Over Feeding

Is it possible to over feed? Raymond eats about every 3 to 4 days. Could I be over feeding him?

Yes, you can over feed. It's called powerfeeding and many people believe it to have negative effects.

Once a week feeding is much better for your snake's digestive system.

What is "power feeding" for? I don't mean to over feed but he has never rejected a mouse for me and seems to be growing okay......could it hurt/kill him:-/??

Some people power feed to get the snake up to breeding size as quickly as possible because they are impatient.

From what I have read, power feeding drastically cuts the lifespan of snakes, and can cause stresses on the body from growing too quickly. What you're doing isn't nearly as much as some people try to feed their snakes, but I'd stick with 1x a week feedings.

I believe that ball pythons are opportunistic feeders and by design will "fill up" on food when it's available in order to prepare their bodies for a long period of time when it is not. This is a natural adaptation to the wet/dry seasons of their native habitat (food is plentiful in the wet season, hard to find in the dry).

A ball python in captivity that is offered food too often or in large quantities will seize the opportunity to "fill up" in anticipation of the dry season that it instinctually thinks will follow this period of plentiful food. Unfortunately, when the food keeps coming and the dry season does not, the ball python will fast in order to process all of the food it stored up and then repeat the cycle over again.

I think it's far better to feed small meals once a week all year long than to deal with the unpredictability and frustration of a ball pythons fast.

-adam

Aim for once a week, same day/time, and feed the same size or slightly smaller than the girthiest part of your snake and you don't have to worry about overfeeding.

Edit: Adam said it best.

Okay thanks guys ill mark todays date in my log and wait a week to feed again. Dont want Ray to get sick. Thanks again:-)

Don't you need to feed hatchlings a little more often? Bo eats every 4 days. He's arourd 8 weeks... Should he get fed less often? How much longer Should I contine to feed him this often.

Babies can be fed every 5-7 days.. I don't feed any of mine more than once a week, even my baby wiggle worm colubrids. Adam would be better to answer that though..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by masterjason

Don't you need to feed hatchlings a little more often? Bo eats every 4 days. He's arourd 8 weeks... Should he get fed less often? How much longer Should I contine to feed him this often.

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Size nor age matters. Once a week, same rat/mousetime, same rat/mousechannel :)