1 year old ball python - meal size??

[fluteplanx]

I have a one year old ball python who is a great eater. I'd been feeding him 2 fairly large adult mice once a week, but judging by his diameter I thought it was time to step up to juvenile or small rats. I just went to the pet store and came home with some frozen rats, but I'm trying to decide if they're going to be too big for him.

The smallest one is definitely fine, but the others are about 6 inches long (the snake is about 2 feet 4 inches long) and probably comparable to 2-3 adult mice. Width wise I think they're right on the maximum size to still count as "narrower than the snake's widest part." My question is, will it be okay for me to make this fairly substantial size jump? I mean these rats are definitely at least 2 -3 times bigger than the mice I've been feeding, and I was feeding multiple mice of a much smaller diameter. I just want to make sure he can A. deal with the size (which I think he can), but I don't want it to be detrimental to his health. I definitely don't want to power feed him. I'm thinking since I think they're on the edge of too big I'll feed him one every 10-14 days? Is this okay considering he's still growing? Is one year old too young to start feeding adult rats? Any advice would be MUCH appreciated!!

Thanks very much!

[Danounet]

Well sometimes Im stuck feeding my 6months old pair (normal and pastel) small rats and they weight just above 500g. Yes it is a bit big for them, but they eat them fine, and is not something I feed them often. The smaller small rats are perfect for them though.

The yearling ball that I have eats the bigger small rats fine. he is aproaching 700g. I think your yearling will be fine.

About the adult rats, Im not sure about those, I guess it deppends if its a male or female or if you dont mind your snake getting a "little fat." Most likely I would never feed any of my males adult rats, since I dont realy like fat snakes. If you are planning to breed a female, then thats a complete different issue that Im not sure about yet =).

Edit: I feed them every 7 days on saturdays.

[CoolioTiffany]

At a year of age, a male or female Ball python can successfully take down a small rat. I didn't feed my girl small rats until about a few months ago (she's 1.6 y/o). Just last night, I fed her two small rats, and she took them down perfectly. My Kingsnake refused his small rat because he's in shed (otherwise he NEVER refuses meals) so I decided to feed the small rat to my female Ball python, and sure enough she takes it down with no problem (she hasn't refused food for me ever). I'm sure your yearling can take down a small rat.

[Bp_Lee_2011]

I have a 10-11 month old bp and I feed him 2 small rats weekly. but he is also pushing just over 3 feet in length and weighs in at around 1.4 lbs (sorry dont know the grams). He too never refuses a meal as long as its not colored.

[el8ch]

I feed my youngest male who is about 600g small rats in the 70g-84g range on a 5 to 7 day feeding cycle. He can take down larger prey with no problem, but I keep him on a pretty regimented diet. A good rule to go by is to feed 10-15% of the body weight of your snake or a prey item that is around the same size of the thickest part of your snake.

I mentioned the weight of my small rats as all suppliers can be different - Small rats from my supplier range from 50-84 grams and mediums from 85-174g.