Will a ball python take too large of a meal?

[Mrr]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I would cut back on meals to every 2 weeks and probably go to a small rat for a bit. Saves you a bit of money and the snake will be fine and grow at an alright weight.

I generally used the 10 - 15% weight rule for my ball pythons. 135 gram rat (Which is in the medium range for most suppliers) would be 15% of your 900 gram ball python.

If you're not hoping to breed her I would slow down a bit though.

Thank you! I'll jot that down for future reference when determining prey size, and start to space my meals out a bit more. I am hoping to breed her at some point (next winter if she makes weight in a HEALTHY way, if not I'm happy to give her another year). I don't want to be power feeding her by any means, and definitely didn't mean to be doing that. She just has a strong feeding response and usually by about 10 days after a meal she's out seemingly hunting for the next one.. buut I suppose I shouldn't be feeding her just because I think she's hungry.. My bad!

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Mrr

Thank you! I'll jot that down for future reference when determining prey size, and start to space my meals out a bit more. I am hoping to breed her at some point (next winter if she makes weight in a HEALTHY way, if not I'm happy to give her another year). I don't want to be power feeding her by any means, and definitely didn't mean to be doing that. She just has a strong feeding response and usually by about 10 days after a meal she's out seemingly hunting for the next one.. buut I suppose I shouldn't be feeding her just because I think she's hungry.. My bad!

Ball pythons and most snakes are opportunistic feeders. They generally will eat when they can because they are unsure when the next meal might be.

I would stick to a small rat every week if you're planning on breeding her until roughly 1000 - 1100 grams.