Weight Question!

[ZeekisAwesome]

I bought my first BP about three months ago and I love him/her, I don't know yet ^_^. I just weighed my snakes and the BP came in at 388 grams. I know that's not a lot, but she's a semi-hatchling I guess. Not a year old...I hope. Anway, my first question pertains to the amount of food he/she should be getting. Due to the fact that she is not an avid eater I was happy with one mouse a week but last week I tried two and she ate the second mouse with haste. I was just wondering at her/his weight, what amount of food should I give him/her? Is two enough or just skating by?

Second that I know applies to breeding but I didn't want to do this post twice. How much do they have to weigh before breeding? I know for corn snakes the weight of the sexes is different, so what is it for balls? I'm not intending on breeding anytime soon, I was just curious. Thanks all!

[the_Ryno]

You want to feed your snake a prey item that is as big around as your snake is at its widest point. I would say a hopper mouse would be enough, but I could be wrong.

If your snake is the size of a quarter at its largest point, then you want a prey item that is the size of a quarter. I believe I explained that properly.


As for the weight for breeding im not 100% sure on, but I believe most people try to breed when the female is 1,200 grams or so and the male is 1,000 grams or so.
I could be wrong on those numbers though.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

You can feed 1 to 2 adult mice weekly.

[ZeekisAwesome]

Thankyou Deborah!!

It's nice to know that I wasn't off the mark ^_^. I'm wondering when can pop the snake and find out the gender. Does she sound big enough to you?

[sg1trogdor]

You want to feed your snake a prey item that is as big around as your snake is at its widest point. I would say a hopper mouse would be enough, but I could be wrong.

If your snake is the size of a quarter at its largest point, then you want a prey item that is the size of a quarter. I believe I explained that properly.


As for the weight for breeding im not 100% sure on, but I believe most people try to breed when the female is 1,200 grams or so and the male is 1,000 grams or so.
I could be wrong on those numbers though.

Males weight isnt as crucial. But I would say for a female that 400-500 grams per foot. just my opinion though. so for a 3 ft snake 12-1500 grams.

[Fearless]

Adam at 8 Ball has an excellent popping video, would throw out a link if i knew it off hand.

Also most people say for females at least 3 yrs and a minimum of 1500 grams, some snakes just dont have the genetics to get that big and have been sucessfully bred at smaller weights but they were older animals that just wouldn't put on weight.

As far as males go most recommend 800 grams but smaller has been recorded.

Hope that helps

[JenH]

You can feed 1 to 2 adult mice weekly.

Yep - I have a 300gm male and he gets a f\t rat pup every 5-7 days. I have another male just over 400gm and he gets 1-2 adult mice every 5-7 days.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Thankyou Deborah!!

It's nice to know that I wasn't off the mark ^_^. I'm wondering when can pop the snake and find out the gender. Does she sound big enough to you?

You can pop a Ball Python at any age (whether it is right out of the egg or as an adult)