Reptile & Amphibian Forums

whats the most you can feed a ball?without problems?for example,mines 22inches,and i have started feeding two small mice every 5-7days,can i feed more,or more regularly?as i would like it to get big quick(not for breeding,it would jus be more ideal) feedback thanks

Youre feeding it too much as it is, feed two mice every 2 weeks. Youre going to make it grow faster as you shorten its life span. I hope youre joking, I really do.

Sorry dude, but you are on CRACK. Or glue. Whichever. 2 mice/week is NOT overfeeding. LOL!
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That's a little harsh. I think that as long as the snake isn't obese, then feed it however much you want. As for shortening the life of the snake, I think that you should give us a little proof, as far as I know there is no actual evidence that giving more food to a snake is likely to hurt it.

Sounds about right to me and well within the maximum safe feeding rate for a young ball. If you want to be more exact and you have a scale you could weight the snake and the food and let us know what percentage of the snake’s weight your are feeding it each week.

I've been asking the same question lately and I'm thinking 10% per week is ok but haven't tracked it long enough to be sure. You hear the overfeeding horror stories of shortened lives all the time but I'm not sure how much research has been done to prove how much is too much and how likely it is to really harm a ball through overfeeding. Better safe than sorry so a good question to ask and hopefully we can come up with a good answer for you.

thanks very much,i dunno the weights,il look into it,but,if its anything to go by,i fed it two,only hours ago,n i cant see any defined lumps in its body(so theyre not really big for it)

I've been doing this Bp thing for a while now, and I have yet to hear of an "overfeeding horror story" but to be honest, I read about underfeeding horror stories almost every day. Car to enlighten me. BTW, I think 20% of total overall body weight is more appropriate.

1) heat pad on all day long (he'll diggest quicker and better)
2) give him rats instead of mices (it's more nutritive)
3) several preys total amount 1/3 of his weight
4) as soon as he defece you feed him again

like that you'll get a giant in 2 years but don't let him became fat!

thanks for the sensible replies guys(except the arrgh 2 mice is fatal guy lol!)
il get some scales soon,so i can weigh them.
well, i have 8small(or medium?) size mice and 1rat pup left in the freezer,so i'll have to use them up first.is 3 of them per meal(5days) pushing it?thanks

>>2) give him rats instead of mices (it's more nutritive)

Still under debate. That last report I saw has them at about even when you break down total nutrition by each factor (protien, carbs, fat, etc.).

>>3) several preys total amount 1/3 of his weight

I don't go by weight. Generally, my snakes eat what they want. They let me know when full. They are not obese and most go off-feed at least 4 months of the year. These fat reserves carry them through this period.

>>4) as soon as he defece you feed him again

If you wait until they defecate, you could have one skinny snake. I have snakes that will eat 8-10 med/large rats in between fecal cycles - that's 8-10 rats a month.

Obesity is difficult to determine in Ball Pythons. By their very nature, they are large-bodied snakes. So, what determines, without opening up the snake, that it's obese? Some extreme cases it might be easy. With the average Ball Python, I don't think it's possible. I await a study in this area.
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Jay A. Martin

>>2) give him rats instead of mices (it's more nutritive)

Still under debate. That last report I saw has them at about even when you break down total nutrition by each factor (protien, carbs, fat, etc.).

>>3) several preys total amount 1/3 of his weight

I don't go by weight. Generally, my snakes eat what they want. They let me know when full. They are not obese and most go off-feed at least 4 months of the year. These fat reserves carry them through this period.

>>4) as soon as he defece you feed him again

If you wait until they defecate, you could have one skinny snake. I have snakes that will eat 8-10 med/large rats in between fecal cycles - that's 8-10 rats a month.

Obesity is difficult to determine in Ball Pythons. By their very nature, they are large-bodied snakes. So, what determines, without opening up the snake, that it's obese? Some extreme cases it might be easy. With the average Ball Python, I don't think it's possible. I await a study in this area.
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Jay A. Martin

thanks, i think,i'm gonna feed two mice/rats per serving,and around every 3-4-5 days,thanks

The person said hes feeding his animal 2 mice every 5-7 days and he wanted to give it more, cause he wants it to be as big as possible quickly as possible. Geez ask any professional snake owner, that isnt a good idea

Is this information heresay? Are you regurgitating it from an outdated BP book? Bring to the game some hard proof. Otherwise, what you say is just an opinion, and you're outnumbered.

you know Mykee.. I've been reading the posts for the last few days, and I have no doubt you have a big knowledge of snake care, but you seem to be offended when people "bring to the table" anything that differs from your own opinion, and in several cases you have put them down for it. Everyone has an opinion about the care of their snake. This is a forum for advice, not a debate board.

Well, the person in question is new to this forum, and after reading all of his posts, I'm convinced that he is also new to BP's. He was stating information as it was fact, (which, by the way it is not), and I was asking him to back up his claim with either personal experience (which I sure he has none of), or possibly a quote from one of his outdated BP husbandry books, at which point I would have corrected him.