Is it safe to feed a ball python 2 rats?

[Zuri Indigo]

So i have a ball python I just weighed him after a poo 💩 he was 657 grams before his poop.
he’s 567 grams

the problem is he had a huge growth spurt. I only weigh him after a poo so its been a month sense his last poo. ANd he’s grown a ton! THe problem is the rats that i ordered are only size 28-33 grams.
If i follow the 10 to 15 percent rule feeding one rat at 28 to 33 isnt enough. I did that last week not knowing his weight and in 3 days he was telling me he was hungry. ANd i will never feed him every 3 days. I will only feed every 5 to 7 days I given the research I’ve done.

So the question is can I feed him two of those sized rats to hit his 10 to 15 percent rule? every 7 days? If of course he will take the second one.

Please someone help me. His feeding day is tomorrow and I like to thaw out in the fridge over night.

Thank you

[Zuri Indigo]

So i have a ball python I just weighed him after a poo 💩 he was 657 grams before his poop.
he’s 567 grams

the problem is he had a huge growth spurt. I only weigh him after a poo so its been a month sense his last poo. ANd he’s grown a ton! THe problem is the rats that i ordered are only size 28-33 grams.
If i follow the 10 to 15 percent rule feeding one rat at 28 to 33 isnt enough. I did that last week not knowing his weight and in 3 days he was telling me he was hungry. ANd i will never feed him every 3 days. I will only feed every 5 to 7 days I given the research I’ve done.

So the question is can I feed him two of those sized rats to hit his 10 to 15 percent rule? every 7 days? If of course he will take the second one.

Please someone help me. His feeding day is tomorrow and I like to thaw out in the fridge over night.

Thank you

Also I should add I cant get new bigger small rats 🐀 until 2 weeks from now and I have a lot of rat pups and weaned rats left that i ordered from big cheese which where very underweight. I ordered weaned and got majority of the bag smaller version of pups in size and
i need to use these or figure out something. But i will never do anything that could hurt my boy he’s my family. Love the little danger noodle a bunch.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

10% to 15% for a male is too much food at his size if you want an animal (especially a male) that eats with consistency you need to feed small preys, their metabolism changes as they get older and while 10%/15% might be fine for an hatchling you need to start to feed differently once they get over 500 grams.

At his size a small rat around 50 grams is more than enough. Some animals will take second some won't so trying to get the right size will help if he does not.

For future reference https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

[Zuri Indigo]

Thanks for your response I appreciate it.

So 10 percent of 500 is 50. So I dont understand what you mean that 10 percent is too much. Everywhere I have read on this site in a care sheet said 10to 15 percent of the ball pythons weight. So please help me understand what you mean.

The point i was trying to make was that I dont have a rat that is 50 grams. At the moment.

I only have a rat that is 33grams and rats that are 30 etc. If I feed him the 33. He will not be full so I was wondering if I could feed him 2 rats to get as close to 50 or 56 as possible.

56 would be 10 percent of his weight. So for future reference are you saying that 56grams is too big for a 567 gram male?

I’m really trying to understand

[Stewart_Reptiles]

10% rule is out the window by the time they get to 500 grams I have never used it and I have raised 100's of BP

There is a good chart I linked for you.

What people do not realize is that BP in captivity are overfed getting a rat every week is more than they would actually get in the wild.

At his size I would be feeding 45 to 60 grams every 7 to 10 days at the very most.

I go even further I skip a week on purpose every now and then.

[EL-Ziggy]

It's not unsafe to feed more than one prey item but it's not necessary either. It's fine to offer 2nds on occasion and it's fine to feed slightly smaller, slightly larger, or different prey items from time to time. Make it fun and mix things up. Snakes are hard to underfeed and easy to overfeed so when in doubt feed less. As long as it's a reasonably sized meal everything should be fine.

[Zuri Indigo]

Ok so if he is 567 what and you say 48 to 60 grams.
Is it ok to feed him two rats one that weighs 29 and one that weighs 30 then which equals 59 grams?

Thanks again

[Zuri Indigo]

It's not unsafe to feed more than one prey item but it's not necessary either. It's fine to offer 2nds on occasion and it's fine to feed slightly smaller, slightly larger, or different prey items from time to time. Make it fun and mix things up. Snakes are hard to underfeed and easy to overfeed so when in doubt feed less. As long as it's a reasonably sized meal everything should be fine.

I’ve never ever fed him 2 before. If I did this this would be the first time. I’m just so afraid to over feed him. I order my rats in bulk and they sent me a small weighing batch. I’ve already used all the ones that are his size. I just dont understand what the other person is saying. If 10 percent is too much now at his weight. Then what percent? I read their link and it doesn’t say anywhere.

And what do you do when rats weigh off a bit. Like when I order in bulk not all the rats weigh the same. I cant always get 50 for a 500 gram ballpython for example. Sometimes its 46 and sometimes its 53. And there’s no exact 50. SO what do I do!? I dont want him unhealthy or hurt. ��

And if I only have a rat that weighs 27 and a rat that is 30 and a rat that is 33 which of those do I feed and can I feed the 29 and the 30 then? Would that be too much for him?

Thank you
I’m sorry I’m having such a hard time understanding.

[Zuri Indigo]

10% rule is out the window by the time they get to 500 grams I have never used it and I have raised 100's of BP

There is a good chart I linked for you.

What people do not realize is that BP in captivity are overfed getting a rat every week is more than they would actually get in the wild.

At his size I would be feeding 45 to 60 grams every 7 to 10 days at the very most.

I go even further I skip a week on purpose every now and then.

I did go to your link an thread that you sent me. It said for 500 50 and 50 to 89 for 500 - 1000 male ballpython. I guess I’m having a hard time understanding why feeding him the 29gram rat and say a 30 would be bad together equaling 59. This one time. This isn’s Somrthing I would ever make a habit out of ever. It’s just thats all I have until my next batch of rats get here.

I wont do this if its bad. I care about him too much. I’m just trying to understand.

[Bogertophis]

You've gotten great advice above from Deborah and I think you're stressing too much over this. Your snake will not be massively over-fed if you feed him
2 of the size you have, & as long as it's not something you keep on doing. It also won't hurt him a bit to eat just ONE item...it's usually better to underfeed
just a bit than to over-feed. The issues with feeding 2 at a time are that (1) some snakes will only accept one prey item at a time no matter what, and (2) of
those that accept both, you run the risk of overwhelming their digestion and causing them to regurgitate...a very real set-back that can be harmful. So between
the 2 options, I'd personally just feed one under-sized item for now & not lose any sleep over it. Snakes have evolved eating far less than most of our pets
get (even with more activity) and a little hunger won't hurt. And remember that in the wild, their food is NOT all the same size, nor at the same frequency.