Recommendations for feeding frequency normal-weight, non-breeding adult ball pythons are kind of all over the map, and unfortunately a lot of the recommendations you see the most either really only apply to growing babies, or come from breeders based on what they have had success with for getting animals up to size and breeding regularly, which is NOT applicable for an adult animal that isn’t breeding and isn’t going to. It may even be more useful to think about the total number of meals per year rather than the actual frequency; ball pythons are very much adapted for long fasts, either to get through times when prey is scarce or because there are times when they have other priorities (i.e, mating, laying, and incubating). For the most part, ten or twelve appropriately-sized meals per year is plenty, and it might not even matter that much whether it’s once a month all year ‘round or every two weeks for six months followed by a six month fast. I’ve seen some recommendations that say every six weeks is plenty. I strongly suspect that a lot of the famous ball python fasts that stress out keepers so much are the result of a feeding schedule that’s appropriate for a growing baby being applied to an adult that just doesn’t need to eat that much.
If it were my snake, I would try every two or three weeks for now and keep an eye on her body condition and weight. As long as she’s gaining ground, she’s being fed plenty even if it’s slow; and once she gets to a weight that looks good for her size, you should reduce her feeding frequency because at that point you don’t want her to pack on more. By all accounts it’s really, really hard and time consuming to get a chubby snake to lose weight because they are so well adapted for conserving energy.
In any case, it’s not a bad thing for your snake to get hungry and start showing hunting behavior for awhile before getting fed again. Keep in mind that for many animals (most animals?) the level of their food drive is calibrated not just to how much food they need, but also to how long it usually takes and how hard they have to work for them to find a meal in the wild. The exercise and activity they get in the process of looking for their food is also an important part of their overall health. The fact that they’re giving you those puppy-dog eyes looking for snacks doesn’t mean they actually need the snack; any vet will tell you they see an awful lot of obese pets and that applies to pretty much every species across the board.
Reply With Quote