Offering more food? (at same feeding)

[sbit]

Hello all! Been lurking here a little bit...wow, I am learning a lot!

I just recently got my first ball python, a baby. (I was told he was about 14-16 weeks old.) So far, he's been a good eater and has never refused food - been feeding 1 f/t hopper every 7 days.

I've only had him for 3 weeks but he definitely seems bigger already, and I'm not sure hoppers are enough any more. Last feeding he gobbled up the hopper in less than 5 minutes and instead of retreating to his hide he wandered around restlessly for 15 minutes or so, "standing up" and looking around.

My question is...should I offer him more food than this? And how does it work if you offer two small prey items instead of one big one...like, would it be okay to offer one and offer a second after he's gotten the first down, or should I wait a day or so and just feed him more often? I was afraid to rock the boat too much with his feeding schedule since it's been working so far, and I thought a small mouse might still be too big.

He's about as big around as a quarter if that helps.

Thank you!

[PitOnTheProwl]

You can either up his food size a little or feed every 5 days.
Some will eat several in one sitting.

[DooLittle]

While I don't think mutiples in a feeding is best, it won't hurt. Instead I would up prey size, or go to a 5 day feeding schedule. How much does he weigh?

[ballpythonluvr]

While I don't think mutiples in a feeding is best, it won't hurt. Instead I would up prey size, or go to a 5 day feeding schedule. How much does he weigh?

I don't agree with this statement. I have 2 ball pythons that are strictly mousers and I have to feed them multiple mice to satisfy their hunger.

[PassionsPythons]

Feed the snake more than one if it'll take it. It's fine. Snakes work like any other animal. When they are babies they need more. I don't know if you have kids, but when you have a baby you feed it ever 2-3 hours. I'm not saying feed your snake every 2-3 hours, but you can feed it multiples as a younger snake with a lot less problems.

[sbit]

While I don't think mutiples in a feeding is best, it won't hurt. Instead I would up prey size, or go to a 5 day feeding schedule. How much does he weigh?

Thank you for your reply!

I don't have a scale yet but it is already on my list for today. I'll be back in an hour or so with an update - think I'll go ahead and pick up f/t small mice just in case. Maybe finish up what I already have and offer him a hopper and a fuzzy if that sounds OK?

Thanks everyone for responding!

[RestlessRobie]

I have offered 2 rats at a time to a baby cause they grow so fast I had lots of pups still But as has been recomended I would up the Prey size and try to get rats if you can. Some snakes will only eat mice and you could end up feeding 2-3 mice per feeding and I think one rat is a lot easier. I would invest in a scale if you don't alredy have on and get a good weight on your little guy takes a lot of guess work out of what to feed. As a rule I like to feed 10-15% of body weight every 5 days till they are abour a year old or 650-700 Grams. Then I move to a weekly or bi-weekly depends on how the snake eats.

[sbit]

Feed the snake more than one if it'll take it. It's fine. Snakes work like any other animal. When they are babies they need more. I don't know if you have kids, but when you have a baby you feed it ever 2-3 hours. I'm not saying feed your snake every 2-3 hours, but you can feed it multiples as a younger snake with a lot less problems.

I don't have any kids, but that sure sounds familiar as my sister has 3! Now I am imagining arguing about who has to get up to feed the snake at night...LOL.

I think I'll try to offer him 2 tonight and maybe start feeding him a little more often. It's easier to just feed 1 thing but I'm glad to know I can give him two at a time if I need to or if he just doesn't want to eat something large. whew.

[PitOnTheProwl]

We will be waiting.
Are you feeding fuzzy mice?? Might try to up to rats
Though I do have 3 mousers, the 2 girls are 800+g and the boy is 1000g.

[Skittles1101]

Since your question was clearly answered, where's the pics?!