Two things to consider that I don’t see covered here:



I think it is self-evident that feeding fresh as opposed to previously frozen food over a lifetime is superior nutritionally for your ball python. I’m not saying feeding frozen/thawed food is BAD, just that fresh is better. But without large-scale, long-term feeding trials we’ll never be able to answer that question conclusively. The fact that you have a large supply of live mice, and that you are able to control the diet fed your rodents (something which is always a question mark with any frozen food we purchase elsewhere), are big pluses in your choice of what to feed your snake.



One other thing to take into account, and this has to do with size not species of prey animal - consider the concept of surface to volume ratio. To get the same amount of nutrition in one 200 gram furry animal, you’d have to feed six 30-plus- gram furry animals, and that means more fur per unit nutrition packing into your snake’s gut. Not that lots of fur necessarily spells constipation. As has been noted, in the wild ball pythons may well scoop up whole families of rodents in their burrows. But in captivity, a snake’s activity level is hardly comparable. So just be sure that what goes in, comes out on a reasonably regular basis.



-Joan

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