snake a bit thin

[Soph]

I think my bp is underweight. He is eating and shedding well, however i don't think he has been fed regularly enough previously. when i took him on i was advised to feed fuzzies every 10 days?? but as he is grew quickly i don't think its was enough, he's now 6 months old and i have been feeding half grown mice every 7 days for some time now. he's just not as plump as bp's should be, I would be grateful for some advice. A few questions - firstly: I think i should move on to bigger foods? or could i feed him two half grown mice? secondly: can i feed him more regulary to increase his weight and what is the minimum time period between feeds? thirdly: what is the time period after feeding when you can handle again (24 hr/48hr) even 'the complete ball python' book doesn't say it just says don't handle before or after feeding.

[JLC]

"Half grown mice" are probably too small. Once a week feeding is good...but try a bigger prey item. An adult mouse or a fuzzy rat. (He may or may not take a rat after eating mice for this long...some are really picky and some don't care.) But regardless, I think you'll see a difference after a few weeks of feeding him an adult mouse. And when he gets bigger, if he doesn't want rats, you can feed him 2-3 mice per feeding.....but still only once a week.

As for handling...I don't handle mine on feeding day because I don't want to risk making her cranky so she'd refuse the meal. And then after she's eaten, 24 hours of no handling is a bare minimum. 48 hours is safest, especially if the meal has been a bit bigger than the snake is used to.

Hope this helps some!

[Soph]

Thank you so much -that's really usefull, i was a bit scared i could over feed him and am glad of some more experienced advice - i love this web site! will feed him adult mice every 7 days for a couple of weeks then will try him on two mice. thank you.

[JLC]

My pleasure. One mouse per week should be plenty until he's older. My snake is just over a year old now, and just today weighed in at 500 grams...and she still gets just one fuzzy rat per week.


The risk of feeding too much is not that you'll somehow "break" your ball python, or make him sick...but he may decide he's "full" and refuse to eat for awhile. Smallish meals offered steadily every 7 days should do him just fine. (Although, fuzzy-mouse-small is a bit too small! )