Hi everyone,
I have a captive bred ball python that's about a year old and 3 feet long. When I purchased him, he was eating small adult mice. I've never had any problems getting him to eat, and he switched to frozen/thawed mice easily. When I purchased him, the breeder told me that to feed him a rodent about the same size around that he was at his largest point. I was following that rule for a while and had switched him to frozen "jumbo" mice. Recently though, I noticed that he seemed to be getting too big for the mice, and he would "act hungry" much faster (prowl around his cage looking for food the day after feeding him, instead of laying around content for several days). I bought him a frozen medium rat at the local pet store. I was worried it would be too big because it seemed at least twice as large as the mice I was feeding him, but it seemed the same size around as him, maybe only very slightly larger if that.
I fed it to him and he ate it just fine, but now I'm getting paranoid because even after a day, he looks quite lumpy and fat. He always seemed a little plump after eating until the mice really started to get too small for him, but this is the fattest I've seen him. It really was close to his width, but it was very long and bulky compared to the mouse. He hasn't regurgitated it or acted strangely, but I don't want to make him sick or overfeed him. Do you think the rat was too big? He really seems to need something larger than jumbo mice, but the local stores don't sell anything between the medium rat and jumbo mouse in size. Does this sound unhealthy, or is it okay for him to have a lump for a while? Should I keep him on the jumbo mice until I'm sure he's big enough for rats? I want him to grow properly.
Also, when I've been feeding him every 7-10 days, doing by the instructions of his breeder and some books. However, the books also imply that older balls are fed less, but gave no guidelines. How do I know when to feed him less frequently, or is this not true? Should I wait longer than 10 days since feeding him the rat? My vet has told me he's in exellent health and I just want to keep him that way. Thanks for any advice you can give.
