Feeding your ball python

[rburger27]

Hey y'all i have a question... This is my first snake/ ball python so i don't know everything but i feed him on mondays and by wednesday he is out hungry again... i am feeding him hoppers and he is taking three at each feeding... is there such thing as feeding him to much should i be worried?

[Slim]

Welcome to BP.net!

I'm going to assume this is a young ball python, please let me know if that is incorrect.

A good general rule of thumb for feeding young BPs it to offer them a prey item that is 10-15% of the snake's weight every 5-7 days. They grow just fine on this type of schedule, and it has been used successfully many times over.

In order to do this well, you'll need a scale so you can weigh both your snake and it's food. You can find inexpensive kitchen or postal scales at places like Wal-Mart, Staples, or Office Depot.

It sounds to me like you might want to move your snake up to a larger prey size if it is taking three hoppers at a time.

Please take a look at this when you get a chance:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

[The Serpent Merchant]

There is most definitely such a thing as overfeeding.

Why are you feeding him 3 hoppers at a time? why don't you feed him 1 larger rodent? (does he not take larger rodents?)

How big is he (weight in grams is preferred)

I feed my young BP's every 4 days, but by the time that they weigh 500-600 grams I move them to an 8 day feeding schedule.

There are 2 ways to judge how much rodent to offer a BP, diameter and weight.

The easiest way is to just feed a BP a rodent that is as big around as the Bp is at its widest point

The other way (and this really only works for young BP's is to feed them 15% of their body weight.

So say you have a BP that weighs 100 grams. You would feed that 100 gram Bp a 15 gram rodent (100 grams x 0.15 = 15 grams)

*EDIT*

Slim beat me to it for once lol

[rburger27]

I haven't got a scale yet and i had gotten him rat pups to try it but he was having a little trouble eating it like it was to big for him... would it help y'all if i posted a pic of him? and i was told to offer him food every 4 days and he does take it each time... as for feeding him three hoppers i was told if he takes the first on or second one really quick to give him a third one but not to pass three in one sitting.

[AK907]

I haven't got a scale yet and i had gotten him rat pups to try it but he was having a little trouble eating it like it was to big for him... would it help y'all if i posted a pic of him? and i was told to offer him food every 4 days and he does take it each time... as for feeding him three hoppers i was told if he takes the first on or second one really quick to give him a third one but not to pass three in one sitting.

Define "rat pup". There seems to be a LOT of variation in size of what people consider a rat pup. Some call pinks/fuzzies pups (common among pet shops trying to rip you off), but breeders generally consider pups to be that stage between fuzzies and weaned where their eyes are open and they are mobile, but not quite ready to leave mom. Pups are about the size of an adult mouse. Unless your ball is fresh out of the egg, a mouse hopper is probably a small meal for it and is why it accepts three in a row. It is amazing the meals they can eat. Most people new to snakes are amazed when they see how big an appropriate sized meal is and how they can eat it with very little effort.

As the folks above me have said, invest in a cheap digital food processing scale (Wal-Mart has them for about $12). Then just follow the 10-15% body weight theory every 5-7 days and you'll be all set.

As a final note, don't believe everything the pet store employee tells you. Some may or may not be correct, but the fact is they generally make minimum wage (that isn't enough incentive to learn for most), have no real life experience with reptiles other than maybe a company provided care sheet (which are generally very inaccurate!) and they are taught to try and up sell everything to make the company more money. Most of the folks here have been keeping and/or breeding reptiles for many years and they know what they are talking about and are very passionate about passing along the knowledge.

[rburger27]

the "rat pup" i fed him was the size of a small adult mouse and its eyes were not open yet... as for the scale i am picking one up this afternoon... and he had a little trouble figuring out how to eat it i guess buzz it took hime about 45 mins to eat it.. compared to the 10 15 mins it takes hime to eat a hopper mouse

[rburger27]

here he is

that is a size 12 Mens US

[Homegrownscales]

He looks like he can handle the pup fine. To be exactly sure though you do need a scale. 15% of total body weight is the perfect meal.
Scales are a great resource to have anyways. You can grab one for
Most Walmart, or even ride aids, target etc.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[AK907]

here he is

that is a size 12 Mens US

Oh yeah, hopper mice are too small. Definitely bump him up.

[sho220]

All this weighing the food stuff is ridiculous...talk about overcomplicating things...holy cow...