A few questions for people that know a lot about ball pythons..?

Question

We have had our ball python, Jax, for about two years now and he is doing great, but I have a few questions. He's about 3-3 1/2 feet now and we have been feeding him two small mice every other week. Some people have told us to feed him every week instead of every other week and some people have told us to feed him once a month. How often do you think we should feed him? We have been feeding him the same way for the last almost 2 years now and he is doing good, so I don't really see the point in changing anything, but because everyone is telling us something different I figured I'd ask on here and see what people say.

This isn't our first, but it's our first snake that we have had this long. We use to have a 6ft boa and another ball python, but she was about 1ft. We went through a hard time about 3 years ago and we had to give them to better homes : ( We got Jax as soon as we were settled into our new home and doing good again and now we have had him almost 2 years. He isn't thin, he isn't searching for food in between meals and he always eats right away when we feed him, so he looks and acts like he's doing great, but because I have been hearing so many different things lately I figured I'd ask. Thanks for the answers! : )

No, we don't feed him fuzzies, we haven't ever feed him fuzzies (that's what we use to feed Roxy, our 1ft ball python), we feed him small feeder mice.. lol! I don't know what else to call them besides that. They are bigger than fuzzies and smaller than adult mice, but they look like the adult mice.

ferrisulf.. Jax is going to the vet next week (along with one of our dogs), so I guess I will see then. He looks perfect to me, not under weight and not over weight. I'll see if I can get a decent picture and post it, but like I said, I was just wondering because I have recently heard so many different things from different people. Thanks for your answer! : )

Answer 1

Its more or less personal preference. As long as the snake is healthy and is not emaciated, you're doing fine. If the snake is routinely restless/ looking for a way out, he may be hungry, searching for food, and not being fed enough. I have a ball python I feed one adult mouse/week. My big rainbows get 1 large rat/week. I also have a red tail who gets one big rat/month, that's as often as he will eat.
Basically, as long as the snake is eating regularly/readily, and not going hungry, its fine.

Answer 2

Well, I've never really heard of giving a snake two meals in one sitting, so maybe you should feed Jax one good sized meal (but, no larger than his girth at the largest area) about every 10 days. Some people feed more often (once a week) or less often (once a month). The most probable reason some are fed once a week is because the owner hasn't adjusted his feeding from when he was a baby. All babies are fed one a week after their very first shed. As for only feeding once a month, I have no idea, but I, personally, have never done it and will never do it.

Anyway, just knock it down to a good sized rat or mouse (rats have more nutrience, but are also a little bit more expensive) every 10 days or so and see how Jax is handling it. If he starts to lose weight or gain weight, adjust.
Snakes are difficult, they can't walk up to their food bowl and rattle it like a dog does. So, the only way to know what's best for your indiviual snake is to just watch and monitor.

Good luck!

Answer 3

How often really depends on your preference. Snakes in the wild have no set feeding schedule. They eat when they find food. Snakes in captivity are fed when someone decides to feed them, which is often too much. Breeders overfeed so they can push females to breeding size a lot quicker. Balls are known to become overweight easily. I have a 2 yr old female that will sometimes only eat every 2 weeks, other times it is every week. I do recommend changing your food items though. I would only feed him 1 prey item a little thicker than the thickest part of his body. My yearlings are eatting small rats and my 2 yr old is on med rats. I feed small mice to babies that are a couple months old.

Answer 4

-shrugs- I offer my four ft ball python (he's still growing! *.*) two dead adult mice every two weeks. (What do you mean by "small" mice? Babies? Cause babies or fuzzies aren't enough for an adult bp) If he rejects them, I'll wait at least another week before feeding him. Never offer food more than once a week. When you take Jax to the vet for regular six-month check ups, the vet will tell you if he's overweight. What you're doing sounds fine by my book.

Answer 5

Even young snakes can go extensive periods without eating so a couple of weeks will be fine. I usually feed my new snakes when they arrive so that they get a meal into them before they go into "shipping shock" and then this allows them several days to get acclimated to their new home while having already eaten. I normally don't wait so long after getting a snake to handle it...a week is usually sufficient provided the snake is relatively calm. If you find it won't eat after that, then refrain from handling until it does. Ball pythons are notorious for failing to eat so don't be surprised if yours won't. One of the reasons I don't recommend buying ball pythons for a first snake and I never recommend them from a pet store of any kind because they are often exports from farms overseas. Most of them have not taken f/t prey of any kind. Unless the person says that they were born and bred here in the US they were farmed and then imported. Feeding in the cage is fine as long as you remove substrate before feeding. It is incorrect that people assume the snake will associate the hand with feeding if you also clean, change water and handle as well as feed. Feeding responses can be trained even in snakes being fed in another container. Mine only come out for feeding, so they immediately go into feeding mode the minute it's dark and the cage is opened to remove them for feeding. They've never been fed in the cage (my cornsnakes) but will bite anyway since they know they are about to be fed. Your pet will be handled frequently for things other than feeding and his cage will be opened for more than feeding as well. He'll never know if you are going to feed or not so there should be no trained feed response. If you feed in a separate box, remove the snake once he's fully taken the mouse. It will be fine. Beware of a continued feeding response though. Some snakes are pretty enthusiastic about food and if you reach in to take them from the feeding box, they will still be in that mode. Make sure your hands are clean and free from the smell of rodent before sticking it in there.

Answer 6

Id switch to feeding Jax one correctly sized mouse or rat. Feed Jax a rodent no larger than the widest part of your snake. Feed about every 10 days. Check out kingsnake.com they have a great bp forum.

Answer 7

Over the years I have had several Ball Pythons. They are my favorite Breed. As adults I fed mine two mice every week. Even tho Pythons are slow metabolizers I think feeding them every other week is a bit to long between feedings. I had one large male that ate one rat every week. Hope this helps...

Answer 8

Normally, for younger snakes it is recommended that they are fed every 7-14 days. They can hold their weight for longer than that without any detrimental effects. Your snake sounds like it is doing fine on the plan that he is on. I would not change it.

Answer 9

As long as he's doing fine I wouldn't change a thing. Every animal is different. If this is your first then you probably don't know anything about forcefeeding. You should feel lucky. I try to buy snakes that eat on their own. You use what works. Those people telling you this stuff are probably former owners. If they lost theirs I wouldn't believe anything they said!!!!

Answer 10

I like to recommend websites that have experts in this field. Here are a few of my favorites:

http://www.ballpythonforum.com/forums/index.php?s=592174d57f067613130a119c5216a9f7&
http://my.pclink.com/~dkelley/python.html
http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/
http://www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com/content.asp?cid=8
http://ballpython.com/page.php?topic=ballfaq#7