feeding

[Emilio]

I want my female bp to catch up to the male what feeding tactics should i use, the male is probably two months older than the female i was thinking for obvious reason to feed her more but the question is 2 small rats a week or the bigger meal only once.

[Benson_and_Hedges]

I, personally, feed my snakes once a week.

I feed them frozen mice that are no bigger than the widest part of their body. Some say you can go a tiny bit bigger but i'll wait till their grown up to try that.

[daniel1983]

Why do they need to 'catch up' to one another?

Just feed them one or two small rats a week....that is enough to feed a ball python through its entire life

[Emilio]

she doesn't have to catch up it's just something i would like

[daniel1983]

Since female ball pythons generally grow larger than males....she will most likely catch up and surpass him in time....

How old and what size are your bps?

[Emilio]

she might be a hatchling maybe 15 or 16 the male is probably 21 inches

[Emilio]

the manager at the snake shop where i go says he grew a female to 1500 grams in one year does that sound right or healthy.

[daniel1983]

the manager at the snake shop where i go says he grew a female to 1500 grams in one year does that sound right or healthy.

It may be possible but not common. Generally it takes 2 years to get a female up to breeding size.

she might be a hatchling maybe 15 or 16 the male is probably 21 inches

So I guess by 'small' rats you are talking about rat pups......not small adult rats. I would feed appropriate sized rats until I got to the small adult size. Then, I would stay with small adults and offer multiples if necessary.

[Emilio]

sorry i meant mice

[Adam_Wysocki]

she doesn't have to catch up it's just something i would like

How about instead of treating your snake like a toy that you can play with, you instead acknowledge that it's a living creature and treat it with a little respect.

Feed her on a regular schedule and let her grow as fast as she wants, not as fast as you want.

I don't think anyone here would be too fond of an 18 foot giant stuffing 40 big macs down their throat twice a week.



-adam