryTheSnake]

Congrats on your new ball python!
A general rule of thumb is to feed your snake once a week with a mouse/rodent sized the same as the largest part of your snake's belly. Also, you have to supervise your snake eating at all times when feeding live!

Here is a link on how to post pictures to this forum.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Post-Pictures

Edit:
Just noticed that Eric posted this link just before me
To clarify on his post, you should put a coin (That we can tell the type of) next to your ball python in such a way so that it is easy to see the diameter of his/her largest spot.

[Robotsonmars]

Heres a couple pictures I just took, and also I forgot to metion that they had been feeding their snakes Frozen thawed. Sorry the pictures are so big, I dont know how to make them smaller!




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Oh! never mind it made the pictures look smaller when I posted them

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That's a dime btw if you can't tell

[gaitedappy]

My girl was about that big when I got her, she was on hopper mice at that size.

[Robotsonmars]

All right thanks! How often do you suggest I feed them? Would it be best to stick to once a week like it had been? Also, I'm meant to feed them in a separate container right?

[gaitedappy]

Once a week is fine, and you don't have to feed in a separate container.

[Robotsonmars]

All right, thanks again you were super helpful!

[gaitedappy]

Always happy to help!


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[Eric Alan]

Looks like she has some decent size to her and has been well started!

If she were in my racks, I'd be offering up at least a fuzzy rat - possibly even a pup - every 4 days or so. As Henry mentioned, you can eyeball the appropriate size based on the largest part of your snake's body. I feed all of my little ones like this until they're big enough for small rats, which is when they get switched into my normal once/week rotation.

If you want to get technical, and have a gram scale available, a good rule of thumb for hatchling/juveniles is to offer a meal that's equivalent to 10-15% of your snake's body weight every 4 days or so. Again, this rule only applies until they're big enough for small rats.

Good luck to you!