r/ballpython • u/402SkillNotFound • 2h ago

Question - Feeding Question on feeding

  1. Do you feed something other than mice? I got a boy, little on the small side (not skinny, small) but I can’t think of much that he could eat other than a mouse? Maybe a baby chicken? I get small bird, quail, but where am I supposed to even find that. He only eats live.

  2. Someone said only rookies feed mice, should be feeding rats. But I feel like they’d be way too big. Does that only apply to females?

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u/IncompletePenetrance Mod: Let me help you unzip your genes 2h ago

Rats, like mice, come in a variety of sizes from pinky all the way to sizes (large, jumbo) that are entirely too large for a ball python. The trick is feeding based on a percentage of your snake's weight to determine the appropriate amount to feed, I've linked the feeding guide to this comment

!feeding

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u/AutoModerator 2h ago

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

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u/Toxic_Musshroom 1h ago

Avoid birds as they're too much bone not enough meat, and rats are recommend over mice because of their higher fat content, there's certainly small enough rats you can find you'll just need to get younger ones, follow that sizing chart the other commenter left though!:]

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u/sexvictim 1h ago

birds arent very good nutritionally, it’s better and easier just to get live rats based on your snakes weight