Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a female spider shes 5 years old weighs 1450 grams last i checked. i think she should weigh more than that at 5 years old?? shes also a shorty not long any ways shes been pounding small rats these last 8 days i guess shes had 4 or 5 small rats and she doesnt show any signs of stoping. i dont want to go overboard but its tempting not to keep feeding her as we all know how they can be. i would like to know what you guys would do? thank you for your help.

I would only feed her an appropriate sized rat once a week. I would feed no more than once every 4-5 days (and that would be a prey item a bit smaller than normal).

When she eats the "small" rat, does it leave a lump? (I only ask because everyones small around my area seem to differ greatly in size.)

No definitely not a lump they were small rats! Thanks for your post!

In my experience it is impossible to feed a ball python too much on their own. Ball pythons quit eating when they have had enough. I know of one hobby keeper that liked to grow animals and see how big he could get them. He fed a hatchling 1 small meal every day for 90 days and the snake was over 700g at 3 months of age. The animal then refused food for 2 moths and then began to eat daily again for 4 months. At 2 yrs old this snake was 3100g and is still living at 18 yrs of age and a mild 5800g. The problem lies when people intentionally force them to eat additional prey items by force feeding or by placing additional prey items behind ones that are already being swallowed.
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Josh & Krysty Hutto

Various Ball Pythons, boas, dogs, cats, fish, a couple sulcatas and a few other odds and ends.

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

That's a very interesting story there! Well that
Helps me out I will keep feeding her until she
Refuses! Thank you very much to all posters!

That makes a lot of sense!
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Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...

In my experience, some snakes seem to be ALWAYS hungry while others seem to be OK with a weekly or by-weekly feeding. I am sure in the wild they eat whenever they feel hungry and a prey item is available. In captivity we keep them on a regular feeding schedule because is convenient to us, it wouldn't be practical to feed a large number of snakes at different times on individual schedules...
As long as they are healthy and are growing OK, a weekly or by-weekly schedule seems to be fine. However, that doesn't mean that some of them at some time of their lives wouldn't go for a more frequent feeding. So, I agree, if you can feed them more frequently, do it! They will let you know when they have had enough. I have had snakes that are hungry every week, and some that take long periods of fasting. Remember that you are dealing with individual animals.
What I would never do is force feed a healthy animal just because I want it to grow faster.
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Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...

Nice book answer.......

I have some snakes that I will feed 4-6 small rats at a time.....of course, these are girls that normally would eat a jumbo, or a big large, and I don't have any available, so essentially, they are getting the same weight. I don't do this all the time, but if I were you, I would move up to mediums, or offer 1-2 small rats every 5 days.

At 5, I have girls that are over 2500 grams.....my 2010 spider girl is 1800 grams......but all snakes grow at a different pace.

Jason
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jason.trott78@yahoo.com

If you intend to breed this female or already have she could be feeding heavy for a reason.My females feed heavy before breeding season, and I feed them all they want.

Yes she was with male pastel not sure if they
Locked up or not? Do you think she may be feeding
So much cause she may be gravid?

Hi guys, Coming into this discussion a little late, but I don't check the forums as often as I should. I've been breeding balls for over 25 years and after raising hundreds of babies to breedable adults this is my observation. I have no scientific proof but it seems like when I have a female morph that I desire to grow up quickly and I feed it more frequently (weekly or less) or if they get that extra meal because I have a food item left over they grow very quickly while they're eating but they frequently go off feeding before reaching breedable size (1200g) and they may refuse food for weeks or even a month or more before feeding again. Meanwhile, those babies that I deem less valuable (hets, usually) get fed every 10 days or 2 weeks. These guys are always eager feeders and never refuse a meal, even when in preshed. So, I think the babies I push eventually sense they've eaten enough and go off feed quite often. Bottom line, they all seem to get up to breeding size in about the same amount of time. Again, just my impression. I've never tested it scientifically. Hope this is of some help.