Over feeding?

[sw204me]

Its been suggested that instead of feeding Max a medium mouse every 7 days, to try one every 5. hes a young'in at 6 months, will be 7 in april, and 20 inches long. I have read when they are younger they eat more. Would I be ok to try and feed every 5 days? If he doesnt take it then I know im ok at 7 days as he hasnt passed up a meal yet. Any suggestions? Would feeding him every 5 days change anything besides his growth rate?

[Gooseman]

well, it will also change his/her poop rate...

I'll leave the rest for the more experienced.

[Subzero]

Feeding every 5days at a young age is ok. I would feed rats instead of mice, Rat fuzzies or Rat pups. More nutritional value in rats. Plus if they get used to mice it may be difficult to get them to switch later on.

[dalvers63]

I found that I vary feeding of my youngsters. They get fed every 5-7 days. Sometimes it's a couple mice (I have LOTS of adult mice left for them) or a small weanling rat. They never go more than 7 days between feedings and are growing just fine.

[SatanicIntention]

Even if there is a nutritional difference between mice and rats, there hasn't been a nutritional requirements study done on Ball Pythons. So, therefore if a 35-40g rat has 8g of protein, and two 15-20g mice have 5g of protein each, but the snake only requires 3g of protein daily to grow and thrive, then what does it matter what prey type the snake eats?

All of my Ball Pythons are on mice and I see significant growth. My 2006 babies are between 400-700g on one or two mice a week. I also rescued a female Ball last year who weighed in at 780g, being fed every other month on one mouse. All I did was up her feeding to 2-3 adult mice a week and she gained almost 1500g between May and December. I think that's pretty darn good growth

Just feed what your Ball Python will eat, what is most convenient for you to obtain from your local pet store/rodent supplier, and all will be well in your snake's world.

[sw204me]

awesome, ill try to give im a rat/mouse on friday/saturday and see if he takes it. thanks for the advice. So far hes been like me, food gets put infront of him and he eats it, lol.

[satanicnugz]

I have a young BP somewhere between 25"-30". I feed him once every 5 days. I give him a rat thats eyes have just opened up/been opened up for a week or 2 (don't know the slang for the size). So far steady eating and he is growing fast.

I'm crossing my fingers I didn't over feed this last time. All the pet stores in town had no small rats like above. The biggest meal so far. He ate it, and dang his belly was full. He had trouble gettin his belly in the hide

[sw204me]

LoL, should of got pics.