Please don't give this percentage recommendation for anything outside of a hatchling to ~500 grams. I'm guessing you don't have much experience with 1000g+ ball pythons or 200 gram rats - a rat that size is HUGE for this size BP (it's huge for most BPs).Originally Posted by Albert Clark
Usually it is determined by the 15 -20% rule. Based on the bp's weight in grams taken into account, 15 -20% of that weight is a good estimate of what the prey item should weigh. The other way is to measure the largest part of the mid body circumference and offer prey that is close to or slightly larger than that. 15%of 1000 is 150. Prey item should be 150 grams. 20% of1000 would be 200grams. There is leeway around these figures. Good luck
Personally, I feed a ~10-15% meal every 4 days until they're about 500 grams.
Then, I switch to feeding a small rat (50-90 grams) weekly until they're about 1500 grams.
Females over 1500 grams get switched to medium rats (90-140 grams) - males stay on smalls.
I only consider feeding anything larger than a medium rat (f/t only) to the biggest girls over 3000 grams, and that's rare.
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