Is overfeeding harmful?

Ok, lets start with defining what I mean here. I'm asking about if a twice a week feeding scedule will have negative effect on a snakes long term health. I don't mean feeding multiple large items at each feeding or anything, just an appropriate sized meal say every 4 days. Are there any proven negative impacts from doing this? I just wonder since most of the breeder I have asked seem to say that it's harmless, then someone freaks and says I'm killing my animals. I know this has probably come up before, but I'm a little search challenged and couldn't find anything.

To be honest I have yet to see any evidence proving that a feeding schedule would have any negative impact on the animal. I have known a lot of breeders that have done it and had no issues what so ever. I personally have not done a feeding schedule like that unless the snake was very underweight and then it was smaller prey items twice a week until it was up to proper size.

In the context of Python regius I have never heard of feeding every four days to produce obesity and related conditions that could be directly tied back to the excess weight from excess feeding. As a personal rule I do not feed any more frequent than every 5 days for all snakes, many will feed every 4 days and all will be well; however, it is not allowed in my personal methodology. For other species like scrubs, obesity is a major concern tied directly to over eating...the species is voracious and would eat daily, however it would end in an obese animal not breeding properly and dying prematurely. Morelia viridis has similar concerns but to a much lesser extent, my adult scrub eats monthly whereas my GTPs will vary throughout the year eating every two weeks, then every three weeks. There have been recent fears of obesity in the Boa constrictor complex, you now often hear of keepers promoting a light feeding schedule producing a well rounded physique in specimens (apparently it is called the "square shape" now). Really, it's just another thing boa keepers will argue over...I have successfully cared for pristine specimens grown both slowly and some that were grown rapidly. Out of the 30 that I cared for I saw no significant difference in health, breeding, behavior, litter size, etc... the only real difference I could observe was the rate of growth (obviously).

In my experience, if my bps are hungry, i say let em eat. I have babies that eat every few days, and i have lg adults that eat every 7-10 days. Some skip a meal or two. Unless its a baby, i offer all my snakes food every Friday. If they wanna eat they eat. They dont they they dont. Even though some claim to own/have seen an obese ball python, i still to this day have yet to see one. So, imo i dont believe it happens. Other snakes, yeah. But not BPs. Hope this helps.

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In my opinion... If the snake is otherwise healthy, it's nutritional and caloric needs are being met, there's no problem.

From my limited experience... my youngsters seem to do best at a 4-5 days feeding schedule. Once they reach about 800g they start slowing down to every 7 days. The two girls I have that are 1000+g do best on a 7-10 day schedule. Each snake is an individual, and as long as their needs are met and they are healthy...

Thanks and keep it coming everyone. And yes I was really talking mosly about young snakes, bps in particular, but any info is welcome. It was just tuat I had someone claim that such a feeding scedule would cause liver and kidney damage and shorten the snakes life, and that it was simply a practice done by breeders wanting to rush animals into production. Didn't make sense to me, as I figured breeders would want a healthy and productive animal.

You cant really overfeed a ball python. If theyre hungry theyll eat. If not they wont. Ive had my female eat a small rat on sunday and eat again wednesday. They choose when to eat. You cant make them unless you forcefeed them


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Over feeding...harmful....what do you think,lol really man

My question to you is..is it good to over feed anyone or anything? I'm sure you just answered your own question

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Originally Posted by Yamitaifu

You cant really overfeed a ball python. If theyre hungry theyll eat. If not they wont. Ive had my female eat a small rat on sunday and eat again wednesday. They choose when to eat. You cant make them unless you forcefeed them


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Not true..my guy would eat prob every day if I offered or atleast every other day,which I'd never do obviously...he's on every 5 days,but he is eating large meals,so I will feeding him every 6-7 days from now on...he is about 300 grams.

In my opinion no. I have "over fed" snakes and they eventually start refusing meals. If you over feed by assist feeding/power feeding and they don't have a choice to refuse, that's bad.