Feeding 2 mice

[Vinc]

I know it’s time to size up now , and I fed my ball python a hopper last night , would it Be okay to give her another hopper now ? I have one left and I bought a adult mouse so I can size up . and I know u can either size up or do 2 mice . But does it madder it’s a day apart ?

[dakski]

I would not feed today.

Your BP, even if the meal was small, will be fine until next feeding day.

Feeding meals consecutive days is not great. It takes a healthy snake, with an appropriate sized meal, and proper heat, about 2 days to digest a meal. It's necessary that they digest the meal by day 3 or so, as the rodent, or what's left of it, will begin to rot and can cause sickness, regurgitation, or worse, death (rare - usually the first two). This is why feeding appropriate sized meals and having temps dialed in is important.

If you fed yesterday, and feed today, it could overload the animal's stomach, and it might not fully digest the first meal in time, or properly. That wouldn't be good.

Remember, in the wild, meals are random sizes and at random times. As keepers we want what's best for our animals and can provide that, but we can also do too much.

When feeding, less is more, in most cases.

Wait until the next feeding day and then give the bigger prey item. That's my 2 cents.

[Craiga 01453]

I agree with dakski Dave.

If it were me, I'd just toss the hopper into the yard for a neighborhood animal and take the loss of a dollar.