Some things about feeding

[mate115]

Hi there!
So i've been wanting to own a pet snake for a long time now and i've finally bought myself a female ball python. I bought her from a guy that lives in my town and i've been really liking the snake. She is 1.5 years old and currently weighs about 350 grams. Now i have been searching about this topic and educating myself as much as possible but i still have some questions unanswered. I have come across the rule of thumb - if the snake is under 500 grams feed her 15% of her weight. That means that for my snake that would mean somewhere around 50 grams of food (i feed her mice ofc). Now when i bought her the previous owner told me that he feeds her 2 mice per 2 weeks. When i got her i then feed her 1 mouse per week. But then i started to notice she's kinda small for her age. Like i've seen (on the internet, hah) ball pythons weighing like 1100 grams at the age of 1.5 years...mine is 350 grams. I do know that it greatly varies from snake to snake, but is 350 ok? So then i decided i should switch to 2 mice per week. And also mice that i have been feeding her are weighing about 10 grams each..so that means i have been feeding her 20 grams every week which is like 6% of her weight. So my questions are - have i been underfeeding her??? And also how much should i feed her? I am very new to this and could use some help. Thank you for all who will help me, i will greatly appreciate your responses

[Kikary]

Im not sure of for her age thats good. But my female that is on the way she is 7 month old and weighs 300g

I think female ball pythons at 2 years old should weight at leats 1000 grams but im not sure

[Kikary]

If you could switch her to rats it would be easier and cheaper in the long run for you.

Post some pics of her, that will help the most experiemced people here on how to help you and advise you

[LittleTreeGuy]

You are on the right track, and it's good to question her size. I'd say she is on the lighter side of what could be considered a healthy weight. That being said, BP's, like any other living animal, grow differently. You could have a 500g snake and a 1300g snake, both born at the same time, and both completely healthy.

If I were you, I would invest in a kitchen scale that measures in grams, if you haven't already. You want your prey to be 10-15% of the snakes weight (Like you already know). I would feed every 5 or 6 days. She could probably start taking small weaned rats at this current size. I bought a bag of frozen weaned rats and they varied from 33g-48g. If you only have or can only get mice, feed her two or three (or however many equal up in weight to the 10%-15% mark). If feeding multiple prey items, wait until the first is swallowed into her belly. That's when she'll be looking for more. People will suggest rats over mice because it's easier to just feed one prey item for the most part. It's up to you what you want to feed, as long as the snake is getting enough.

Once you start giving her that 10-15% feeding weight, she'll start putting on weight. It's important not to overfeed her at this age/stage. Yes, she's a little underweight, but the best thing for getting her back up to a healthy weight is a regular, consistent, healthy feeding regiment.

[JodanOrNoDan]

350 is small but as to being underweight you have to factor in how long she is. A picture would help. As kikary said rats are the better deal. I don't mess around with weighing food and just use the rule that the prey should be as big around as the widest part of the snake. I would probably put this girl on an every five days feeding schedule until she starts growing then back her off to a seven day cycle. It sounds to me that she was maintenance fed. Once she is on the proper sized food and a good cycle she will probably start growing fast.