upsizing food

[jack jones]

Been feeding small rats that are averaging 66-72g. My snake is 1.5 years old and weight is 970g. Should I increase feeding from every 10 days to 7? And when I'm done with this collection of rodents, should I order medium size rats? It's gonna be a while before they're gone. I probably have about 6 months worth of small rats.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Small rats are all you will ever need for the rest of your snakes life.
Really the only time you would feed mediums is for a breeding female to pump her up a little.
Your 10 day feeding schedule is also good.

[jack jones]

I was just curious. It seems like lately he's active more quickly after he eats. I just don't want to not give him enough.

[Shke0]

I have a 11 month old ball python. I have never had a baby ball python before. I’ve kept an adult ball python who was already acclimated on small f/t rats. I just bought weaned rats (he’s been eating rat pups) they look slightly larger than I was assuming. I want to do everything right any tips or tricks for feeding slightly larger then the rat pups? I don’t want him to regurgitate😩
Thanks

[Lord Sorril]

I have a 11 month old ball python. I have never had a baby ball python before. I’ve kept an adult ball python who was already acclimated on small f/t rats. I just bought weaned rats (he’s been eating rat pups) they look slightly larger than I was assuming. I want to do everything right any tips or tricks for feeding slightly larger then the rat pups? I don’t want him to regurgitate😩
Thanks

I wouldn't try to feed my ball pythons any food item larger than the widest part of their body.
I have ambient and belly heat (under-tank-heating mats) on thermostats: I haven't seen a regurge in years.

[Homebody]

I have a 11 month old ball python. I have never had a baby ball python before. I’ve kept an adult ball python who was already acclimated on small f/t rats. I just bought weaned rats (he’s been eating rat pups) they look slightly larger than I was assuming. I want to do everything right any tips or tricks for feeding slightly larger then the rat pups? I don’t want him to regurgitate😩
Thanks

Size is more important than age. Do you know how much your ball python weighs? A good rule of thumb for feeders is 10 - 15% of your ball python's weight. To feed weaned rats (30 - 50 g), you're ball python should be at least 200 - 300 g.

[dakski]

I respectfully disagree with Homebody here. 15% of a BP's body weight for a prey item is too much. 10% for an adult is too much on a regular basis. BP's can eat smaller meals more frequently and that is better for them. It helps keep them on a regular feeding schedule and makes it less likely they will skip meals (certainly aside from the winter fast many do).

BP's are not stretchy snakes. They should not eat anything larger than the widest part of their body, as Lord Sorril said.

Carpet Python's, for example, are stretchy. They can eat 10-18% or so of their body weight in a meal.

If there is concern of regurgitation, make sure temps are dialed in and feed slightly smaller meals than the BP can take, especially a newer BP that is not acclimated yet. I would rather feed smaller meals more frequently than larger meals less frequently with a BP.

Remember, in the wild, adult BP's eat African Soft Fur (ASF) rats. They max out about 90G, or the size of a small rat. A 1,500G BP can easily maintain at 6-7% of their body weight every 2 weeks, or even a longer duration between prey items.

Any questions let us know.

Good luck!

[bcr229]

My adult males all get small rats. If they eat then then don't get offered another one for two weeks, and then they are offered a meal weekly until they eat again. Usually they regulate themselves to eat every 3-4 weeks, though a few stop eating over the winter and may fast for six months, and they don't eat when in shed. My biggest females are on medium rats using the same method and they fast intermittently.

Feeding 10-15% of body weight was started by people who wanted babies to grow up fast to breed. An 18 month old male is an adult and doesn't need to eat as much to maintain weight.

[Homebody]

I respectfully disagree with Homebody here.

But seriously...I misspoke when I said 10-15 was a "good" rule of thumb. I should have said that it's a "common" rule of thumb. I was trying to reassure the o.p. that their ball python was unlikely to regurgitate a weaned rat. I haven't kept a ball python in a while, but I feed my Children's python on the low end of what's suggested. I think over feeding leads to more problems than under feeding.