How often does your adult BP eat?

[Caali]

Hi,

this is just my curiosity but I'd really like to know. Mine eats once or twice a month. I don't worry about it since his weight is stable and while you can definitely see his triangle shape he doesn't appear "shrunken". If anything he is a bit on the plumber side.
He is 2 years old, weighs about 1100 grams and is about 45 inches long. He eats rats that weigh between 96 and 150 grams. I know that that is one the bigger side which is probably the reason why he only eats once or twice a month.
Anyway, I'm really interested to know what your ball python's stats are.

Thanks to everyone beforehand.

[MissterDog]

My 2 year old male is on small rats every 2 weeks

[MarkL1561]

My 4 year old male eats a medium rat every 2-3 weeks. Occasionally he’ll go through spurts where he’ll eat every week but usually not. Typically I just offer food whenever he’s hungry. When he’s looking for food he’ll poke his head out of his hide at night and do short tongue flicks. Sounds weird but you can learn to read your snakes behavior.
I’m looking forward to my boa reaching adult size so he can eat food my python rejects.


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[dakski]

When she wants!!!!!!!!!

That's the real answer, however, if you want me to be more specific, here goes.

Spring-Fall: Medium rat every 2 weeks (Shayna starts spring at about 1,600G and ends summer at about 1,750G).

Winter-Part of Spring: Maybe 3 rats total. She might eat one every 6-9 weeks (I only offer every 3-4 weeks in the winter once she starts fasting).

She has eaten 13 rats in the past 365 days.

[Toad37]

Mine eat a medium rat every week and a half to two weeks. A while ago I replied to a thread saying that my adult bps ate medium rats and got some serious backlash for it. Good to see I'm not the only one who feeds bigger meals!

[-ryan-]

I have a 12 or 13 year old male who is a devout mouser. He's still a sizeable snake for a male (1700 grams, give or take), but he has always gone on an annual 5-6 month fast over the winter, so when he is eating I offer him an XL mouse once a week. My female is about 6 or 7, larger than the male, and throughout the winter she usually eats a small rat about once a month, and in the spring/summer/fall months a small rat once a week. I generally prefer to feed small prey items weekly, but sometimes I will double up (two prey items each) and let them digest for two weeks.

[Crowfingers]

I have a 3 year old male that is 1100g - he eats about every 10-14 days. He's on small rats (50-80 grams) from perfect prey. He seems to eat more regularly on the smaller rats, anything over about 70 grams and he backs off to 20-30 days between 'hunting'. When I order I usually ask for rats towards the 60 gram rage - it helps keep him regular. . . He also shed every 4 to 5 meals regardless of how many days are between each meal.

He didn't really fast this winter either. Last year he took a 67 day break from around mid-December to early march. This year he slowed down for 33 days in December then picked right back up again.

[Pengil]

My year and a half old 653 gram male has only eaten once a month for me since I switched him from mice to small rats in October, and February he skipped eating entirely. I've offered everything two or three weeks, and while he seems interested in the food, he doesn't strike, and shortly after offering goes back to sleep.
I don't know whether he just doesn't like rats as well, or isn't as hungry because it's winter. Might try feeding him more often again in a couple of months, and see if he feels like eating more as the days get longer.

[MarkL1561]

My year and a half old 653 gram male has only eaten once a month for me since I switched him from mice to small rats in October, and February he skipped eating entirely. I've offered everything two or three weeks, and while he seems interested in the food, he doesn't strike, and shortly after offering goes back to sleep.
I don't know whether he just doesn't like rats as well, or isn't as hungry because it's winter. Might try feeding him more often again in a couple of months, and see if he feels like eating more as the days get longer.

Try a few times before giving up. It’s not uncommon for me to offer food and not have him strike. Usually if I turn all lights off (including tv) for a few minutes and try again reheated he strikes. Ball pythons are notoriously picky.


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[RickyNY]

A Med Rat every 3-4 weeks