Is there such thing as overfeeding your ball pythons?

[threezero]

So I used to feed my bp on a 7 day schedule and one small rat each time. Lately because I have setup a little breeding colony (still waiting on babies, but thats another story) I have room to make house alot of rats for feeding purposes. I have switch to feeding whenever I see my snakes hungry. One of my girl just hit the 1100g mark few days ago (12 baby) and she is an absolute beast when it comes to feeding. For the last 2 feeding session, she was no content with just one rat. She would gobble down the first rat and immediately be looking for another rat. When I toss the next rat in she would get the rat almost instantly. After two rats she looks absolutely stuffed and at that point would calm down and stop looking for food.

Now I have been getting some grief from another ball python forum I frequent, the people tell me that I should not be feeding my girl so many rats even though she seems hungry. The rats I'm feeding her are approximate 100g each so with 2 rats thats over the recommend prey to snake size ratios. I've been told that feeding her like that will actually make her go off feed because she feels that she is too fat and that she could be off feeding for months if that does happen. I've also been told that stuffing her like that will also cause her to regurgitate her food. I have experience none of the above so far, but I have to admit she does look.......fat lol. I feel like snakes are intelligent enough to refuse food when they cannot take anymore but what do i know i've only been keeping snakes for a few months....

so is it better to stick to a feeding schedule and only feed 1 rat each time or should I stick with what I'm doing right now?

[SnowShredder]

Wow 1100g for a 2012 baby! Holy my largest 2012 is 350g.
I know there can be health issues with obese animals, and also health issues when they are grown up extremely quickly.
The boaphile did an experiment with powerfeeding and none of the boas lived past 3 years, but I know balls are a lot more "round" then boas so I don't think the exact same thing applies, but you get the idea.
I would personally feed one a week. My 1400g female is eating mediums once a week

[threezero]

i always thought powerfeeding as forcing down a second rat into the snake just as he/she is about to finish the first rat? Or is what I'm doing consider powerfeeding too?

[Mike41793]

When in 2012 was she born?
My hypo is just about 1 year old and approaching 900g. My lesser that i got at the exact same time is 500ish grams. My hypo just eats more.

Imo, you're not over feeding. Im sure some will disagree though. My opinion is: if they're hungry they'll eat, and if they aren't hungry, we all know darn well they won't eat lol.

[Mike41793]

i always thought powerfeeding as forcing down a second rat into the snake just as he/she is about to finish the first rat? Or is what I'm doing consider powerfeeding too?

Correct, that's powerfeeding. Force feeding the snake a second rat as they finish the first.

[threezero]

When in 2012 was she born?
My hypo is just about 1 year old and approaching 900g. My lesser that i got at the exact same time is 500ish grams. My hypo just eats more.

Imo, you're not over feeding. Im sure some will disagree though. My opinion is: if they're hungry they'll eat, and if they aren't hungry, we all know darn well they won't eat lol.

I don't remember exactly but I believe she's an august baby. I also have another ball python born around the same time and she is just a little over 900g. I also have a carpet python that is 1 or 2 month younger than the balls that is not even 200g..... I figure if she is hungry she will eat it, I never force any of my snakes to eat if they don't want to and my 1100g girl just seems to be a monster.....

[KMG]

You absolutely can over feed a snake.

Stick to a regular feeding size and schedule. It is not worth your collection health just to be able to breed sooner. I personally would not buy a hatching from a breeder with obese and under age snakes. You could really hurt your reputation with these practices.

Just like a horse, dog, or person can over eat so can a snake. Some are just pigs. Both my gtp and ball act like they want second rats but they only get what is right for them.

[4theSNAKElady]

I wont exactly say "yes" to that with certainty....for a ball python. But, yes many colubrids and other snakes can turn into lil fatties if you let them. As of now, i personally have NEVER seen proof of an obese ball python.
I personally feed my bps as much as they want to eat. Ive rather have them be pigs than go for months and months without eating.

sent from my incubator via tapatalk

[Mike41793]

You absolutely can over feed a snake.

Stick to a regular feeding size and schedule. It is not worth your collection health just to be able to breed sooner. I personally would not buy a hatching from a breeder with obese and under age snakes. You could really hurt your reputation with these practices.

Just like a horse, dog, or person can over eat so can a snake. Some are just pigs. Both my gtp and ball act like they want second rats but they only get what is right for them.

Comparing snakes to horses, dogs and people, is like comparing lollipops to bath tubs. If you wanna take that stance, then i'll counter with: well people have different metabolisms, why can't snakes? Same goes for dogs. Not every GSD/retriever/apbt grows EXACTLY the same. My hypo is almost twice the size of my lesser even tho i got them at the same time. Shes not fat by any means and my lesser isn't skinny by any means. We're talking about only bp's here, other species are different.

[SnowShredder]

i always thought powerfeeding as forcing down a second rat into the snake just as he/she is about to finish the first rat? Or is what I'm doing consider powerfeeding too?

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were powerfeeding. I was just trying to use that as an example of a possible detrimental effect of over eating.