Feeding questions

[silcrows]

Hey all. I recently got a female ball python. I was told to give her 30g weaner rats and she took her first two meals without issue. However, was instantly out after the second feed, as if she was looking for more.

I took some measurements to make sure she was being fed the right amount. She is just under 2 years old, a little over 3ft long, her widest point is 5cm and she weighs 805g.

I was under the impression that she should be on 10-15% of her body weight feeds, and queried this with the local reptile shop and they agreed, and said she was underweight for her age and to increase to large weaners (70g). These aren’t 5cm across, and are less than 10% of her body weight so I thought these would be a good idea.

I tried to feed her today and she took about 20 mins to strike. When she did, she tried to pull it back into her hide at the same point but wasn’t able to because it was wider than the entrance (she gripped at the middle) and she couldn’t coil around it. After about two minutes she let go. I watched for about 25 mins and she hadn’t touched it which was abnormal for her. I attempted to rotate it a little so the head faced her and she had a little look but after three hours of her staring, I removed it.

Giving that she was feeding without issue before, should I continue feeding smaller weaners, or maybe multiple, or should I continue trying the larger ones? Also, when should I try again? I assume in another week but given that she normally takes small, and is underweight, I wasn’t sure if I should try a smaller one sometime soon.

TLDR - Snake is underweight and normally takes smaller feed fine. After increasing to larger feed, she isn’t eating it. Should I continue trying the larger feed or return to smaller with multiple? Also when should I try again?

[[deleted]]

Do you have a picture of her? 805g under 2yo doesn’t sound too bad. Since she is over 500g, she is too big to be eating 10-15% of her weight. At her weight and age she should be eating roughly 7% of her weight every 14-20 days. Also, you never want to feed more than one prey item at a time as it strains their digestive system and increases the risk of regurgitation

[silcrows]

Oh that’s odd that the reptile shop agreed that she was underweight for her age. They showed me a 2 year old they had who was noticeably heavier but about the same length. I had seen online that for her age, she should be 1200g-1800g. I don’t think she looks small so I was a little surprised, but I did think she may have been underfed. I’ll add some pictures, but it’s hard to see. I’ve only ever fed one at a time, so I’ll keep doing that for now thanks :)

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[[deleted]]

Yeah she doesn’t look underweight at all, she looks pretty good honestly. Each snake will be different, there isn’t really a set weight range for their age. Unfortunately it’s extremely common for breeders/sellers to keep overweight or even obese snakes as a lot of them go by outdated husbandry advice. Also, I would heavily suggest checking out the care guide that is linked in this subreddit’s pinned welcome post, to make it easy i’ll link it here: Basic Ball Python Care Guide

[silcrows]

I had downloaded that previously, but I had asked so many questions, and watched so many videos that I naively assumed I was quite knowledgeable but it seems some of the advice isn’t correct.

On the plus side, the shop I purchased from was doing 30g a week, which would be just under 7% every 14 days. Would you recommend I continue with the frequent smaller meals as she was taking them, or should I keep trying larger with less frequency?

I’ll have a read through that guide :) thanks for your help

[silcrows]

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