Keeping your BPs at a certain size

[BJJPython]

I've been reading forums etc and have run across some comments from ppl about keeping their balls at a certain size, especially males. i.e. Trying to keep them around 1000g, to make them better breeders. Is this normal, and should they top out around this size? My male is around 1,400g, and he's around a year and a half old now. I don't over/power feed him or anything (if anything he gets "underfed" he gets 2 mice every 7 days, occasionally 3 when he decides he wants it,most times he refuses the third) but he keeps growing, and I don't feel I should try to keep him at a certain size. When I try to breed him this winter will he be more "lazy." he doesn't seem fat by anymeans, no space b/w scales etc. Thanks for the thoughts

[stevepoppers]

They say if he gets too big he won't breed as well. Idk if it's true, but it seems kinda cruel to intentionally starve an animal that would naturally continue to grow it's entire life enough to stop that growth.

[snakesRkewl]

The key to a strong male for breeding is to just feed him, not stuff him.
Feeding a male once a week or even every 10 days is perfect.

If 1000 is ideal I should just sell my 2200 gram male clown now, he's probably no good....

[Freakie_frog]

The key to a strong male for breeding is to just feed him, not stuff him.
Feeding a male once a week or even every 10 days is perfect.

If 1000 is ideal I should just sell my 2200 gram male clown now, he's probably no good....

Dibs

[snakesRkewl]

dibs

LOL

[j_h_smith]

I personally think that after 1500 grams, you can start maintenance feeding a male. I don't think you continue to feed that male like you did to get him to that size. He will continue to grow, but not at the same pace as he once did. A snake will continue to grow it's entire life, unless you starve that snake. So, trying to keep a snake at a certain weight isn't healthy and we all know, that a healthy snake is going to be a better breeder for you.

Jim Smith

[stevepoppers]

My friend (who eventually slipped from careful temp and humidity maintenence to none vet/bio major too) has a three or four year old male who at some point just quit eating every week, down to every three. She feeds by diameter. He's not very big, but he seems to know how much he wants/needs to eat. I'd guess he's about 800 grams. Just interesting how he keeps himself at that weight.

[Vypyrz]

I think it has more to do with Body Fat %, as to whether the snake is a lazy breeder or not...

[muddoc]

They say if he gets too big he won't breed as well. Idk if it's true, but it seems kinda cruel to intentionally starve an animal that would naturally continue to grow it's entire life enough to stop that growth.

I thought I would post our experience and interpretation on this subject. I am one of those that will put my males on a maintenance diet after they reach about 900 grams. I am one that falls in the group that likes to keep my males in the 800 - 1000 gram range. With that said, I feed my adult males every three weeks. If they get over 1000 grams, I do not adjust their diet to get them back down, I just continue to feed every three weeks. With that said, I have a Spider and Albino male that are 5 and 6 years old respectively. The Spider is about 700 grams and the Albino is about 1400 grams. They are offered food like everyone else, but they only eat about 4 rats per year.

I quote steve above, because I don't see how this can be considered cruel. I do not mean that if someone intentially "starves" (read as offers food 2 or 3 times a year) that it is not cruel. However, we feed ours a "maintenance" diet, and they seem to thrive and do a great job during breeding season. In the wild, there is no owner there dropping a rodent in the snake den every 7 days. They may go a month or more without a meal, and seem to thrive just fine. Many adult animals brought in from the wild do not look anywhere near as full and robust as a captive animal. They definitely look more "lean" and sometimes downright skinny.

To each his own, but I thought I would share how we do it,

[DC Reptiles]

I want my snakes to be as big and healthy as possible. But healthy is the key word. I dont belive in power feeding to get them bigger just so you can breed them. I feed all my snakes once a week on the same day every week. Sometimes they eat sometimes they dont. If they dont eat then, then they wait another week until feeding day comes around again. This has worked great for me and my snakes are gaining weight great. I think it would be harder to try and keep them at a certain weight, then to just feed them and let them grow.