feeder size

[Adam_Wysocki]

actually you feed a little more than your snakes girth so that he has a small bulge after feeding.

That is certainly a popular point of view for feeding snakes, but personally I do things a little differently.

Over the last decade plus of keeping ball pythons, I've found that smaller meals help ball pythons feed and grow more consistently.

That doesn't mean that it's "wrong" to "lump" you're ball pythons or feed them meals larger than their girth ... it just means that in my experience, in my collection, I've seen that larger meals and lumps lead to higher incidences of fasting and growth in "spurts". When feeding smaller size meals, my snakes hardly ever skip a meal and their growth is much more predictable.

Even my largest adult females (3600+ grams) only get small small rats and I'm sure people on the forum that have seen them in person will agree that they are very well fed.

I think when you work with ball pythons for any amount of time you'll quickly understand that their feeding response and metabolism is very different than other types of snakes that do well with "lumping". In my opinion, they need a slightly different feeding style than other species.

In the end, the best thing you can do for your snake(s) is what works best for you and your animal. Don't be afraid to try different things in order to find the best way for you!

-adam

[frankykeno]

Well all I can say is pictures tell the story. Two of our bigger females, neither of which have ever eaten bigger than girth prey.

Orlah at well over 2,000 grams....


Brannagh at just over 3,000 grams....

[dalvers63]

Even my largest adult females (3600+ grams) only get small small rats and I'm sure people on the forum that have seen them in person will agree that they are very well fed.

I know this has been asked before yet I haven't been able to find the answer...so, just how much does a "small small rat" weigh?

[Adam_Wysocki]

I know this has been asked before yet I haven't been able to find the answer...so, just how much does a "small small rat" weigh?

Not sure ... I'd guess probably 40 - 50 grams ... For me, they are the rats that I pull one week (or less) after being weaned ... 2 weeks after weaning is a little larger than I like to feed.

-adam

[dalvers63]

Thanks, Adam. That actually helps a lot!

[frankykeno]

LOL Adam I go with the tried and true (though horribly unscientific).."well that looks about right" system of rat picking. After enough rats and snakes it seems I'm getting fairly good on that....well except for picky arse Rionnach. With her I can easily go through three or four trots back to the feeder bin until I get what in her estimation is the exact right, this is worth my regal time to eat it rat.

How sad is it that I'm a grown, reasonably intelligent female going "okay Ri Ri here's a LOVELY rat...oh not one you like...*back to the feeder bin*....now here we have a really nice one, see the lovely coat on it, just the right....ahhh crapola *back to dig through the recently weaned feeding bin*...now this one Ri, absolutely....*sigh, back to the bin again*....how about...WHUMP!!!....*sigh of relief as Miss Picky eats her dinner*

[Kagez28]

I'm less sure about how often to feed. Weeks are a human invention and so "once a week" is convenient for us. This makes me unsure about the schedule when he's checking every little corner in his cage on day 5.

if you feed a ball every week of the year, thats 52 mice/rats a year (or 104 if you feed two mice). that is alot more then a snake will eat in the wild in a year. so while weeks are convenient for us, feeding multiple times a week bumps the total amount of mice eaten in a year way up.

plus what Adam said

[erobinson]

To those who feed smaller prey items:

When you feed your bigger balls, Do you feed multiple small items in one sitting. Feed one small item twice a week (or more if needed). Or just one item a week period. And do you think the whole rat vs. mouse thing comes in to play with this type of feeding schedule.

[bearhart]

Dang - I've been away and missed alot of good discussion.

So, yea I have limited experience which is why I'm posting here. Also, I'm kind of experimenting a little bit.

So, I only have one snake and I pay very close attention to him. My assessment that he's ready to eat is based on his behavior patterns through the week. Usually the first few days (depending on meal size) are pretty much down time. He sleeps, gets up to drink water, and then goes back to sleep. Then he has this huge-mongous pee and suddenly he looks like he never ate. I imagine his body flushes alot of the excess fluid from the meeses first. Then, he starts to perk up gradually over the next few days. Then there's this obvious point where he starts getting real active. He'll start spending time outside of his hide sort of gradually moving around his tank and then stopping to stare for a while. He looks kind of like somebody who's lost something but has a ferociously short attention span. He'll also start coming out of his hide when I'm by the cage wanting to get out. If I take him out and set him on the bed he won't hide in the bedding but instead just stare at the room from different angles for long periods of time. Seems like hunting to me.

I've been gradually increasing his meal size. I've always fed every 6 or 7 days and he's pretty bulged every meal. He's fattened up a bit but he's pretty much just getting to the point where he looks like all of the example pictures people have been posting in this thread. I think maybe he was a bit underweight before.

[Adam_Wysocki]

To those who feed smaller prey items:

When you feed your bigger balls, Do you feed multiple small items in one sitting. Feed one small item twice a week (or more if needed). Or just one item a week period. And do you think the whole rat vs. mouse thing comes in to play with this type of feeding schedule.

I feed once a week ... never any more. Sometimes bigger girls will get leftovers, but the plan every week is one rat per ball python. Mousers may get multiples depending on their size and sex. Gram for gram I feel that there is no difference in any way between feeding mice or rats.

Hope this helps.

-adam