Advice on feeding

[tj1627]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here. I'm looking for advice on feeding my ball python. He's about 6-7 months old. He's approximately 32 inches long and 3.5 - 4 inches around at the widest part (1.25 inch diameter). Unfortunately, i don't have a scale with a high enough capacity to weigh him on. (the one i have goes up to 300 grams - he's just over the limit, lets call it 325 grams).

So lets get to the point - since we got him 6 months ago, he's been eating regularly: Always eating Frozen/Thawed

age 1 month - 3 months: ate 2-3 pinky mice every 5 days
age 4 months - 5 months: went to 2 fuzzy mice every 7 days
age 6 months - present: ate 2 small mice every 7 days

The current mice he's eating (called small mice) are approximately 10.5 grams, and just under 1 inch in diameter.

So a few questions:

Is it better to feed him 1 larger mouse or 2 smaller mice?
Am i feeding him the right size/number/frequency of mice?
How do you know when to step him up to a larger size and lower frequency?

I've heard that you should feed him mice about the same size as the fattest part of his body. My concern is that I think his head might be too small to handle what would be 1 medium mouse or 1 small rat I think.

Sorry for the long post but any advice would be great.

Thanks

[starmom]

Is it more convenient for you to continue to feed mice or rats?

If he's 325g, I'd be feeding about 30g every five to seven days (so, three mice). Gosh, those are teenie weights for a small mouse!!

Feeding multiples is no issue. I feed every 5 days until the snakes are about 400g and then switch to every 7 days with prey that weighs 10-15% of the body weight of the snake.

It might be wise to invest in a scale. RBI sells good ones: http://www.reptilebasics.com/My-Weig...l-p-16191.html.

[tj1627]

Mice or rats don't make a difference to me. I'd like to stay with frozen/thawed since that's all he's known his entire life.

On another note I picked up a digital scale and he is exactly 334 grams ( 325 estimate was pretty close )

I like the idea of the 10-15% of bodyweight per feeding. I guess i'm still curious about multiple smaller prey vs 1 larger prey. Sometimes he'll eat the second mouse, but other times he'll reject it. For example 2 weeks ago he didn't eat, then 1 week ago he ate 1 mouse, and this week he ate 1 mouse. So over the past 2 or so weeks he's eaten 21g of food... If larger prey is the answer i can try next week, just looking for some advice Don't want to have a mal nourished snake nor do i want an obese snake.

Thanks for the input guys!

[starmom]

Some snakes make the switch from mice to rats, and others (like one of mine) don't. Also, some snakes take multiples of mice in one sitting and others don't.

Your call as to whether you want to see if yours will switch or if you want to go up to a larger sized mouse...

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My concern is that I think his head might be too small to handle what would be 1 medium mouse or 1 small rat I think.

Do not go by the size of his head you need to go by his girth size.

You definitely have been underfeeding him and should now be feeding a large adult mouse once a week or a rat pup (if he switches)

Note: Most BP are started on hoppers as hatchlings and quickly move to adult mice (I never fed pinkies or fuzzies to an average weight hathchling)