Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had snakes before, but not a ball python. I bought him from a pet store for $99.00. They said he was supposed to be cinnamon or something, anywho I don't trust pet stores all that well so I figure I probably got a normal. He's so cute though so it doesn't matter. Getting down to the question, he's a young one (around a foot long) how many little mice would you feed him a week? and they didn't know his sex and I was wondering if you could tell visually, I never liked the idea of probing or popping.

Probably one pinky or hopper (no bigger than the thickest part of the snake) per week or less. Hope that helps.
J-G

Normal sized hatchlings should take hopper sized mice with no problem so you shouldn't have to start with anything smaller than that. You want something around the same diameter as the thickest part of the snake, so probably a hopper or small adult mouse. Personally when they are babies I prefer to feed one meal about every 5 days. This seems to em going nicely.

As for determining the sex you would either have to have it popped or probed, you can not tell by looking with ball pythons.

Hope this helps,
George Knaack
GLK HERP
www.reptilenews.com

Hey, thanks guys for helping