Feeder Size for BP

[ferrislongdog]

Should I upgrade this guy's feeder size? He lost about ten grams between two feedings, from 280 to 269. I was given the possibility that he took a huge poo in between, but I generally will only weigh him after he's pooped for the last meal he had.
He gets an adult mouse every 5 days, and is VERY enthusiastic in between feedings, searching around everywhere, surfing the glass, rustling about at night in between or during the day even after I would remove him to check for/clean up a poop he would be restless for a while after. I know this is likely normal for a growing BP.
The pet store near me goes from adult mice to small rats, and I'm wondering if the feeder is too big for him at the moment. If so, should I order some smaller rats online? Or just stick to the current mice? Below is an image of a small rat and the BP's widest body area along with weights.

BP weight: 296g
Rat weight: 50g
Current feeder mouse weight: 23g

[Stewart_Reptiles]

It is too big, BP are commonly overfed in captivity that size meal will do fine for a male 2 to 3 times his size.

Feeding a prey too large can cause several issues regurgitation, skin splitting, and even if nothing happens keep in mind that because they can take a large meal does not mean they should.

Here is a good chart https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

[EL-Ziggy]

The feeder in the pic doesn't look too large to me but I usually don't feed small rats until a snake hits 500g. At 300g I'd have him on weaned rats. You can also feed 2 smaller prey items if you think your BP needs more food. If you can't find the proper sized feeders at your pet store you may want to consider ordering from an online supplier. This way you can always get the exact sizes you want. Even with just one snake I think buying online is more economical than pet store prices.

[ferrislongdog]

I'll have time to look around online for weaned rats while he's in shed. Otherwise yeah I'll stick with the adult mice.