Re: Are we feeding too much?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Egapal
If we took the weights, lengths, feeding dates, deification and urates dates, feeding dates, weight and number of food items offered for snakes that regulate themselves. Included husbandry data and enclosure type and size. We might be able to get a good idea of how much mass a BP should consume weekly. It would then be pretty easy to look at our individual schedules, prey types and decide if we need to make adjustments. If you are comming out low then you take a day of your schedule or add a day and offer another food item, or offer larger food items if you can do that.
Someone needs to apply for that grant.
Here is another forum that did a study on regular vs irregular eaters. I will note that the sample size was VERY small, but it still sheds some light on the issue. They deal with the weights, length and age relationship in BP. (Note: If we already have an obese population, these values are above where they should be, but it still gives us an idea of captive breed population).
http://www.fororeptiles.org/foros/sh...1947#post11947
Skip to the charts if you don't want to read all the details, or you can always use an online translator.
Re: Are we feeding too much?
Ball pythons grow their entire life, as they age it slows down so maybe if you just make more measurements over time time when you notice the snakes growth slowing put another day or two between feedings.I also believe that a more sporatic feeding schedule is healthier for the snakes. I noticed if i increase and decrease the time between feedings that not only do they stay more active in the persuit but I have fewer problems of my animals going on hunger strikes.
I have also noticed that if I keep the warm side warmer and the cold side colder my snakes tend to be much more active in the attempt to try and stay comfortable so maybe thats a good option for some who are worried about their snakes getting fat.
Also I would be inclined to believe that especially for the constant feeders that if you have the scent of a feeder animal in their tank at all times that they would most likly be more active because they would be looking for the food and not finding it so they would keep moving.
Great thread!
Also can anyone point me in the direction of a good thread on rotting eggs, i just got my first clutch ever eight days ago and one of the eggs is turning yellowish green and smells a little funny. Thanks
Re: Are we feeding too much?
i havn't read everyones response because i'd be here all night so i dont know if this was mentioned yet... but like the black lab story you guys were talking about i think everybodies snake would be different in their own way.. for instance, would a snake that is handled more, out of the tub, stretching and moving around be more in shape then buddies snake that weights 1500g pumps out all kinds of eggs but is constantly curled up in its home??? in the long run who would live longer? who knows right!! all i know is that if my snakes arn't hungry they wont eat... i'll offer them food thats adequate to the girth of their body every sunday.. some days they take it, some days they dont.. but i do make sure that i bring my snake outside when ever i can to let them stretch and move around for a bit..
Re: Are we feeding too much?
This isn't something you have to guess at.
Weigh the snake regularly. Is it gaining a lot of weight? If it's an adult, and hasn't just come out of breeding, then you are feeding it too much. Is it losing weight? You are not feeding it enough. If it's barely gaining weight, just a little bit, then you are feeding it the right amount of food.
No need for guessing at how much energy it's using, or how much food it needs--just weigh it.
Re: Are we feeding too much?
Humans once they reach adulthood to stay healthy don't want to gain anymore weight. In fact if at 21 years old if a person were to gain a pound a year then by the time they are 40 they will be 19 pounds overweight. Would any suggest that maybe there is a point when a bp should stop gaining weight?
PS when was the spell check added, I like! ;)
Re: Are we feeding too much?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
seclark
Humans once they reach adulthood to stay healthy don't want to gain anymore weight. In fact if at 21 years old if a person were to gain a pound a year then by the time they are 40 they will be 19 pounds overweight. Would any suggest that maybe there is a point when a bp should stop gaining weight?
PS when was the spell check added, I like! ;)
I hate it when people compare snakes to people but sure lets run with it. Ok so people live on average about 65 years world wide. Maybe more for the US. Lets say 80 for sake of math. For sake of math lets also say humans are full grown at age 20. I had considerable broadening of my shoulders till I was about 21. Growth slows much sooner of course. So lets further assume BP live to be 24 years old (again sake of math). So humans grow for 1/4 of there life. If snakes did the same you would see them continue to grow till age 6ish. According to this pole about 28% of people have a ball python that's over 5 years old. I think you would also find that the average age of BP kept by people on this forum is well under 6 years old. So for that vast majority of people the snake should be growing. If your 6 year old snake was at a healthy weight and generally maintained that weight till it died then that would be fine. The question is really what is a healthy weight?
Re: Are we feeding too much?
