Feeding 2 month old ball python - What do you do?

[Smarion0006]

I am getting a lot of advice from people about feeding my snake. I was told by one person to feed my ball python 2 rats pups once a week and told by another to feed him 1 rat pup once a week, and another to feed 1 rat pup twice a week. It's all so confusing. I tried feeding him once a week and he got really skinny. So, in order to make a decision about what is best for my snake, I'm asking you guys: How do you feed a 2 month old ball python? How much? How often? What is too much food for a baby ball python?

[thejennabird]

Do you know the weight of your snake? Technical Answer: Feed one prey item that is 10-15% of your snake's weight every 3-5 days, or up to once a week if the prey item is on the large side.

Less-technical Answer: Feed one prey item that is slightly larger in width than your snake at its widest point, every 3-5 days. For a 2-month old snake, this is usually a rat "pup" - but different people have different sizing standards. So make sure whatever you're buying is just a little bit wider than your snake. A rat pup once a week shouldn't be making your snake skinny!

At least, the above is my method and I've seen others on this forum recommend this system as well. Good luck!

[Shamri]

I'm still a bit cautious about prey size. I'm trying to use the "same circumference as your BP at its fattest point" rule, and I felt that mouse hoppers were appropriate when he was 2 months. I actually just graduated him to adult mice a few weeks ago (I think he was about 3 months, 130g at the time), and I'm feeding him once every 5 days.

[Karokash]

I understand your concerns; you hear once a week, twice a week, once every 10 days, one pup two pups, etc. Then there's the potential fasting periods, supposed to feed them weekly but do they starve if they don't eat next week? Some accounts say they can go months if they want to but are they fasting or are they starving, how do you tell? It keeps me up at night wondering.

The best advice I got was to keep from stressing yourself too much, definitely weigh your snake regularly. I was advised that as long as he isn't losing weight, you can rest a little easier and just keep trying different approaches, time spans, and amounts until you get a reliable system down.

They are notoriously picky eaters as a species so it seems to be a pretty widely accepted opinion that figuring out a new baby's eating habits can be a little stressful at first, but they seem to adhere to a regular habit once you figure out what works for them specifically.

(P.S. I know this didn't address your question at all, I just wanted to toss in my thoughts as an owner of a new little one myself)

[200xth]

supposed to feed them weekly but do they starve if they don't eat next week? Some accounts say they can go months if they want to but are they fasting or are they starving, how do you tell? It keeps me up at night wondering.

No. There is no otherwise healthy ball python anywhere that will starve to death if it misses a week of food simply due to lack of food. If a meal is skipped and it dies, it has some other enormous issue besides lack of food.

A brand new, out of the egg hatchling can go 7 or 8 weeks without any food and still have more time. Juvies and subadults can go months and months if they need to. Adults can go over a year in some cases. If an otherwise healthy ball python starves to death, it's because of monumental neglect that you as an owner who cares about their snake will have easily noticed long before it reached that point.

As for the feeding question, it's partially a matter of how fast you want your snake to grow, and partially a matter of your scheduling. Some people can easily do rotating 4 or 5 day schedules, some find it much easier to do once a week. Either works. The more often you feed it, the faster it will grow. It's not really a race, so it's up to you figure out what you want. Find what works for you and your snake.

I will say, if you are feeding appropriately sized food, once a week is enough for them to grow consistently. If you were feeding once a week and he got skinny you were feeding him food that was too small.

Just as a quick example, at 90g to 100g I switch my hatchlings to 1 rat pup a week. They continue to grow consistently without issue until I switch them to weaned rats at 230g to 250g.

Whatever you do, remember there are multiple ways to do all of this. All of the advice you got probably worked for each person giving it to you. Part of figuring this out is simply experimenting a little bit, tracking feedings and weights, and deciding what works for you and your snake to achieve the results you are happy with.

[Karokash]

If I knew the last time he ever ate I'd feel loads better. The store associated had no idea :/

[Shamri]

I just started using an app called SnakeKeeper to track of feeding, weight, etc.

[Saber402]

A 130 gram ball can easily take a rat pup every 5 to 7 days. I feed mine every 5 days until they get to about 200 grams then move them to once a week. Get a scale, it will make things much easier and eliminate the guesswork on prey size! Walmart has them for less than $20.00.