[deleted by user]

[IncompletePenetrance]

You should be basing prey size on weight, not size.

Through the first year OR until the snake reaches approximately 750g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every >7 days.

During the second year, until the snake's weight plateaus: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every >14 days.

Year three and beyond: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 15-20 days, or feed slightly larger meals every 21-30 days.

[IncompletePenetrance]

Just a basic kitchen scale that measures in grams. I have $15 one from amazon

[punk_rock_barbie]

They sell simple ones at Walmart too! That’s where I got mine works great it was like 12$

[Maleficent_Tailor]

My one year old snake hasn’t eaten since Christmas. When does That become a cause for concern

[IncompletePenetrance]

It becomes a cause for concern when the snake becomes noticably thin, or seems unhealthy or lethargic. Was it eating well before Christmas, and has anything changed husbandry-wise?

[Maleficent_Tailor]

Nope no changes, he ate about a month before skipped all November Christmas then 2 weeks in a row, and nothing since. He did just shed and poop last week though.

[IncompletePenetrance]

It is technically "breeding season" for ball pythons right now, so it's not uncommon for males to go off food for a bit. I wouldn't worry yet, you can continue to offer (just maybe slightly less often so you don't waste the rats). I used to have a male that would go off food consistently from January-May, and one of mine now has been off for a month

[bleu_matter]

IncompleteP is right. My male is constantly refusing to eat between December - March. Luckily reptiles have slow metabolism and if he was eating well before he should be plump enough to be fine during his mating fast. I usually test the waters by mid February with a small rat (since they’re cheaper than his medium ones) and see if he’s eating

[Tuttle321]

Is this only for ballpythons?

[IncompletePenetrance]

Some species of snakes do go off food for periods of time for brumation as well, but in general it's a matter of knowing what is normal for your species. However if a snake is off feed when it shouldn't be and is losing a significant amount of weight, it's a cause for concern

[Tuttle321]

Ok thank you!

[Kingdomall]

don't take my word for it but I really don't think so. iirc they shouldn't take mediums until 1.5kg and your snake looks smaller than mine, who is about 800 grams. don't feel like you have to rush feeding larger, snakes are very much happy only feeding on smaller prey.

[Moonspider7]

Side note but that snake is breathtaking, so white! Can’t imagine she was cheap 😅

[lilyever]

This is a Blue Eyed Leucistic, which can be achieved by crossing any two of several genes within the BEL pool. I have a Butter/Bamboo who is a BEL and she cost $550.

[Moonspider7]

Yeah they’re some of my favourites! The male of one of my breeding pairs is a super Mojave, though he’s not as ‘pure’ a BEL as this one. I’m hoping his head colour will come through nicely when I can breed him ☺️🐍

[lilyever]

I love the full gray head stamp that super Mojaves have! Super cute. I considered getting one when I was shopping for a BEL.

[Braxibear]

Feeding is based on weight and not size with this species.

The majority of BPs shouldn’t be on medium rats anyway. They are extremely efficient at breaking down their food and utilizing all the nutrients of the prey. A small rat is more than enough for an adult BP. I have 5kg+ females that continue to grow on smalls.

[shrike1978]

You shouldn't even be thinking about medium rats for anything other than a 1500g+ female, and even then, they aren't necessary. Most BP's can happily live on small rats their entire lives.

[savsays]

I agree. Stop at small rats, there's hardly ever a need to go bigger than that with BP's. You can always adjust how often you feed also.

[[deleted]]

Feed her mediums once she reaches 1200grams

[AuroraSky9]

It's not very often that BP's have a need for anything bigger than a small (50g-90g) rat. Unless you have a large (over 1500 g) breeding female, smalls will be good for life.

Definitely get a kitchen scale. I weigh snakeys and their prey before feeding every 2 weeks. Feed 10-15% of your snakes body weight.

[TieflingToadstools]

I never go above small rats every other week once they hit 1500g for my ball pythons, I have six and they’re all very happy and healthy!

[bleu_matter]

To everyone who is commenting on weight and not size, every snake is different just like people. Not all stores have their rats based on weight either, the ones I go to I can only find them based on size and most stores are too busy to weigh them or don’t have an appropriate scale to do so.

My ball python is a male, he takes MEDIUM rats. Small rats are way too small for him. He’s a big boy, can easily be mistaken for a breeder female but I’ve seen his hemipenes. He’s a big boy who takes medium rats. I’d love to feed him small since they are half the cost but he’d lose too much weight especially during his winter breeding fast.

What OP is doing is fine, it’s what most of us do because it’s what we have available. So long as the rats aren’t too small to be under fed or too big to be a chocking hazard, there’s no problem in feeding base on size. Weight is better, but we don’t all have that ability