Male breeding weight...Diet?

I have male het pied I'm going to breed next year. He's sitting at 1600+grams. Brian @ snakebytestv from bhb repties says he keeps his males under 1000 grams because they get lazy if over 1000 grams. Should I put my male on a diet? Go from 1 rat a week to 1 every 2 weeks? Also my other males are around the 500 gram mark, should I keep them under 1000 grams for the rest of their lives? Or does Brian mean when they get over 1000 grams they're retired from his breeding program? Thanks

Overweight animals tend to be poor breeders--BHB just means they like to keep their males trim, without a lot of extra weight--but they still need to be a healthy weight, and well able to withstand the long fast over the winter.

How much an adult male should weigh in order to be 'trim' rather than skinny is going to depend entirely on the individual animal. Some males are quite small, and some are simply not--they can be as long as a female. I would think a 5 foot male to be underweight if it only weighed 1000 grams. I would be more comfortable with an animal that size weighing at least 1500. But males rarely get that long.

All of my male breeders are under 1000 grams but 1. My Goblin male is actually a 2000 gram beast. I don't feed him heavy but he just seems to keep growing. As for him breeding, let's just say if your wearing short sleeves he would probably have a go at your arm. Perfect clutches all the time also, but I would still prefer 1000 grams or less.

Hi guys,

Just want to jump on this as I just got a male pastel that bred successfully last year. He's sitting at about 1200 grams. So far he's been very sweet and doesn't bite or hiss, but when I take out the rats man oh man is he HUNGRY. My question is this: if I deny him food to keep him trim is he going to get grumpy at some point?

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Originally Posted by Payton MacDonald

Hi guys,

Just want to jump on this as I just got a male pastel that bred successfully last year. He's sitting at about 1200 grams. So far he's been very sweet and doesn't bite or hiss, but when I take out the rats man oh man is he HUNGRY. My question is this: if I deny him food to keep him trim is he going to get grumpy at some point?

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Well wouldn't you get grumpy? I'd imagine that if he's still growing (and I don't mean just in the outward direction!) then he still needs to be fed. Just don't let him get chubby.

You know I asked this same question in another thread, and there are plenty of breeder males over 1000 grams.

The big thing seems to be, not to let them get overweight.

Gale

Three of my four breeder males are over 1200grams. The other is only around 900grams, but he is younger. My 1700gram fire is a breeding machine! However this big boy is fit and not overweight.

I would say if your male is not getting noticably longer definitely go to a two week/maintenance type feeding schedule. You don't want him to be as round as your females :D

Good luck!

I hear both sides of this from a few of my friends that been breeding for years. I would keep him with a nice healthy look, not too fat or skinny. but the females, I let them put on alot more weight.