My Ball python is under weight!!!

[Rbeckwood1]

I got my ball python July 13 of this year but she is under weight!! I bought her from the store. She looked pretty healthy but at the time I wasn't aware of how much a ball python should weight into I decided to research it. So today I bought a scale & she's 104grams!! She's about 4months. She's a great eater. I feed her every 7days but I think I'm going to change that. What eating schedule should I put her on?

[erebus45]

Ultimately you can feed when ever they show signs of hunger I got my little one when he was 4 months and he has been a pig since day one but I got mine from pet smart and they only feed once a week and I happened to buy him on feeding day and I seen they were feeding him f/t pinkies and he should have been eating hoppers... now only after a month he is almost back up to weight.... Hope that helped

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[Rbeckwood1]

She don't ever show signs of been hungry. She never strikes or anything. I literally think I got lucky. She is the best snake ever. Like since I first got her I never had problems with feeding. She's not shy, she'll let me touch her head. She sheds perfect every time. She don't mind people handling her. When it's eating time she and she smell the rat she goes into hunt mode. I feed her pre-killed now but even before when she was on live soon as she smell the rat and I put it in the tank she literally attacks like it was an Parana attacking because it smelled blood. Soon as the meal goes down I can immediately pick her up and she would instantly go out of hunt mode. I normally feed her little mice or weaned rats but moments ago I fed her a small rat and she ate it with no problem. I may start feeding her small rats for now on.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I highly doubt that you feed a weaned rat to a 104 grams BP and small even less likely so not knowing what you really feed it's hard to tell whether or not you feed the right size.

What you need to feed is a prey equal you animal's girth size one a week that is more than enough and do so until the animal is about 500 grams.

Because a snake is 104 grams at 4 months does not mean anything, it could be an animal that was very small out of the egg and took a few weeks to get started. People put too much faith in number and not enough in overall body shape.

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[Rbeckwood1]

I feed her a small rat yesterday and now she's 369. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm going to take your advice and go by the size of the largest part of her belly. Right now she looks extremely full but she's still active. She can't even slither her lower end of the body because it's too big. I can't wait until it digest. I feel terrible but looking at the rat I knew she could handle it & she did with no problem but I really appreciate you man. Thanks for the advice.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

So YESTERDAY she is 104 grams

So today I bought a scale & she's 104 grams!!

You feed her a small rat which she cannot possibly eat as she is 104 grams and small rats are 45 to 84 grams)

And today she is 369 grams

I feed her a small rat yesterday and now she's 369.

Time for a new scale that's IMPOSSIBLE

[Rbeckwood1]

I promise you I went into the pet store and purchased a small rat. Idk what's going on when I read the scale I was shocked but I'm sure the scale said 104grams when I weighed her before I even purchased the rat. Then I went to the store & got a small rat. The rat I picked out was just a tad bit smaller than the other ones so maybe that's why she was able to eat it but the other rats you could look at and tell that she definitely couldn't handle it. I placed her on the scale today & iit said 369grams. The scale is brand new I got it the same day I fed her. I was going live on Facebook feeding her but then my phone died. I still have the recent for the rat. I pre-killed it of course.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

And I can tell you that feeding a rat that is 45 to 84 grams to a 104 grams BP is IMPOSSIBLE physically.

And it is IMPOSSIBLE for a 104 grams BP to put on 264 grams in 24 hours.

Again you scale is broken and your small rats are not what is define as small rats.

[Rbeckwood1]

so what do you suggest I do? Maybe something happened with the first initial weighing.

[WintersSerpentine]

I don't even.. Oh dear.
Do you have pictures?

EDIT:



You are saying at 100 odd pounds your baby ate a small rat.
My 130 gram baby gets a rat pup.

Maybe this sizing chart will help clear up any confusion for us so that we can accurately help you and promote the wellbeing of your pet.