my snakes and beardie

Question
I have a bearded dragon, he's about 1 foot long and in good shape. I am confused about substrate.. he came to me with rabbit pelets, but I purchased repti-sand and put him in that. is that healthy and ok  for him?Also I have 3 new ball pythons that were abandoned. they eat just fine but I think Im over feeding them. Is there a set scale for length and with that tells you how much they should eat and how often, I have a small med and large.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Linda

Answer
Hello Linda,

Unfortunately, the repti sand is just as bad as the rabbit pellets as it can cause terrible impactions.  The best thing for substrate is tiles, non adhesive shelf liner, paper towels, or felt liner.
The ball pythons, if they are adults, they can be fed monthly to maintain their weight & help support growth.  If they are younger adults or juveniles, they could be fed weekly, or every other week.  Are they going to the bathroom, regularly?
I don't know of any set scale for length & weight because it varies so much due to genetics.  Most adults will hit 1200+ grams.  Do you have their weights & lengths at all?  Babies & hatchies usually weigh less than 100 grams at 16 or so inches in length & then they just slowly put on weight from there.  


Tracie