I'm getting a ball python and will be breeding rats for it

[PrehistoricPets]

If it possible can someone give me a feeding chart (in rats please) and how old or how heavy the rat and snake is, Thanks in advance.

[KORBIN5895]

I am sorry but I am not sure what you are asking for. Are you asking how often to feed your royal and what size to feed it? ( 2 points for me for being nice!)

[Lankyrob]

The rats should be about 1.5 times the girth of the thickest part of the snake, i tend to go for nearer 2 times the girth and feed every 7 days for the first year and then every 14 days after that.

[Jay]

Must resist....

Feed rats a rodent diet.
Feed your bp a rat roughly the same size as the girth.

[mykee]

Where as I prefer to feed smaller items. Easier to digest, they retain more of the rodent weight (a five year "study" I did back in the day) and their turn-around time for their next feeding is slightly quicker.

[lady_bug87]

mykee, would you mind expanding on that?

[mykee]

I misplaced the actual study results, but the jist of it was this: I fed 10 adult females meals that were 20% of their weight once a week for a year.
I fed a different 10 adult females meals that were 10% of their weight once a week for a year.
The results were the females that were fed 10% of thier weight gained more body weight over a year and not a single one of them went of feed for that period. While the females that I fed 20% meals to not only gained less overall body weight, but many of them went off food for weeks or even months at a time.

[MoreliAddict]

Mykee, super genius. Thanks for explaining that.

[Gungirl]

Good to know Mykee.. I keep seeing people say they feed 2-3 times the girth of their royal and I could never do that to mine. I understand they CAN take that large of prey but there is no need to stress them out with it.

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by Gungirl

Good to know Mykee.. I keep seeing people say they feed 2-3 times the girth of their royal and I could never do that to mine. I understand they CAN take that large of prey but there is no need to stress them out with it.

Can you explain what you mean by "stress them out"? They wont take anything that they cant eat sizewise so i dont see where the stress is?

[Gungirl]

I think that the larger the prey Item is the harder it is for them to eat it. Snakes are built to eat very large prey because in the wild they don't have food always handed to them. I think that when they eat a larger prey Item it causes stress on their system to deal with a mass amount of food at once. It takes them a lot of energy to break down and use that food item. Now a smaller meal takes less work to break down and turn into fuel making smaller food less stressful on their entire system. Seeing as you give your snake food as it needs it then there is no reason to feed very large prey Items just because the snake can take it.

Just my thoughts..

[mykee]

"I understand they CAN take that large of prey but there is no need to stress them out with it. "

Lol... It's a guy thing I guess...

I agree with you regarding the stress issue as well, whether or not they are capable and willing to eat a meal clearly too large for them, doesn't mean that we, as their keepers should allow a snaketo dictate what common sense should throw up a red flag for.
Most of us are smarter than our snakes.
I hope.

That said, quite frankly, I could care less what others do with their snakes, feed them something 50% their size for all I care.
I know what works, I didn't read something on Wikipedia and make it The law, I took the time and figured it out for myself.

[lady_bug87]

Originally Posted by mykee

I misplaced the actual study results, but the jist of it was this: I fed 10 adult females meals that were 20% of their weight once a week for a year.
I fed a different 10 adult females meals that were 10% of their weight once a week for a year.
The results were the females that were fed 10% of thier weight gained more body weight over a year and not a single one of them went of feed for that period. While the females that I fed 20% meals to not only gained less overall body weight, but many of them went off food for weeks or even months at a time.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing your results

[jaleely]

Yeah, but Mikey, *could* you care less???

teehee!

Anyway, I too agree that it's not truly necessary to feed the snake as much as it can handle, but I have seen, and my husband insists, that it is "good" for them...something about the pressure on their organs to actually eat a large meal.
Don't know too much about that.

I feed what looks about right...lol
I eyeball the snake, and do maybe twice their girth at the widest point. I have snakes all different ages, sizes, and species.

I've had a ball python once eat a rat that i felt was too big for him, but he got it down and happily. I've also had one of my hognoses take a mouse and i thought he would be fine, but it took him forEVER and as soon as he got it in, he threw it right back up (this was like a year ago, and it was strictly a size thing for him. It wasn't anything else wrong.)

I also have a carpet python that refuses meals she thinks are too big (and they're not, so it's really annoying lol). At least i finally got the little brat onto rats.

Anyway, since i don't pump up the females for breeding I usually just eyeball everyone and feed as needed. Some people think that's horrible. I've tried to do the schedule thing, and the list of feedings etc., but no one ever wants to cooperate with me, so I gave up. I usually just wait until they ask. And despite what some people think, I always know when my snakes will take food because they beg. Every animal begs in it's own way, and i'm firm on that opinion!

[franks]

Would anybody mind explaining why the "common consensus" is to feed snakes on a regular schedule? I hear it advocated frequently, but am not sure.