Ball Python Always Hungry?

[CodyH3012]

Ok so I got my first ball python about a month ago. She's a great snake but is it normal if she's ALWAYS hungry?? Literally every time I offer her food (every 5 days) she takes it. I gave her 2 large mice today and she took both of them and is still acting hungry!! Any movement etc. and she acts like she's gonna strike it. Is she just growing? She's only about 350 grams and is a baby.

[LittleTreeGuy]

If she is at 350g, you may want to consider trying to move her to small rats. Then you're just giving one prey item instead of two. I think some argue that there is a little more nutrients from rats, but I'm not sure how true that is.... but maybe she just needs a little bit more each feeding. Then again, every 5-7 days is about average feeding times, so I'd just be happy that she's eating good. As long as she's growing and putting on weight, I'm sure you're fine.

[SmoothScales]

A general rule of thumb is a prey item that is 10-15% of the snakes body weight or approximately as big around as the snake at its widest point. If she is 350 then you're looking at a 35 - 52 gram prey item. She could likely take a large weaned rat or a small small without problem.

You may want to invest 20$ in a Walmart kitchen scale so you can get a more accurate understanding of how much she weighs and how much food she should be getting.

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[Sauzo]

As babies, they love to eat. My little girl ate every 3 days from 90g up to 500g. Then I switched her to weekly up to 1000g. Now she gets a small to medium rat every 2 weeks. 10% applies to babies up to around 500g. Once they are that big, you just feed them prey as thick as their thickest part. And then once they are 1000g+, a small to medium rat will be plenty for them every 1-2 weeks.