What should I be feeding my Ball Pythons?

[Blizzard]

Heya, I've been off for a while because I've been moving and with it, been really busy. I finally got internet hooked up today, so I'm finally able to come back online //sigh of relief//

Okay, so! I am concerned that my ball pythons might not be on the right diet, and also that they may not have the proper weights. I weighed them all today on an empty stomach (feeding day is tomorrow) and here' what I got;

Sam, female, 140 grams, really not sure how old? She is my oldest. Feeding on medium mice

Eggnog, not sure of gender currently, 96 grams, three months old (?) Feeding on fuzzy mice

Trip, male, 106 grams, hatched in 8/24/17. Feeding on fuzzy mice

These next two Ball Pythons are not mine, but are owned by people who live with me so I'm checking up on them as well.

Banana, male, 116 grams, hatched around the same time as Trip. Feeding on fuzzy mice

Spoop, male, 93 grams, not sure how old, I believe he's a month or so younger than Trip and Banana. Feeding on fuzzy mice. He seems a bit too small for my liking but I'm really not an expert on weights.


Please let me know what these should be feeding on, I might be paranoid but I fear they are just not fat enough ;; I don't know a lot about weights, and I always worry!

Thank you so much

[Sunnieskys]

All should be on adult mice. Fuzzies are never ever used. Out of the egg they go onto hoppers for 2-3 feedings then right into adult mice. At about 200 g they go onto rat pups. There is a chart in the stickies for appropriate size prey. I can't link but I know someone else will lol.

[Crowfingers]

Are they eating frozen/thawed or live? - really only hatchings are often given hopper mice for the first meals - once they are eating well it's best to switch to rats. they all sound a bit small, but if they are getting small meals they won't be growing as much. For young snakes they should be getting 10-15% of their body wight in prey at each feeding (every 5-7 days). If possible switch to rats once they are eating very well - they are more nutritious in the long run and it's easier to switch now than when the snakes are older

Borrowed this from Caali's thread from 1/30/18 as I don't remember the original poster

[Blizzard]

All should be on adult mice. Fuzzies are never ever used. Out of the egg they go onto hoppers for 2-3 feedings then right into adult mice. At about 200 g they go onto rat pups. There is a chart in the stickies for appropriate size prey. I can't link but I know someone else will lol.

Do you think it would be better to do adult mice or rat fuzzies? They are all very good eaters, I'm sure they will take if I'm persistent ;u; do you know which one would be better? Thank so much for this info btw! <3

[Blizzard]

Are they eating frozen/thawed or live? - really only hatchings are often given hopper mice for the first meals - once they are eating well it's best to switch to rats. they all sound a bit small, but if they are getting small meals they won't be growing as much. For young snakes they should be getting 10-15% of their body wight in prey at each feeding (every 5-7 days). If possible switch to rats once they are eating very well - they are more nutritious in the long run and it's easier to switch now than when the snakes are older

Borrowed this from Caali's thread from 1/30/18 as I don't remember the original poster

They are eating f/t! Thank you so much for this reply. They are all good eaters, I think maybe I should switch to rat fuzzies then? Let me know if what you think ;u; thank you so much

[Crowfingers]

If they are good feeders I'd try and switch to rat fuzzies...switching can be hard, some are stubborn, but if they take it then it will save a ton of trouble as they age.
If you don't have a good supplier of rats, perfect prey in Florida is great to deal with - petsmart/petco often don't have rats in the whole age range and the quality isn't always the best

hope they switch readily for you! Mine took mice for his two first meals with me while I was waiting on the rats to ship, but once I had them he never hesitated

[larryd23]

We purchased our 2017 hatchling pastel banana boi in November at 136 grams eating f/t hopper mice. We followed the stickied feeding chart pretty closely and fed every 6-7 days. Our boi now tips the scale at just over 400 grams and is currently eating 40-50 gram weaned rats.

The moral of my story is that the feeding chart was great for the development of our (now not so little) boi.