shed...feeding...age

[melodyb1985]

im pretty sure this has been asked before but do you feed your snakes while they shed.....the people i got this one said i should still hold him during shed and to try and help him along..but i dont belive in this i think he should do it on his own and they also told me it was ok to feed him during shed...but when my ex had a ball he never fed him during shed so is this just a matter of opinion or have i been givin the wrong advice? this will be his first shed with me i have only had him for about 3 weeks now and he is suppose to eat on wensday....oh and another thing the people i got him from were only feeding him one mice every other week..i find that odd...hes about 2 1/2 feet long estimated of course...but i dont know how old he is because they took him from someone who wasnt taking care of him...and brought him back to good health....but i fed him wensday before last (the first week i had him) and he ate 2 mice...at what age or how big do u start them out on rats?..my ex never fed his rats he had to give him up before i guess he got big enough or didnt know enough about them im not sure...but should i feed him more often than 14 days and should i try rats? i can take pictures of how big he is if that would help even if you help me figure out about how old he is would be awesome.....

[Wes]

If they will eat then feed them, nothing wrong with it, but it is common for Ball Pythons to refuse food during shed.

[Mike41793]

Some eat during shed and some dont. It wont hurt your snake to try. You wanna switch him over to rats asap. Id invest in a kitchen scale from walmart to weigh your snake. Then you wanna feed him rats that are 10-15% of his weight.

[melodyb1985]

[rebelrachel13]

X3, feed them if they'll eat. Worth a try. All of mine will eat during shed with no problems.

You can start them on rats whenever you want. They don't need to be a certain age/size. You can feed an appropriate size prey (10-15%, no larger than widest part of snake's girth) once every 7-10 days for a BP that's 2.5 feet long.

[Slim]

If those are 12 x 12 tile squares, your guy looks like he should be taking down small rats in the 50-70 gram range about every 7 days. (that's just an estimate on my part, and not a recommendation).

If you can get a scale and weigh him, it will be helpful in figuring out what prey size to give him.

Offer food on a regular schedule, even during sheds. Some will eat, and some won't. Over time you'll get to know your BP and will be able to better determine when to offer and when not to.

[RetiredJedi]

im pretty sure this has been asked before but do you feed your snakes while they shed.....-Doesn't hurt to offer food. I feed all of mine while they are in shed the people i got this one said i should still hold him during shed -You can hold him during shed but be careful if his eyes are clouded over because he can't see and might be nervous. I hold all of mine while they are in shed and to try and help him along but i dont belive in this i think he should do it on his own ..-You have to help him along if he can't do it on his own. There are quite a few threads on here about helping your BP with a bad shed and they also told me it was ok to feed him during shed...but when my ex had a ball he never fed him during shed so is this just a matter of opinion or have i been givin the wrong advice? this will be his first shed with me i have only had him for about 3 weeks now and he is suppose to eat on wensday....oh and another thing the people i got him from were only feeding him one mice every other week..i find that odd...hes about 2 1/2 feet long estimated of course...but i dont know how old he is because they took him from someone who wasnt taking care of him...and brought him back to good health....but i fed him wensday before last (the first week i had him) and he ate 2 mice...at what age or how big do u start them out on rats?..-Start him on rats now. Feed him rats that are 10-15% of his body weight once a week and he will be happy my ex never fed his rats he had to give him up before i guess he got big enough or didnt know enough about them im not sure...but should i feed him more often than 14 days and should i try rats? i can take pictures of how big he is if that would help even if you help me figure out about how old he is would be awesome.....

[The Serpent Merchant]

You really shouldn't hold your BP during shed, they are stressed out enough as it is. You also should not help your BP shed until he has started to remove the shed but it is clear that he will not be able to get it off himself.

[melodyb1985]

is there a way i can figure out how old he might be?

[The Serpent Merchant]

They all grow at their own rate, from the picture I would say between 6 months and a year old. But as I said there is no way to tell for sure.