High versus low white pied feeding habits

[Serpent_Nirvana]

I'd always heard that pieds are supposed to be poor or picky feeders, but the no-white female I acquired about a month ago eats like a blood python.

I'm wondering if others have noticed any correlation between the degree of white and feeding frequency or habits -- ie, are your low-white pieds better feeders than your high-white pieds?

Only having the one animal to go by isn't of great statistical value to ride a hypothesis on, but I think it might make sense on a molecular/genetic level .......

[DC Reptiles]

I have a low white male and hes a great eater, but he'll only eat mice not rats. but I have heard the same things about albinos being picky eaters. I think it just varries with every animal out there.

[steveboos]

My Albino i used to own was a porker and put on 300 grams in 3 months. My Pied Male now eats great and i have no issues.

It all vaires by snake, there is no research or actual proof that low white eat better than high whites. It's all on the snake individually, not genetics or anything like that.

[Sarin]

I've heard this too but I really think it depends on the individual person and snake. My high white female Pied eats like a champ.

[loonunit]

My low white females eat like champs. My low white male only eats mice, and only every other Thursday. And only if the mice are smaller than his head.

[Serpent_Nirvana]

My Albino i used to own was a porker and put on 300 grams in 3 months. My Pied Male now eats great and i have no issues.

It all vaires by snake, there is no research or actual proof that low white eat better than high whites. It's all on the snake individually, not genetics or anything like that.

Out of curiosity, is your pied high or low white?

My reasoning for asking is because I've been hearing the "poor feeder pied" story for many years now -- enough to think that it may have some basis to it -- even if it's not a hard and fast rule. In many other species that express piebaldism, the piebald appearance is known to be due to a defect in neural crest cell migration which also can affect the myenteric ganglia -- the "second nervous system" inside the intestine. High-white piebald mice tend to have severe gastrointestinal motility problems ... If there was anything similar going on in high-white pied ball pythons, it could lead to them being picky feeders.

Obviously they would have to have SOME gut motility or they'd be dead, but perhaps having a hypomotile gut may make them digest slower, therefore having a depressed appetite ... Meh. Just a thought.

Also, I have to respectfully disagree that genetics could have nothing to do with feeding frequency and appetite. Even among normal ball pythons, you could conceivably line breed for animals that thrived in captivity and loved to eat, or animals that were maladapted to a captive environment, were chronically stressed and hated eating. So along the same lines, if the original founder of a given morph was a particularly "delicate," maladapted captive, his offspring may share some of the same genetic traits that made him such a poor doer.

Not that I'm saying that that's the case with pieds, either, but it could be another potential basis for the rumor.

[merdcme]

my low whites and med whites have all eaten great for me. my high white mojave pied female is picky. she eats probably 2 of every three offerings. dunno if its a genetic thing (i doubt it) but it does seem to be the case so far for me. im sure as i deal with more and more pieds i'll find this just to be coincidence.

[alan1]

i've heard that a pied from a visual x visual pairing is generally a slower feeder/grower that one from a pied x het pairing
how true that is, i don't know

here's my experience: (parentage in brackets)

med white male 1 - superb feeder (het x het)
med white male 2 - superb (not known)

med white female 1 - fairly good (pied x pied)
med white female 2 - good (not known)
low white female 3 - slow (not known)
med white female 4 - very slow (pied x pied)
low white female 5 - very slow (not known)
low white female 6 - superb (het x het)

[Brandon Osborne]

I also agree that genetics do play an important role in feeding. My original pied project started in 03 with a pair of hets. I've always heard that pieds and het pieds were picky feeders. My pair was proven at 30 months old and the females first clutch was 9 eggs. I held back 1.1 of 4 pied produced in the clutch. This same het female is now the largest ball python I've ever seen in person. She is over 5000 grams and consistently produces 13-15 eggs a year with only ONE slug/unhatched egg in her 6 year breeding history.

The female pied bred for her first time at 2 years old and produced 6 eggs from pied x pied. All of babies I've hatched have been great feeders. The recent pewter pieds we've hatched, which are 90%+ white are also great feeders. All from this year have just about tripled in weight. The only animals I've ever had problems with are pastels. They seem to do great until they hit the 800-1000 gram range.

Again, I stand behind the theory that a line that feeds great will produce offspring that feed great.

[ace_singapore]

I also agree that genetics do play an important role in feeding. My original pied project started in 03 with a pair of hets. I've always heard that pieds and het pieds were picky feeders. My pair was proven at 30 months old and the females first clutch was 9 eggs. I held back 1.1 of 4 pied produced in the clutch. This same het female is now the largest ball python I've ever seen in person. She is over 5000 grams and consistently produces 13-15 eggs a year with only ONE slug/unhatched egg in her 6 year breeding history.

The female pied bred for her first time at 2 years old and produced 6 eggs from pied x pied. All of babies I've hatched have been great feeders. The recent pewter pieds we've hatched, which are 90%+ white are also great feeders. All from this year have just about tripled in weight. The only animals I've ever had problems with are pastels. They seem to do great until they hit the 800-1000 gram range.

Again, I stand behind the theory that a line that feeds great will produce offspring that feed great.

Just borrow the thread and ask if you can add/mix anything in their water to increase the appettite? Thx