How much do I feed?

[Elisa616]

Hi,

I'm pretty much a newbie to the whole ball python experience. I have a female, about 1-1/2 years and approximately 3 feet long. She's been eating adult mice and has always been a good eater. Lately I'm wondering if I should be feeding her something bigger.... how do I know?

[bivman]

I'd move up to a small rat and see if she goes for it.

[Eric Alan]

How often are you feeding her and how many mice is she eating at a time? How large are the mice compared with the largest part of her body?

[Elisa616]

She eats once a week. The mice are fairly small... definitely smaller than the largest part of her body.

[nightwolfsnow]

Rule of thumb is 10-15% of their body weight.

[DennisM]

Rule of thumb is 10-15% of their body weight.

an even better rule of thumb, I think, feed her something about the same girth she is at her thickest. a far less known rule of thumb (because it's my personal experience, not a community consensus); if it takes the snake more than 15 minutes to ingest the meal once started, the meal is probably larger than necessary. if it takes the snake less than 5 minutes to ingest once started, the meal is too small.

[DennisM]

an even better rule of thumb, I think, feed her something about the same girth she is at her thickest. a far less known rule of thumb (because it's my personal experience, not a community consensus); if it takes the snake more than 15 minutes to ingest the meal once started, the meal is probably larger than necessary. if it takes the snake less than 5 minutes to ingest once started, the meal is too small.

PS, the 10-15% prey/snake ratio is generally accepted for hatchlings. the snake in question here is 1.5 yrs and 3 ft. We don't know it's weight.

to the OP, I'd say it's likely your snake is due for an increase in prey size. give it a try, she'll let you know.