Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After reading some of the stories about BPs not feeding for months I'm practically jumping for joy that I seem to have a pig of a snake. He's about 30in long and I'm feeding adult mice. Should he be eating something larger? They seem to be about the same diameter he is.

Last night he ate backwards. It seemed to go down fine. Am I right in assuming this isn't a problem?

I've been feeding in the cage and tonight he kept sticking his head out of his hide and checking out the spot were I dropped the mouse last night. So thinking maybe the mice are too small and he's still hungry I gave him another smaller one which he snatched up extremely fast. He managed to get it head first this time. Was feeding him again so soon a mistake? Should I have waited a couple days to allow him to digest the first one?

The previous owner did not feed him properly. He got a live adult mouse every 2-3 weeks. He switched to f/t very easily. Due to the previous neglect I'm tempted to feed him as much as he will eat. Can he over eat and make himself sick? I sure don't want to deal with a regurgitated mouse.

He has also not moved from the cool side. Shouldn't he go to the warm hide to digest or is that something that most snakes do and he's just asserting his individuality?

Any tips or answers would be greatly appreciated. The poor guy has already suffered and I don't want to make it worse by making him sick. Thanks.

I'm still new at this and having my own questions, but I can help you with one thing.
I've read on numorous sites, that a BP should be able to eat a mouse/rat/etc that is twice his diameter. If I'm wrong...someone will be along shortly to correct me. =)

I was told that the food should only be as wide as the snake at it's widest point.
I feed two smaller mice instead of one that is wider than the snake.

You should feed him out of the tank, like in a large sterlite box.

dont always feed him large things because you dont want him to get "stretched out" all the time.

do u have a hide on the cool and the hot side? you should have a hide on the cool side and on the hot side. this way he can feel safe while digesting in his warm hide or when he wants to hide in a cool spot he has a cool hide. get a temp gun from proexotics.com, it'll be the one of the best 30 bucks u'll spend. it'll tell u the real temps instead of air temps like stick on thermometers.
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1.0 Monty - The Ball Python