Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After a month long fast (due to mites), Steve the ball python doesn't seem to want to stop eating. This week he ate a total of 5 small mice (some smaller than others). He's roughly 21" long, and he's not really that fat either. He's grown about 2-3" since he's gotten rid of his mites (which was about a month ago).

The first week he went back on feed he ate two mice, then three the next week, then two the week after that, and I think two again, and then this week he took 5! Granted, I had to get new mice (since two had burst... very gross), and the new ones were slightly smaller. This is still about the equivalent of eating 4 of the mice he was feeding on before though. After that big meal, he's still sitting there with his head sticking out the front of his hidespot like he wants more!

I do extend his feedings when he wants to eat more. Most of the time I'm too busy to come up with a nice long amount of time to give him all of his food, so I end up splitting it up over a couple of days. For instance, I first tried feeding him monday, and I was only able to give him 1 mouse, despite the fact that he obviously needed more (that was when my last two mice exploded). So then yesterday I didn't get home from work until 9, and I hadn't left any rodents out to thaw, so I waited until a little after midnight for them to thaw, and he ate 2 (all that i had thawed for him), and was still hungry, so I had to wait until tonight to give him the last two. Why does he seem to keep expecting food though? I assume it's because he's still in feed mode, but so far everything he's eaten, he's put to good use (increasing in size...he hasn't gotten what I would call 'fat' yet, like most ball pythons I see).

I'm just wondering why he has such a strong appetite. I mean, this is my first ball python, and I always hear about how much they go off feed, and how poor their feeding response is. Mine seems to be the complete opposite.

A bad case of mites, especially over an extended period of time, can weaken an animal. Once they get feeling better they may eat more to make up for lost time . He should settle back into a regular feeding schedule in time. JMHO.

Quig

How are your mice exploding? During constriction? I've heard of it happening if you defrost in the microwave, and I've also been told not to microwave mice. I forget the technical explanation, something to do with breaking down tissues and the mice aren't as nutritous.

Also, maybe he's ready for small rats? My snakes seem more satisfied with one larger meal rather than lots of snacks.

are opportunistic feeders in the wild. When prey comes along, they grab it. So in captivity the natural thought of the snake is, "I don't know when my next meal will be, I should eat as much as I can right now."

Granted Ball Pythons are known for unpredictable feeding habits. But I think this can be attributed to the mites it had.

Still, your Ball Python is only going to eat as much as you give it. DO NOT overfeed your pet, and don't feed it so frequently. It needs to gain weight after the mites, but heavy feeding isn't the way to do this. An appropriately sized rat every five days will keep your ball python growing at a good rate, without concern for health.

I'm not trying to feed it seperate meals every couple of days. His weekly feeding stretches out until he is no longer in that restless 'I'm a poor starving snake' mood of his (anyone else ever recognize this mood?). He's a very easy snake to read. He will eat until he's satisfied and he knows when he's done. Then, approximately a week later, he's back into his feeding mode, and ready to pack in more mice.

What I was mostly confused about is the fact that he would eat so many small prey items. When I first got the mice home, I figured there was no way he would even strike at them, because they're barely much larger than his head (except for one, which was more appropriately sized). He's not overfed, as I do know when to cut him off, which is just when he's filled out, and not stretched out or bumpy, but he usually stops on his own at that point anyways. I understand they are oppurtunistic feeders, but they do know when to stop. Snakes may have small brains, but they are good at what they do, and they won't expend excess energy constricting something that they aren't going to use. That's what I've learned from all my other reptiles, and that's what my ball python seems to be showing me as well.

But you are correct, overfeeding is bad, I don't overfeed, and that's why I stopped after 5 mice (which was about the same as if he ate 1 appropriately sized rodent...since these mice are small). I was just suprised that he was still ready to strike and constrict after eating what would usually be slightly more than enough.

Have you tried feeding him a bigger prey item? As ironic as it sounds digestion really does stress a snakes system so you don't want it to be in a constant state of digestion. Try feeding him something larger - if you were thinking about switching him to rats - maybe now would be the perfect time to do that. Otherwise - my advice would be to feed him a couple (3) mice then let him be "hungry" until next week.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.34.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.4 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.0 Lizards of unknown origin

I need to order some bigger prey items. I needed to get more food for him this week, and the only thing available locally was either too big or too small, so I went with too small.

I don't understand what you mean by digestion being stressful. When a snake isn't digesting, it's typically looking for more food to digest. Isn't that more stressful than digesting?

LOL - yeah seem like it huh - actually studies have shown that there is a fairly sizable increase in respitory and blood pressure during the digestive process which peaks and then starts to decline after 3 days. Thats not saying that it hurts them to eat - that's their design - but think of it as having a big Thanksgiving dinner in your stomach for three days. LOL
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.34.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.4 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.0 Lizards of unknown origin