Help question

Losing grams ? How much do you want a snake to weight especially being over 1 year ?

I feed 10/15 percent and lately it’s been 10 percent of their weight

I have a ball at 1065 her lowest feed was 102 gram rat

Feeding schedule is aprox every 2 weeks

I only feed live. I’ve tried frozen thawed several times. I even offered a 20 gram mouse and that was a no go.

I knock the rats out and feed my snakes.

Typically being around 600-700 grams at a year for a BP is normal. Looking at the photo of the Genetic Stripe it definitely looks like they have some scale spread, indicating obesity. Just like people Ball Pythons can have different body structure, some are naturally shorter or longer. Some grow faster and some take a long time to grow. This BP may be packing on more fat than necessary, I’d stick with just 10% weight rats every 10-14 days. So I’d feed her 65-70g rats every 2 weeks.

Her lowest was a 102 gram rat? What is her avg rat weight? 102 grams is actually near perfect for feeding a 1065g BP.

The reason I said it wouldn’t hurt your snake to lose a few grams is that it wont hurt her to go off of food for a few months at her current weight. My girl that went off of food for 7 months only lost I believe around 90 grams, she began her food strike at the yearling mark weighing in at 680 grams. Right now at 4 years old she’s pushing almost 1700 grams.

My basic rule of thumb for the 10/15 weight ratio is feeding them 10% their weight every 10 days if they are at a healthy weight or 10% every 2 weeks if they are a bit overweight; Feeding 15% of their weight every 10 days if they are underweight until they reach a healthy point were they can go back to 10% every 10 days.

Heres some good visual illustrations I go off of.


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