How much to feed...?

[LivingwithBalls]

I fed my ball python hatchling a pinkie mouse 6 days ago. (It's small because he regurgitated 10 days before) I fed him another pinkie today and he took it very aggressively! Well now he's practically begging for more. Every Time I walk in to the room his little head pokes out and he just waits. He only does this when he's hungry. Should I feed him again, or wait 5 days like usual?


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[T_Sauer]

How much does your "hatchling" weigh? I would stick to your 5 day feedeing schedule, but I am curious of its size because your feeding mouse pinkies .... anyway you look at it, its good that its eating again

[DVirginiana]

That sounds too small; I have a seven inch long garter with severely stunted growth (nearly ftt rescue) that eats two pinky mice a week; albeit in pieces and not whole... Just doesn't sound like enough for a BP.

[LivingwithBalls]

How much does your "hatchling" weigh? I would stick to your 5 day feedeing schedule, but I am curious of its size because your feeding mouse pinkies .... anyway you look at it, its good that its eating again

He weighs 75 grams. He's normally on mouse hoppers, just pinkies right now because he regurgitated not too long ago. It was suggested to go half the size of the regular feeder size. Next feeding I will try a fuzzy though.


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[LivingwithBalls]

That sounds too small; I have a seven inch long garter with severely stunted growth (nearly ftt rescue) that eats two pinky mice a week; albeit in pieces and not whole... Just doesn't sound like enough for a BP.

I know it's too small. He's usually on hoppers. But because he regurgitated not too long ago I am starting small and working him back up to his regular sized meals.


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[Atrox]

Have you figured out the reason for him regurgitating?

[LivingwithBalls]

Have you figured out the reason for him regurgitating?

I'm thinking either stress of handling too soon, or the meal was too big. It was a 14 gram mouse hopper, which is big compared to his usual 8 gram mice. I figured it would be okay since he hadn't eaten due to being in shed. Well I waited 50 hours before handling or disturbing him, and the day I handled him I came back to a partially digested, soggy nasty mouse. I obviously didn't wait long enough before handling if it wasn't even digested properly. I also think it was a bit much for him. He's just a little guy. So lesson learned, I did my research on how to care for him when this happens and he's doing really good now, other then being a bit hungry


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[T_Sauer]

how long have you had him? usually a good breeder makes sure they ar established eaters before offering them for sale. Also, its totally possible it could just be a fluke and for some reason that one particular time he couldn't make it work and gave up on the prey .... it does happen with younger still learning snakes ... If this were to happen to me, I would just remove the feeder after the snake lost interest in it and discard it .... try again next week( or 5 days / your current feeding schedule) it'll all work out .... I wouldn't be concerned unless it happens often and becomes an obvious issue

[LivingwithBalls]

how long have you had him? usually a good breeder makes sure they ar established eaters before offering them for sale. Also, its totally possible it could just be a fluke and for some reason that one particular time he couldn't make it work and gave up on the prey .... it does happen with younger still learning snakes ... If this were to happen to me, I would just remove the feeder after the snake lost interest in it and discard it .... try again next week( or 5 days / your current feeding schedule) it'll all work out .... I wouldn't be concerned unless it happens often and becomes an obvious issue

I've had him for 2 months. He's a fabulous eater, only missed his first with me due to stress of being moved around. He's a bit fussy about timing and place, but other than that he's really good about eating and very enthusiastic. I have been told by a few people that he might've just done it for no reason. He's eaten twice after his meal came up, so I'm hoping he's on the right track!


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[Sauzo]

I doubt it was because it was too big. My little pied girl has eaten rat pups and last week a weaned rat that was twice her weight and she was fine. She looked like she swallowed a football both times and almost went into a food coma before making it back into her warm hide but she was fine. If it was F/T, I would make sure they are fully thawed and warmed before feeding and make sure the snakes temps and everything are good. It could be from stress depending how easily your snake is stressed out. my little girl lets me pick her up while she is eating as she seems to love to slide her rats off the paper plate so I have to pick her up and pick off the aspen on the rat while shes eating it and then put her and the rat back down on the plate. She doesn't even care and keeps swallowing during the whole ordeal My red tail boa is the same way but I cant pick her fully up as she is 6ft, I just pick her front half up and put it and the rat in her feeding dish to keep aspen off it. Are you offering your snake good hides and making it feel secure? When I got the little BP girl, she was head shy and very timid like the pet shop was mean to her but now after almost 3 months, she isn't head shy at all and loves to sit in a loose coil on my belly/chest and just let her head rest of my arm for hours infront of the tv. Just make sure you give them time to adjust and be nice and slow with them and let them get to know you instead of you forcing your will on them.

As for how much to feed, general rule of thumb is 10-15% of their weight every 3-5 days for hatchlings or some people say up to 500g. Then after that go to a 1 week feeding of something like a small rat. At that time you don't go by weight anymore. I got Dot when she was 102g and I fed her 10-20% every 3-4 days and now she is 420g as of today. So she gained about 318g in almost 3 months. She also used to fly out of her hides like a cobra at the smell of a rat but now with all this time of good feeding, she no longer acts like shes starving to death. Today I fed her a large rat pup almost weanling and she poked her head out and grabbed it and gobbled it down but she wasn't acting all starving.