Ball Python Eats More than ONCE a WEEK?!

Question

I believe my Ball is 3months , i'd say he's a little over one foot straightened out in length next to a ruler. I feed him once a week, a small mouse, I believe they're refered to has "hoppers" they're white small but not weaned from their mother yet, so not full grown I suppose. I feed only frozen. Well I feed on wednesday night, then offered another thursday night (just cause), and he took it. He never waits either, a couple flicks of the tongue and BAM he bites it and begins to eat. So my question is....why is he eating more than one mouse? Are the mice not large enough that I'm providing? Should I continue to offer more until he has no interest in eating for the rest of the week, that way I know he is full? Thanks

Answer 1

You could feed him 2 small mice per week.  That seems fine, or you could feed him 1 larger mouse.  Your snake seems healthy, and as long as you don't force him to eat he will be fine.

Answer 2

Sounds like your snake is doing great.  Ball Pythons can be troublesome feeders for some keepers.  A rule of thumb is to feed it prey that is as large as the thickest part of the snake.  You can feed it slightly larger prey but do not go over 1 1/2 times the snakes thickest section. They can eat every 5-7 days at that age and may slow down their feeding in the winter months.  They can get attached to certain foods and refuse others.  I had a snake that would never accept rats and so I had to feed it several mice during a feeding.  You also don't need to worry you are over feeding it, that isn't an issue with baby ball pythons.  

Answer 3

hes eating more then one mouse because your feeding him more then one mouse. and i thought balls are sposto be bigger then that when theyre born. and if hes only a food you should probably be feeding pinkys. dont offer more beacuse he will probably eat them all. its not healthy for your snake and it will shorten its life.

Answer 4

Ball pythons seem to be lawn mowers when it comes to food.  What I would recommend would be to switch to rats.  They have a much lower fat percentage so there is more protein.  I feed mine a medium rat every seven days and he goes for it.  Yours sounds pretty young so might want to look into pinky rats.  Also, the younger you switch them to rats the better.

Answer 5

I always feed mine one med f/t every five days and the youngest one is of similar size to yours and takes it straight away..... As a rule you should only feed the a f/t every 5 to 7 days and it should be the same size( or up to 1 and 1/2) as the thickest part of his girth... it sounds as though the hoppers maybe a little to small. good luck with your snake..!  

Answer 6

sounds like he`s eating good just increase the size of the food and only offer it to him every 5-7 days he will be fine  

Answer 7

If you don't see a noticeable lump in its belly after eating, then you need to offer it bigger prey. One food item every 5 to 7 days is fine for a growing baby. My adults get one meal every two weeks.

Answer 8

Your snake is going to eat more because you are offering more.

Plain and simple. In the wild, snakes never know when their next meal is going to come. So they take what they can get.

As a general rule, you should feed your snake a mouse as big around as your snake is. I feed rat pups that are a little larger, myself, but not larger by much. Maybe a centimeter or so.

I have a 32 inch red tail boa, and I feed her a rat pup once a week. You don't want to feed more then once a week. It is called power feeding. A lot of people do it because it causes the snake to grow faster then normal. But this leads to health problems.

As hatchlings, snakes need to eat twice a week or so. But your snake is big enough that it is fine once a week. When it becomes full grown, it may need to be fed only every other week.