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  1. #1
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    Question 10yr to 20yr old ball pythons & Feeding

    So i was curious if any one on here have had there pets balls for over 10yrs or longer?
    Do ball pythons stop growing once they hit a certain age? this i do not know, would like to know...
    And does the eating of these guys & girls get greater? or do they slow down?

  2. #2
    BPnet Royalty KMG's Avatar
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    My Ball is over 10....a few of my snakes are. Most eat every two to three weeks. The Ball gets a small or medium rat. Most often a small as that maintains her well and just often a medium once in a while.
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    I've got a 12 year old female. She does still grow, very slowly. Even though her weight isn't a drastic difference from my 6 year old, I can notice a difference in the size of her head. She seems to eat as much as my 6 year old, but she doesn't strike anymore. This is probably because she has been eating f/t her whole life though. I imagine if she was fed live, she still would. My 6 year old still strikes, but a lot more gently (most of the time) than 2-4 year olds that have grown up on f/t.
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    I have a few snakes that are 10+ years old and most can get by on a lot less food than the younger ones. Just like us, their metabolisms slow down as they age.

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    BPnet Senior Member GoingPostal's Avatar
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    My first ball python is probably 16 now and he is still as eager an eater as ever but I've noticed he doesn't need as much food to maintain his weight and is looking a bit chunky on the back end so he's getting a small rat every 3-4 weeks now.

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  10. #6
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    Wow, there is some years combined here in snakes years, So people do not feed every 1 month or 2 months then?
    for the older adults like 10yrs +

    I was also curious on How much money does 1 spend wen it comes to buying food for these guys?
    coldbloodcaffe How long will these 50 pks last of Fuzzy rats for baby snakes?

    If anyone has time, if you can i would like to see some of these snakes that are over 10yrs old....

    And what happens to the thawed out food, if the snake does not take it? �� it can not be put back frozen? Or could it? Or will something like this get a snake sick?
    Last edited by dee151; 06-26-2021 at 09:32 AM.

  11. #7
    BPnet Royalty EL-Ziggy's Avatar
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    Re: 10yr to 20yr old ball pythons & Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by dee151 View Post

    I was also curious on How much money does 1 spend wen it comes to buying food for these guys?
    coldbloodcaffe How long will these 50 pks last of Fuzzy rats for baby snakes?


    • I guess it depends on how much and how often you choose to feed. I don’t like buying in increments of (50) for young snakes because they usually outgrow the prey size before you feed them all off and sometimes you end up with leftovers. A (50) pack of fuzzys for one BP that’s eating once a week will last a full year but they won’t be on fuzzys for a whole year so you may have to feed two at a time at some point. If you’re feeding your older animals small rats every 2 weeks then a pack of (20) small rats will cost you $44 on CBC, but doesn’t include the $30 for shipping. That one pack of rats will last about 10 months. If you don’t feed during shed times it’ll probably last a full year. If you’re feeding medium rats every 3 weeks then (20) medium rats will last more than a year for about $52.


    If anyone has time, if you can i would like to see some of these snakes that are over 10yrs old....

    And what happens to the thawed out food, if the snake does not take it? �� it can not be put back frozen? Or could it? Or will something like this get a snake sick?


    • I don’t refreeze refused prey items because I have 11 snakes so no food goes to waste. I did it once or twice when I only had one snake, and never had any problems, but in hindsight I wouldn’t do it again.

    Last edited by EL-Ziggy; 06-26-2021 at 11:11 AM.
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  13. #8
    BPnet Senior Member GoingPostal's Avatar
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    Re: 10yr to 20yr old ball pythons & Feeding

    Most recent shot of mine. I don't refreeze meals, rarely have a refusal unless I miss signs of shed and if I do I have plenty of predators besides snakes as pets.



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  14. #9
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    Re: 10yr to 20yr old ball pythons & Feeding

    Quote Originally Posted by GoingPostal View Post
    Most recent shot of mine. I don't refreeze meals, rarely have a refusal unless I miss signs of shed and if I do I have plenty of predators besides snakes as pets.



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  15. #10
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    I ask about the thawed question cause i will only have 1 snake, she is not ready yet, but i will be ready and you guys help me with these lame as questions lol.... Snake life style will be new to me.
    I have 1 cat
    American Bully XL with papers she is F.
    2 Adults male geckos
    1 adult female geck, the geckos are all going on 2yrs old.

    4 gecko hatchlings
    and another 6 eggs

    Another question
    the 25pk and 50pk
    of frozen thawed fuzy, for a person with just 1 snake, would that 25pk roughly last about 25 weeks? and 50pk roughly 50 weeks?
    for 1 python?

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