Prey size help!

[Medli]

Okay so I just got my first ball python. I purchased him off of Craigslist for a crazy good deal, and before I brought him home I asked the owners what size food they have been feeding him so I could order some online. They told me that he was approximately 8 months old and that they fed him a hopper mouse every week. When I took him home he ate 2 days after I got him (I bought some appropriately sized f/t mice from petsmart while I waited on the package) and today I just received my package of literally 100 hopper mice. I didn't realize how small they were until I got them and I'm basically wondering if I could feed him multiple until I run out and then move onto a bigger prey size. I know this isn't the most economical thing, but I don't want all of that money I spent to go to waste

[Reinz]

Welcome to the forum Medli.

Multiple are fine. I was feeding my Jungle Carpet three hoppers before moving up to one weanling.

Just be sure that the hopper is completely swallowed and your snake is settled or looking around for more.

Congrats on your snake!

[Medli]

Oh he is an absolute doll. I've covered about 3/4th of his top because the shed before I had him was very bad. I changed his bedding to newsprint because he had issues with eating on it. He's already going back into shed because he's been growing so much lately. I want to get a good scale so I can figure out how many to feed him compared to his body weight.

[Sauzo]

Just compare the thickness of the mice(usually at the rear hips) to the thickness of the widest part of the snake. Without seeing your snake and just going off what I remember about my gal when she was 8 months old, I believe she was eating weaned rats at that age. She was a porky though and always wanted to eat.

[LittleTreeGuy]

Yep, get a scale.... then you can weigh your snake and the prey. It does make it a lot easier to figure out when getting started.

[Medli]

I'm going to pick up a scale tomorrow before work so I can figure out how many I actually need to give him. It's kind of upsetting knowing how long his previous owners fed him one hopper a week.

[ItsAllNew2Me!]

Here is an excellent chart I found on this site when I first started lurking here:



I say +1 to the scale and feed 10-15% body weight. This is what I use on my collection and it has been working well for me. I won't be feeding any prey items over 150g even for large females when i get there. I feed every 5 days for Bps under 600g. Anyone over that get fed every 7 days. This is of course when I am following the feed schedule to a T. Sometimes I miss a day or decide to feed early or later depending on my life schedule. Weighing will give you an idea of prey size before you eventually learn to guess by sight of the prey what needs to be fed. Feeding multiple hoppers will be ok until they are gone but it is going to be some work. Good luck!!

[Medli]

I just got a scale and it says that he is 194g. I feel like that is very underweight if he is a old as his old owners say he is. He doesn't appear to look underweight (he's actually kind of thick compared to his length)

[EL-Ziggy]

Don't worry too much about his current weight Medli. He'll bulk up quickly now that you've got him on a more robust feeding schedule.

[Medli]

Thanks guys! I was starting to feel like a bad snake mommy. I will keep this forum updated on his progress.