How much to feed my BP?

[Harleyx2]

How many and what size ret should I feed my BP? I have had him a week and he has ate once with no problems. The store I got him at said to feed him one Hopper a week. He is 69 grams. Does one hopper a week sound right?

[Skittles1101]

Yes. Only feed every 5-7 days, and hopper sounds appropriate for a 69 gram ball python.

[Vypyrz]

How many and what size ret should I feed my BP? I have had him a week and he has ate once with no problems. The store I got him at said to feed him one Hopper a week. He is 69 grams. Does one hopper a week sound right?

Usually, when they are young you can shoot for a prey item that weighs about 10-15% of the snakes weight. So, you can feed a hopper mouse, or, if you want to try rats, offer a medium sized rat pink. I have a digital food scale that I take to the pet shop to weigh my feeders, so I get the right sizes.

And to BP.net...

[Harleyx2]

Yes. Only feed every 5-7 days, and hopper sounds appropriate for a 69 gram ball python.

Only 1 Hopper though?

[Vypyrz]

Only 1 Hopper though?

Yes, only 1. It will be enough for now.

[Skittles1101]

If you over feed they can regurgitate, and then you can't feed for two weeks. Play it safe for such a small snake and only feed one correct sized prey item per week.

[Harleyx2]

Thanks. Yall are a great help here on this forum.

[Megz]

If you over feed they can regurgitate, and then you can't feed for two weeks. Play it safe for such a small snake and only feed one correct sized prey item per week.

i understand always to measure on girth but over the years is there a specific number of grams you should meet in order to be enough for them. Would it still be 10-15%? Also how do you know if you over feed?

[MarkS]

The food item should cause a very slight bulge in the snake right after eating but shouldn't be as visible the next day and gone within a few days. You should be able to start feeding weaned mice at around the 100-120 gram range and move up to small adult mice shortly after that. Regurgitation can be an indicator that you're feeding too large of a prey item but it can also be an indicator that your hot spot is too cool or that the snake is overly stressed out. As long as your snake continues growing at a steady rate you're doing it right.

[Inarikins]

i understand always to measure on girth but over the years is there a specific number of grams you should meet in order to be enough for them. Would it still be 10-15%? Also how do you know if you over feed?

Once a BP hits about 1000 grams most people offer anything from a 50 gram to a 150 gram rat every 7-14 days. It really just varies from person to person. Our adult mojave is getting a ~70 gram rat once a week but some people might say that's overkill. He's currently just under 1000 grams.