Ball Python What Size Rat

Ball pythons are carnivores and need to be fed meat on a regular basis.

Ball python what size rat. The rule of thumb for food suitable for ball pythons is to feed it a prey animal that is as large as the snake s thickest body section. I feed my python according to its body size not its weight. Don t forget to like comment and subscribe. This video was made to help new ball python keepers provide their ball pythons with the proper sized food for the best health and growth.

Ball pythons like other snakes eat varying sizes of prey depending on how big they are. A 5 foot ball python is considered big although lengths of 6 feet or. 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. Ball python size.

So for example if your ball python weighs 400g then you would buy feeders that weigh between 40 60g. Adult female ball pythons average 3 to 5 feet long and adult male ball pythons average 2 to 3 feet in size. The vast majority of ball pythons are fed on either rats or mice of a suitable size. Smaller and younger snakes may eat large crickets but should ideally be eating pinkies and fuzzies until they grow larger.

This is a species in which mature females are typically much larger than the males. A baby ball python can eat hopper mice or small adult mice or if you are dead set on rats you should be able to feed pinky rats. Ball python hatchlings are approximately 10 inches in length. This means that as a snake grows you will have to adjust the size of the prey fed to the snake to accommodate the snake s increasing size.

Based on the size of the python and the ease of finding food this tends to mean rodents in captivity. Adult ball pythons will eat adult mice and rats when they get big enough. Rats are no healthier then mice though i ve been feeding my kingsnake for 6 years on mice and he is the healthiest snake i know. Choosing prey that s too large can result in serious health issues for your pet snake.