Ball Python Prey Size
This essentially involves making three decisions.
Ball python prey size. The royal python python regius also called the ball python is a python species native to west and central africa where it lives in grasslands and shrublands it is listed as least concern on the iucn red list because of its wide distribution. It is threatened by hunting for its meat and for the international pet trade. The vast majority of ball pythons are fed on either rats or mice of a suitable size. Based on the size of the python and the ease of finding food this tends to mean rodents in captivity.
Ball pythons are carnivores and need to be fed meat on a regular basis. Below we ve put together a handy chart for figuring out the right size food item for your ball python and the appropriate feeding schedule. Ball python hatchlings are approximately 10 inches in length. A 5 foot ball python is considered big although lengths of 6 feet or.
Ball pythons can be fed exclusively mice or small to medium sized rats as appropriate for the size of the snake and only need to be fed every week or two. Choosing prey that s too large can result in serious health issues for your pet snake. Prey selection for ball pythons. This is a species in which mature females are typically much larger than the males.
This nonvenomous constrictor is the smallest of the african pythons. Most snakes should be fed a size of prey that is about the same size around as the snake s body at its widest point. What do ball pythons eat. You must decide what species to feed your pet you must determine the proper prey size to offer your snake and you must decide whether you want to feed your pet live or frozen thawed prey.
Jen and kyle show the size of frozen mice we carry and help describe what size is best for young ball pythons. Again it is always important to tailor the prey size offered and the feeding schedule implemented to your individual snake s needs but the information below should serve as a good starting point. Young snakes should be fed fuzzy mice every 5 to 7 days while older snakes should be fed increasingly larger prey and can go a little longer up to two weeks. Ball python size.