Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 6 Ball Pythons and I know I am lucky most of them eat constantly but one of my balls eats when ever I put something infront of him. Some people have told me in the past to feed them as often as they will take it. He is getting a bit plump looking though. I fed him three times in 9 days on small rats. He is only 6 months old and not sure on weight (awaiting my scale in the mail). Can anyone help me on this?

_bill

Well, there's the general rule of feeding 1-1.5 times the widest part of the snakes body every 5-7 days at that age. Adults every 7-10 days
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Though that is a great suggestion for beginners, that is more a sustainable diet than what they would prefer to eat. I have adult balls, that by your recommendations should eat every 7-10 days, but will take food from me, if offered, every 5-6 days. I also have hatchlings that take food from me every 3 days like clockwork. My suggestion would be to offer food every 5 days regardless fo age, and ig they're hungry, they'll eat. If they're not, they won't. Don't force a meal on them, and they'll grow just fine.

When it comes to feeding ball pythons, they almost always go through stages, They feed great one year, then the next they might be picky. So when they are eating by all means feed them what ever they will eat. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but trust me I've never had a problem with any animals due to over feeding. Do you think they have someone in the wild regulating there food consumption. I hope this helps.

Jay Cassidy
Caveman Reptiles
"WE FEED TO BREED!"
cavemanreptiles.com

I tend to agree with your post. Yes, there are folks out there that say otherwise but I let my animals tell me when they're finished eating

I've noticed that they'll eat as much as you give them and either ignore more food offerings when they've had their fill or "act" like they're going to strike/coil the prey. That's just about all they do is "act" as they don't strike and tend to ignore the prey after some time has elapsed.

I haven't had any animals puke up anything yet (knock on wood).