Worried about size...

[mainbutter]

Just about all python species can eat way more than most people imagine.

10-15% body weight is a typically quoted figure for weekly feedings of yearlings for many species.. however plenty are capable of eating 50% or more of their body weight in a single feeding.

NOT that this is recommended, especially on a regular basis. I'm just saying that if you think your snake is thin or unusually small, you may be right. It might be worth trying to up the prey size a bit.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

How much does he weigh? Most ball pythons can eat rat pups from "birth"....

Really that must be some huge BP hatchlings or some very skinny pups

BP are started on rat crawlers

Your friends who breeds are obviously are mistaken when it comes to rats, a pup is 2 weeks old with eyes open and I can tell you even the biggest hathlings will not take down a pup.

[Skittles1101]

Really that must be some huge BP hatchlings or some very skinny pups

BP are started on rat crawlers

Your friends who breeds are obviously are mistaken when it comes to rats, a pup is 2 weeks old with eyes open and I can tell you even the biggest hathlings will not take down a pup.

It must be me who is mistaken because the "pups" I get and am apparently referring to have their eyes closed lol. My mistake.

[Steve-J]

Can someone post a pic of a fuzzy, crawler, and a pup so we can see the difference and when I say I'm feeding fuzzies, or pups we all have the same basic idea of what size we're really talking about? I thought I was feeding pups but now I think the ones I get are fuzzies. Mine are 16-18 grams with eyes closed.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

To know what you should feed your BP at this time it's easy forget the scale forget the weight of the snake and prey feed a prey that is equal to the girth size of your snake (widest part of your BP's body)

Once your BP is an adult it will be different if you want an animal that feed with consistency feed smaller preys (55/75 grams rats to males and 85/120 grams rats to females) which we are obviously far from the 10% to 15% that some may suggest.

[RichsBallPythons]

Heres what some call Large Pinkies or small fuzzies



Heres Fuzzies at 11g

Fuzzies at 16g

Heres pups around 18-22g

[Steve-J]

Thanks Rich, so what is a rat crawler? larger than pups?

[RichsBallPythons]

crawlers to some are fuzzies or pups depends what your defination

[sho220]

I start my hatchlings on live adult mice and move on to rat pups after about the first month. The mice are just the regular mice from Petco...not huge, but not small...

[Crazy4Herps]

My BP Jackson looks a little thin to me, compared to the pictures I've seen on here. He's on an every 5 days feeding schedule, and I'm pretty sure I'm giving him the right size... He's about 5 months old and eating rat crawlers. (I had put up a post that I was concerned that they were too big- they look huge next to him!) He does poop alot, though- probably about three days after I feed him, or once a week. He seems to be healthy enough, I wish I could just quit worrying about every little thing!

As long as he's eating and defecating regularly, I wouldn't worry about it. Hatchlings typically are slimmer than adults (they usually start bulking up at around a year of age), and there is really no set length/weight ratio anyways. Every snake is different, same with other animals.