when is it time to move to small-med rats?

[Adam_Wysocki]

When you feed an snake that size a small rat, do you feed her more than 1 in a "sitting"?

Usually just one, sometimes two ... late summer, sometimes three. I pull enough rats for everyone to get at least one ... then depending on breeding, shedding, etc, I double and (sometimes but rarely) triple up the bigger girls if there are extras. I don't really sweat it too much ... 52 times a year is a lot for a ball python to eat any size prey item when you think about it.

And is that size of rat what is really needed to keep a snake eating on a regular basis?

I believe it is. Long time ago I used to feed mediums and even larges and had some very inconsistent feeders. Since taking the advice of a couple of professional ball breeders and moving to "small small" rats, I've had tremendous success getting every snake to eat very regularly.

I have noticed a couple of my larger snakes will skip a meal sometimes and I was wondering if maybe I am feeding too big.

Could be. I believe that ball pythons are binge feeders and will "fill up" on food given the opportunity and then fast until they need to eat again. By regulating their diet with smaller prey items, it keeps them more regular. I have no evidence to back the claim other than my own personal observations over the last 25 years.

My medium size ~800 gram snakes don't seem to care and would eat every day I think.

Ball pythons that size and younger are growing at an amazing rate and need lots and lots of feul ... once they hit the "teenage years" around 750 - 1100 grams there seems to be a definite change in their metabolisms which likely effects their appetite.

Again, no real evidence to back up the theory, just my personal 2 cents.

-adam