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!