is my BP eating enough??

[boomer]

ok heres the deal. i have a bp dont know the weight because i dont have a scale but hes about 22-24 inches long. i feed him a small mouse once a week but lately hes been really active. i feed him 2 days about and most of the time he doesnt move for about 2 days but after this feed he was active in about 5 hrs. and the next day hes climbing every where and looking around. ive had him for little over a month. i was wondering if hes not eating enough or he just has a really fast matabolism. thanks.

[Swingline0.0.1]

Mine is just over 21", and he eats two small adult mice (just a tad bigger than hoppers) every week. When I got him he was on one small hopper a week, and when he started cruising around the feed box looking for a second one, we bumped him up to 2.

Most people will tell you to go for prey that is slightly smaller or equal to his girth... mine could eat a larger adult based on his girth, but the time I fed him one the mouse kind of scared him, so I went with two of the smaller ones.

As far as the activity level, he sometimes goes right to his hide and doesn't move for a day or two, and sometimes I see him drinking or randomly cruising his enclosure the same day... I guess it depends on his mood.

[boomer]

so do you feed him 2 in the same day or 2 in a week like on different days. i might give that a try because hes been real active and when i first got him he was a baby and he wouldnt move for about 3-4 days after 1 small mouse.

[Swingline0.0.1]

Two every saturday.

I'm still new to the hobby, but everyone on here is very helpful- I've submitted pics of him after eating, and the more experienced folk said it was good... no large bulges, etc.

After reading a lot of posts here, I'm just glad I got one that eats well!

[Kagez28]

ball pythons are opportunistic feeders, they will eat more then they need cause they don't know when they will eat again. so you can throw 5-10 mice in there and they might eat them all. its best to feed ONE appropriate sized meal every 7-10 days. that will keep them on feed (no fasting) and growing at a steady rate.

[sweety314]

so do you feed him 2 in the same day or 2 in a week like on different days. i might give that a try because hes been real active and when i first got him he was a baby and he wouldnt move for about 3-4 days after 1 small mouse.

I'd suggest two prey items the same day...that way he's digesting ONE meal, instead of always in a digesting state. Besides, if you want to handle him----- if you feed him, wait the recommended 48 hours (there's THREE days), feed him again, wait another 48 hours (there's SIX days), there's only ONE day left to handle him.

Feed him the same day every week. If he seems to be hungry, it won't hurt him to wait until the next feeding....they don't eat regularly in the wild....or bump up the prey size a little bit.

[anthrpicdecadnce]

uuh... 48 hours is two days...

x=number of days

x=48/24
x=2

[sweety314]

Nope,....feeding and waiting the additional 48 hours would be (earliest) handling on the 3rd day.