Powerfeeding

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

That said.....would a wild ball python (who is an opportunistic eater) be considered powerfeeding itself, fi it eats two mice in a day, maybe 4 mice in the course of a week.

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Nature is power feeding these animals. We have only one choice:

We have to stop nature!!!! :D

JonV

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

I think the first thing that needs to be addressed in a thread like this is your definition of power feeding. A lot of people have different ideas of what they would consider power feeding.

Personally, I've always had the understanding that power feeding is forcing the animal to eat more than they should by passing multiple prey items to it one after the other in a chain. That I believe is wrong, and the stress you would cause the snake out weighs any benefits you could gain from doing this.

Some people consider feeding more than once a week power feeding. I don't see this as power feeding. If the snake isn't hungry, it's not going to eat. As long as you're keeping an eye on the snake to make sure it's not becoming obese, there's nothing wrong with this. If it IS becoming obese, you're over feeding the snake, not power feeding it. I believe some snakes are genetically predisposed to eating whatever you put in front of them, so you DO have to know your animals.

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I agree with you, power feeding is forcing another feeder item down the snakes throat as it swallows an item. I don't understand where it got confused with over feeding. "Power" feeding is using force not just putting a feeder in the tub. It is like assist feeding but the snake already has something in its throat your just adding more items.

In the late 80's I used to power feed my boas to get them huge and back then we (my friends and I) didn't know too much about reptile husbandry, it was more like experimenting. Who can get their boa to breeding size first....! Now we realize this does shorten the life span of boas. None of those boas lived beyond 5 years and they died with no apparent reason. I haven't tried this with any other snakes and probably never will again. :colbert:

So, all in all "Power" feeding is not a good thing. "Over" feeding depends on the situation if it is a good thing or not. And if it was a good thing it wouldn't be called overfeeding would it? hehehe

I agree 100% with Tim Bailey and am Glad to see I am not the only one. :gj:

you honestly need to take into consideration the term "power Feed" some mean to use it as an adjusted schedule from feeding normal sized meals every 5-7 days to larger or multiple meals every other day or every 3 days. extra weight on a snake that isn't muscle gained from proper digestion is just like you putting on 200 lb.. in a month .. it can't be too healthy.. now on the other hand, feeding normal sized meals every 3-4 days is also power feeding but done in a more rational manner. the snake eats more often but can usually digest it's first meal. besides when you power feed your snakes a lot of the time they get "pin head syndrome" and their heads look too small for their body lol

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

personally, if I find out that a breeder power feeds ANY of their snakes I WILL NOT buy from them.

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Really now what if you didn't know if the animal was power fed or that the person before you didn't power feed the animal you have now. Now answer this one very carefully Matt. I say this because it's a very strong statement that you can never say and be 100% sure

When I first got my retic, I felt the urge to feed her seven prey items a week. Prey items included chicks, large mice, chicken heads, sparrows and the occasional rat pup (that time, she was roughly 8 months old).

When I stumbled across this link (http://community.livejournal.com/herpers/1595022.html), it totally changed the way I would feed ALL of my reptiles. I do NOT power/overfeed...nor do I underfeed. I just feed "responsibly".

PS: I once got into a heated argument in the local forums for posting that link coz some newbie was asking if overfeeding a burm is okay. The poor chap who posted that my link was crap NEVER BOTHERED TO READ BEYOND THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. So please. READ THE ENTIRE BLOG before you aim your guns at me.

personally,and this opinion was explained by a friend and more knowelegable breeder then myself,,i dont believe you can infact,power feed a ball python,as mentioned before,they simply,,dont eat,and even themselves out,you can feed one 2 proper size meals a week,and a 3rd thats half proper size,,and that could work for a month,then all of a sudden,its only taking the one smaller meal,,it is evening its self out,and what i have refered to as "push"feeding,being following a swollowed animal up with another one,if you really stop and think,if the ball python is ready to even its self out,would it even eat the first one to allow that to happen?, I believe powerfeeding is an issue with other species,Burms,Retics,Anacondas,and Boas,as they have such stronger feeding responses,they dont care if thier way over weight,they will eat.I,along with many TOP name breeders,,do "power"feed or push a male or female,with an extra meal offered once in a while,,if they take it,great,if not,oh well,try again in a couple days.i do this for 2 reasons,One,to give a male a slightly higher chance at breeding that season,if he is one i need to go(although,after speaking with a semi local,but extremly well known breeder who i wont name,he told me has and does,push males with extra meals and see if he can get them tot ake the extra meals,,not push as in following one meal with another meal,that in 7 out of 10 cases,that male will NOT go even if up to weight and months old,and even then will usually only go to girls under 2000g)Now,once the meal reaches the magic 500,he slows back to weekly or bi weekly feedings,Females,if i start my breeding in november,then in july i offer one extra meal in the month,august 2 extra meals int he month,october,i go to every 5 days,with every other meal being smaller then nromal size(example,if shes eating a big medium,then her next meal is a big small)if she doesnt take,no big deal,but i know once she ovulates,she will stop eating,so i want her to have the size and energy to make the egg laying work best for her.

Now on a side note,,i try to "power feed"a bit more safely as well,,as with a strong eater who will eat every 3 days if it continues for 3 weeks it goes 10 days before next meal,then every 7 for 3 meals,,then 5 for 3 meals then back down

Powerfeeding can be done with a nice and healthy snake to help it grow a little, but if you powerfeed for too long your snake becomes overweight and can get stretch marks, as well as the skin in between the scales will show. I recommend powerfeeding for a snake that is underweight to get some fat on it, but once it's a nice and healthy weight the powerfeeding should stop because you go from an underweight snake to an overweight snake.

In the wild, most snakes probably 'power feed' themselves. They eat whenever given the opportunity.

My guess why would be, to get bigger faster.

I dont think I power feed, as I do not introduce another prey item as the other one is going down. All my snakes are on a 5 day feeding schedule right now. I start at the top tub and work my way down. After I finish offering the last BP prey, I go and thaw out maybe 3-4 more prey items. By the time the rodent is thawed out, the snakes are usually back in their hides. I offer them their second meal and if they take it, they take it. If not, they don't. Today was feeding day, 4/7 snakes ate (2 in shed, 1 still adjusting.) Out of the 4 that ate, 2 of them accepted the second prey item. I dont care if they eat double, I offer it in case they felt like they deserve to eat a little extra lol. The ones that take 2 usually either only take 1 5 days later or wait another week to eat. They know what they want, I just offer it. Who's to say that a wild BP that stumbles across a couple prey items won't indulge? It's my job to make my BPs comfy, and they're perfectly content with their feeding schedule/routine.


All that said, I disagree with power feeding where you use the animal's feeding response to your advantage to stuff a couple prey items at a time. That is just wrong...you wouldn't do that to your kid, would you?