What should i feed him!

[Invictus]

Originally posted by mykee
if my hatchling had ate a food item that made him look like he swallowed a beer bottle, Firstly, I would be an irresponsible snake owner, and secondly, I would probably have a dead ball.

Ummmm.... wrong on both.

Even my corn snakes look like a beer bottle after I feed them. That's how they feed. They are snakes, not people. If my corns look like a beer bottle, and they are nowhere near as flexible as boids, what makes you think that giving a BP something 1.5 times his own girth is going to harm it in any way? You should see my male BCI take down a 1 lb rabbit. He looks like a 2L coke bottle. And ya know what? He's totally content, extremely healthy and shiny, and growing like a weed. In fact, he's grown a foot in the last 6 months. So, no, you won't have a dead ball. You will have a healthy, happy ball if someone can look at it from 10 feet away and say "Wow! He's full!"

[BoidKeeper]

Even the Sutherlands will tell you smaller meals more often if you want them to grow. True they are not people but a really large meal can be hard on their system. A smaller meal is easier to digest and they can be on the move again a lot sooner and ready for a second one. They eat what they can in the wild and sometimes it's a huge meal because they take what they can get but that doesn't mean that it's the best choice for them.
Feed your snakes what ever you want, their your snakes. I will say that I've had great sucess with feeding my snakes smaller meals more often. I go with a meal that is equal to or slightly smaller then their girth. I go big sometimes too but as a rule I tend to stay at the snakes girth and this has worked great for me.
Cheers,
Trevor

[mykee]

Invictus, I think you misunderstood my post, I am talking about ball python hatchlings, if you have ever seen a hatchling BP, they are **MAYBE** the circumference of your thumb. if you fed a snake that size an item that made him look like a beer bottle, you would have a DEAD BP. Well, actually, you wouldn't because they're not stupid and wouldn't eat something that big. Plain and simple. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a BIG fan of feeding your BP's enormous food items, I feed all of my balls, from hatchlings right up to my big females much larger than the "width of the largest part' crap. I feed more like double that. I've never had a snake regurge, so I must be doing something right. However, there is a point where common sense takes a backseat for the "let's see HOW big" mentality.