is a strict feeding schedule necessary?

[tttaylorrr]

when i got my guy, he was 2 months old (6 months old now) and i fed him every 5 days like clock-work. when he got his first large mouse he actually seemed reluctant (never seem him act so carefully before striking) so then i changed it to every 6 days. now, i'm a human being prone to error, and sometimes i forget (my Time2Feed app is quick to remind me tho) or i'm out of town on his feeding day, or if i'll be gone for more than 6 days i'll feed him a day early.

my question is, is a strict feeding schedule necessary? obviously in the wild their meal isn't guaranteed, but i'm wondering if this is bad for his growth?

[200xth]

No. It's not going to hurt him to have his feeding schedule changed by a day here or there.

[nightrainfalls]

Some people, myself included keep a schedule because as we get older we forget things. The snake is evolved over millions of years to have meals whenever the meal presents itself. They can very easily go two or three months without food at all. Of course I am not recommending that, unless your python is on a hunger strike. The schedule is more for the keeper than the snake. You could for example give a 24" inch python a fuzzy a day for three days, then wait a week and give a small mouse, then wait a week and a half and give a medium mouse, then wait for a couple of weeks and give four fuzzies over six days. The snake would be just fine. I would have to keep a scratch pad to keep it straight. So to make things easy, corn snake eats on Monday, rainbow on Tuesday, bci on Wednesday, ball on Thursday. That way there is always at least one snake I can handle without worrying about stressing a digesting snake. Often I travel on weekends so keep my feeding on week days.


David