Ball python feeding.?

Question

i have a 18'' ball python and the pet store was no help determining the size of mouse it should eat so i bought the smallest they had. its a small adult. do you think it is to big? Snake head size is about bigger that a quarter at the back.

Answer 1

give it small rat

Answer 2

You should feed rodents that are no bigger around than the fattest part of your snake (usually being the mid-section).

Your snake's lower jaw can separate to accommodate larger prey.

Answer 3

From the size, I'd start by trying with at least an adult mouse. I have 2 pastels & a spider morph right now now that are 24", 27", & 28" and are both eating (larger) rat pups & small rats except for the spider (24"). He's a bit of a finicky eater & hesitant around food, so the adult mice are just small enough to make him feel confident enough to strike at them. Feel free to contact me if you have anymore questions though. ^_^

Answer 4

The maximum width the prey should be is the maximum girth of the snake plus a couple of inches. I would advise that if you are unsure, that you use a smaller size and feed the snake several to see how hungry it is. If it eats lots of small ones, move it up to the next size. Snakes are very greedy and will eat things bigger than themselves, but don't feed it anything too big or it might have problems breathing as it eats the food.

Answer 5

it should be fine.  normally the mouse should be a little bigger than the snakes head.

Answer 6

First, I always recommend feeding dead/frozen prey.  Live prey can injure your snake.

There are as many opinions about feeding snakes as there are snake breeders/collectors.  It's usually a good 'rule of thumb' to offer prey items which are about as large around as your snake's head is across.  So, if you're looking down the length of a mouse (the way a snake does to swallow it), the mouse should be across about the same width as the snake's head is wide (it's not bulging out of both sides of the snake's mouth, as it swallows).

It's better to feed a couple of smaller prey animals, than to try to do it cheaply and give the snake one too large animal.

So, if your Ball is 18," then medium sized mice shouldn't be a problem for it.

I always recommend having your reptile vet resolve any information dilemmas you come upon.  After all, you only want to do what's best for the animal.

I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 7

The rule of thumb is not to feed the snake any pray bigger than the girth of the snake.