Ball Python being Active and Feeding Questions

[Irene]

I will start with the set up of my ball python:

My baby ball python (male, 2 months old) lives in a 10 gallon tank and I am preparing to upgrade him to a 20 gallon soon. Warm side 85-88F, cold side 78-80, one hide on each hide. He weighs 185g and is currently on a diet of frozen rat fuzzy every 5 days.

I have read many guidelines about how often to feed my baby but I have not seem to find the perfect feeding schedule. He looks perfectly healthy, no wrinkles or extra fat, and he looks nice and plump. But I am wondering is 185g too heavy for a baby ball python, as I see other people online seems to have ball pythons who are much lighter than my baby. I have spoke to many people and finally decide to set his feeding day to every 7 days. Today is the fifth day but it seems like my ball python is very restless. He was very active yesterday night, he slept for a bit then woke up around 2pm today and has been exploring his tank for 2 hours straight. I am not sure if this is a sign of stress because I triple checked his husbandry and made sure he has clean water as well, is this because he is hungry again? Like he is in his feeding/hunter mode "searching" for food? I am very new to owning a ball python and he is my first snake, I only had him for a month... I am trying everything to figure out what his behavior means .. so please offer me your suggestions to help me out!!

And here is some additional information if it helps out..


Weight log:
7/9/2020 - 146g
7/27/2020 - 160g
8/6/2020 - 173g
8/9/2020 - 185g

Food log:

7/9/2020: fuzzy rat
7/14/2020: fuzzy rat
7/19/2020: fuzzy rat
7/27/2020: fuzzy rat
8/1/2020: fuzzy rat
8/6/2020 rat pup

Note: And he also pooped average around 2-3 days after his meal.

[303_enfield]

Read this:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...=feeding+guide

The guide also works for other snakes if you use the weight size to prey size.

Since you have one BP. When he gets bigger your gonna need a rat snake, bull or some other garbage disposal. Why you ask? For any refused prey items. No reason to waste them when the BP decides he's taking a week/month off eating.

Good luck!

[Igotsmallballs]

That does seem a little heavy for a 2 month old imo. I would do every 7 days. I normally catch mine out periscoping and roaming around a couple of days before feeding. It’s normal. Remember they are in captivity. They will probably not find a meal every 5-7 days in the wild. Then actually catch it. They would probably eat themselves to death in captivity if we let them. Mine poop about once a month.

[Igotsmallballs]

Just re-read your post! Yes if it’s only 2 months old. Pooping every 2-3 days and it’s last meal was a rat pup. It is over weight and weigh over fed. Follow the suggested advice. I wouldn’t feed it anymore than 10% of its body weight for awhile.

[Mr. Misha]

I personally like a 7 day feeding schedule with an appropriate size prey.

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