This is a subject I often think long and hard about. I personally feed my balls on a 7 day schedule from the start. The only ones I ever feed with more frequency are females that have bred in order to put weight back on them- though admittedly, I have been rethinking this part as well. So, here is my concern. Many people feed younger balls on a 4-5 day schedule up until a certain weight and then switch them over to a 7-10 day. Some people feed them whenever they "look" or "act" hungry. How do we know that our snakes aren't being overfed? With some species, feeding with this sort of frequency has proven to be downright destructive over a rather short period of time. While this isn't the case with ball pythons, I can't help but to think about the long term effects of such frequent feeding.

I can see where breeders would want to feed a little extra and get their snakes up to healthy breeding weights over a shorter period of time, but I'm not convinced that it's in the better interest of the animals. I can't understand why people who are strictly keepers would feel any inclination to feed more than once a week-in this case, all more frequent feedings amount to is money spent unnecessarily, IMO. I have yet to see a snake, let alone a ball python, kept on a 7-10 day feeding schedule and look unhealthy because of it; but I have seen plenty of ball pythons that look rather "chunky" or proportionately larger than I believe they should be.

I've also heard the argument that a snake won't eat unless it's hungry, which is ludicrous at best. There are very, very few animals, that given the opportunity, will not overeat. Also, just because an animal will eat doesn't mean it should eat.

Now here come the questions...

What advantage or benefit to more frequent feedings is there other than the snakes will grow faster?

What long term studies/observations have been made that would support more frequent feedings?

If such studies/observations have not been done, wouldn't it be better to err on the side of caution and feed less frequently than 4-5 days as the snakes are growing?

Is it possible, that with such frequent feedings, that we are acting in our own best interest rather than the animals' best interest?