Is it possible to feed too big of a food item to your ball?

[Theodore Tibbitts]

So today was feeding day for my pinstripe male. He had been downing large mice with gusto, but I bought some small rats from Petsmart to see if he was ready for an upgrade, as the mice seemed a little small. The rat in question seemed approximatelt as thick around as the snake, possibly a bit bigger. I thawed the rat and he took it hungrily. I leave him alone, come back an hour later to find him just finishing swallowing the tail. A half hour later he was finished... But he looked kinda crazy. He had a VERY visible, enormous lump in his rump where the swallowed rat was. The snake seems fine, but I'm just concerned I may have over estimates what he could handle, since his stomach is so distended.

[ewaldrep]

I'm sure he will be fine, if it was a little bit bigger. Just leave him alone for a couple of days and keep your eyes open for a regurge. You may want to order some rat pups instead of small rats for a while. Good luck

[dillan2020]

I'm sure he will be fine. most likely he will just skip his next feeding or 2 while he digests the larger meal.

[gsarchie]

Worst case, order some smaller rats and save the ones that you just bought for when he finishes the smaller ones. As long as your temps are good he should still digest it no problem, but I may wait a feew extra days before the next feeding.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Your snake will be fine. And don't buy rats from PETsMART. They are horribly over-priced to discourage people from using them as feeders. I know, I work there

[RobNJ]

To answer your question, yes, it is entirely possible to feed too large of a prey item to a ball python...

[Mike41793]

It is very possible to but it sounds like your guy is fine.

[Theodore Tibbitts]

Your snake will be fine. And don't buy rats from PETsMART. They are horribly over-priced to discourage people from using them as feeders. I know, I work there

I work there as well. I bought the frozen ones, not the live. The small frozen rats are priced approximately the same as my local M+P shop, bit I get my discount. I previously bought some online from Rodentpro but I didn't own this guy at time of purchase and so only bought medium and large rats for my female, so until he is big enough for them I'm buying the frozen at Petsmart.

[TheSnakeGuy]

I work there as well. I bought the frozen ones, not the live. The small frozen rats are priced approximately the same as my local M+P shop, bit I get my discount. I previously bought some online from Rodentpro but I didn't own this guy at time of purchase and so only bought medium and large rats for my female, so until he is big enough for them I'm buying the frozen at Petsmart.

I did the same thing for a few weeks until I found a reptile show in my area. At the show I bought a 50 pack of mice for 37.50$. Waaaay cheaper per mouse than "Arctic Mice," you may want to search for the next nearest show to you.

[S.I.R.]

You can definitely feed too large a meal to your BP. As long as you stick to the rule of thumb of feeding a rat to your snake that is roughly the size of its widest segment. Sounds like your BP will be fine, just may want to hold off feeding him a few extra days. Good luck!