I could use some guidance

So I’m trying to figure out if I should keep on giving icy the (small rats) or if it is time to move on up to (medium rats)… the photo I’ve attached is the (medium rat). Can someone please let me know if I should try feeding this to her for the FIRST time or should I take it back and get the (small rats) still?

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There are many options on six of rats. I can tell you that I only give my 3500g snakes smalls… in fact I keep them on it for life. I don’t feel mediums are ever necessary and their wild food source are asf and they are no where near the size of a medium rat. That’s my opinion.

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I only feed my biggest (2500g+) females mediums, smalls are very sufficient to sustain weight in an adult, and I tend to agree with steelserpents that mediums are rarely necessary. If you do go up to mediums, keep in mind that it will take much longer to digest that - my snakes that take mediums eat absolutely no more often than every two weeks, and closer to every three, even during breeding season.

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The best way to accurately measure is to take 10 - 15% of your ball pythons weight and put that against the weight of the rat. Let’s say your ball python weighed 1500 grams. The weight of the meal, if you stuck to the 10-15% weight rule, would be 150 grams - 225 grams. I usually stick my animals between the 12/13% mark when feeding.

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To the OP, I agree with @steelserpents, most of them never need anything bigger than a small. Genetically larger females may need to bump up to medium if they grow beyond 3kg.

@akmorphs I think this rule works great for the first few years of a snake’s life. There is a break point where I feel it ceases to apply though. I had to go out to the rodent room and weigh some rats lol.

A 3000g ball does not need a 300-450g rat every feeding. 200-225g tops. Once they get over 4kg they surely don’t need 500-675g of food at a feeding. The female Fay is holding below only eats a medium rat a couple times a month and for a few weeks when I’m simulating spring she gets that once a week. If I fed her based on the 10-15% rule she’d be pretty obese as that would amount to one large and one small rat at every feeding.

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This is spot on imo

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You’re right. I should have stated that in the post. I think what you said for the 3000+ gram snake is :pinched_fingers: (hopefully thats the perfect emoji :joy:)

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I think this is a great topic and should be talked about more often. I noticed that once I started feeding all my snakes medium rats, they stopped eating as aften. They are healthy and in good shape, but not eating as often. I am planning on dropping down a size to see what happens. I know that at some point, meals will be more frequent. But I would rather have more frequent feedings then a guessing game as to who will eat this week and who won’t.