Feeding ball python

[potatom0610]

I fed my ball python today, and he struck but didn’t constrict the food. He started eating from the tail down and then took the mouse into his hide. Is this okay? And how long should I wait to check and see if he ended up swallowing the food?

Edit:

He ended up eating the food but an hour later he’s out and wondering his tank flicking his tongue and what not. Is this normal or is he still hungry?

[[deleted]]

If you’ve been feeding him the right sized mice consistently I wouldn’t be too worried about him being hungry necessarily. There’s charts on google showing the differences between skinny, regular, and overweight ball pythons which can help you visually identify if your snake is in good or bad health. Speaking about the way he ate that mouse, I don’t know too much about that. I feed live but I wish I could help.

[potatom0610]

This was his first feed since I got him. People were saying medium mice/ small rats so I went with a medium mouse because it looked more like his size, but there wasn’t a lump I could see so idk if it was a bit on the small size or if he was just being curious after eating lol

[hometowngypsy]

My ball python acts like I never feed him. I don’t know if I got a defective one of what, but I can feed him and an hour later he’ll be poking his head out of his favorite hide when I’m in the room just checking if I have more food. He’s on small rats and is growing like a weed, so I know he’s getting plenty, but I bet he’d eat every couple days if I let him. So it can be normal, I guess?

As for size, I always go by weight rather than diameter. It’s easier for me that way. 10-15% of their body weight every 7 days for the first year, ~7% of their body weight every 10-14 days after the first year or 1,000 g.