Am I Overfeeding My Ball?

[Poseidon]

Jan 11: 280g
Jan 16: Rat fuzzy.
Jan 26: Two fuzzies. Seemed appropiate.
Feb 1: Fuzzy.
Feb 5: Fuzzy.
Feb 13: She had a small rat.
Feb 15: 330g
Feb 20: Small rat
Feb 25: Shed
Feb 26: 350g
March 2: Small rat.
March 7: Pooped/peed
March 9: Small rat
March 11: 420g

And working on uploading picture.

[GoFride]

I'd say your pushing it. Why not drop down to weaned rats (30 - 45 grams) for the next few feedings? Then you can bump back up to smalls (46 - 80 grams) with a full week between feedings. I try to feed 10 percent of weight, and have no problems, no regurges, etc.

[Poseidon]

[Poseidon]

Okay. How many do you mean specifically when you say "few"?

[RoseyReps]

She looks fine to me, and the schedule looks good. Saying "small rat" is very broad. There are some pet stores I go to who sell me a small rat and it's 40g, and others where their small rats are average 70-80g. That's a big difference, (most online resources will note that up to 50ish grams is a weanling, which I agree with...but if you ask for a weanling in any pet stores I've been to they look at you like you're crazy/speaking Japanese)

So! My suggestion would be to weigh some rats for a bit until you get a good feel of gauging the weight, and stick to rats around 40-50g. She's a fine looking little lady imo!

[angllady2]

I would say you are close to overdoing it, but not too badly. I would recommend cutting back to a small (40ish gram) rat every seven days. While she does not look obese, there is a chance that feeding her a little too heavily could end up giving her problems like fatty liver or fat deposits that could make egg laying later on difficult. While instances of things like that are rare, why take a chance?

She'll grow just fine if you do about 10% of her weight every seven days. Most ball pythons stay at that range until they hit around 1500 grams, then it's up to the keeper to determine what prey is best suited to their snake. Some feed bigger prey less often, some stick with smaller meals weekly. It's a personal decision based on your knowledge of your snake and it's habits.

Gale

[Poseidon]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've backed down her prey items and she seems to be doing well.