One prey item, sized to the snake
A ball python's meal is a single whole rodent, and rats are the usual long-term choice because they match the snake's adult size better than a string of mice. The sizing rule is simple: the prey should be about as wide as the widest part of the snake's body — noticeably slimmer leaves a growing snake underfed, while oversized prey invites refusals and regurgitation. Weighing the snake now and then keeps sizing honest as it grows, because a python thickens gradually and last season's right size quietly becomes small. Prey that leaves no visible bulge at all after swallowing is a sign the next size up is due at the following feed.
How the weekly question actually resolves by age
Young ball pythons genuinely do eat about weekly, and a youngster working through appropriately sized rats thrives on that rhythm. Adults are different: a mature ball python fed a proper-sized rat every week is usually being fed too often, and every two to three weeks suits most adults far better. So the weekly answer is really a calendar question — in any given week, your snake either has a feed due or it does not, and knowing which is the difference between a lean, keen feeder and an overweight, fussy one. Watch the shape of the snake as the weeks pass: a healthy ball python is rounded but firm along the body, and a snake going soft and wide on a weekly adult schedule is telling you the interval, not the prey size, is what needs to change.
Frozen-thawed, served warm and unhurried
Offer prey frozen and thawed rather than live: it is safer for the snake, since a cornered rat can bite, and it lets you keep a stock matched to your snake's size. Thaw thoroughly and warm the prey to roughly body temperature so the snake's heat-sensing pits register it as food, then present it with tongs and a gentle wiggle in the evening, when ball pythons naturally hunt. Leave the snake in peace to swallow and settle, and skip handling for a couple of days afterwards so the meal stays down. Never refreeze a thawed rat that went uneaten — discard it and offer fresh at the next scheduled feed rather than shortening the interval out of guilt.
Refusals are information, not emergencies
Ball pythons are famous for fasting — many eat little through the cooler months or around a shed, and a healthy adult can skip meals for weeks without harm. What turns a fast into a concern is weight loss, a change in behaviour, wheezing or mucus at the nostrils, or a refusal that follows a change in the enclosure. Logging each offered meal, accepted or refused, alongside sheds and weights gives you that context at a glance, and it is exactly the history a vet will ask for if a fast ever needs investigating.
That history only exists if every feed, offered and accepted alike, gets written down somewhere the whole household uses. KinsLe's Care Teams keep the ball python's feeding log with timestamps on each entry, so a keeper can see the pattern across a season instead of relying on memory.