Feeding Enough??

Idk but lately I have been feeling as if my BP's are still hungry after feeding.
Norm......250 grams / measures around 1 & 3/4 (or bigger) inch at the widest pt
Ammit......185 grams / measures around 1 & 1/4 inch at the widest pt
Naga.......175 grams / measures around 1 & 1/8 inch at the widest pt

Tonight I fed:
Norm.......34 gram mouse
Ammit.......30 grams mouse
Naga........27 gram mouse

I was thinking of adding live hoppers before the f/t mice to bump them up to 20% of their body weight. They aren't gaining weight as much as I thought they would. Norm and Naga were around 80 grams in December and Ammit was 105 in January.

Any thought. Norm (250 gramer) is 6 months the other 2 are 5 months. I bring this up b/c I was reading some other post and saw ppl were feeding 50-60 gram feeders to their animals in the 200 range.
Thoughts??

i always follow the 10-15% rule and its worked excellent

I think that is feeding a bit too big of meals..

They all grow at different rates, you can't necessarily make them grow faster by feeding them more. Just feed them an appropriately sized meal once a week and they will grow accordingly.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I think that is feeding a bit too big of meals..

They all grow at different rates, you can't necessarily make them grow faster by feeding them more. Just feed them an appropriately sized meal once a week and they will grow accordingly.

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Agreed!

I offer mine food every 3 to 4 days. Some eat and some don't.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I think that is feeding a bit too big of meals..

They all grow at different rates, you can't necessarily make them grow faster by feeding them more. Just feed them an appropriately sized meal once a week and they will grow accordingly.

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With the hopper or with out?

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Originally Posted by MitsuMike

With the hopper or with out?

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In my opinion, 20% is way too much. I usually shoot for 10% but if it is a little higher (up to 15%) then that is fine. I don't aim for 15%.

feed yearlings as much as they will eat,I feed mine every 3 to five days & move up in prey size as they grow 4oo to 500 grammers eat small rats or full grow ASFs.,after that its rare for my adults to take a med rat, they like the smaller prey.

10-15% works good for me I feed my young guys your size every 3 days. I have a pair of pastels the male is just over 250 grams and has already started to refuse food that frequently. The female on the other had is over 550 grams and started taking small smalls (rats). I got both in mid November from a show at the time they were 80 (male) and 68 grams (female). The female takes every meal offered and has even eaten some of the males refusals.

Xavier

Ok cuz I'm feeding every 5 days. I think I'm gonna gradually work to 3 days so they aren't shocked to what is going on. I'll feed every 4 for the next 2 weeks then work to 3 the week after that. Is that a good plan. I mean I don't want them to go off feed or anything.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

In my opinion, 20% is way too much. I usually shoot for 10% but if it is a little higher (up to 15%) then that is fine. I don't aim for 15%.

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Even if the width is their body width and actually to small for the big normal.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

you can't necessarily make them grow faster by feeding them more.

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Can't say I agree with this. If that were true breeders feeding heavily to breed early wouldn't be a successful venture. If some feeds BPs once weekly for the first 12 months you can pretty much guarantee on average they would smaller than someone feeding twice weekly same sized prey.

I am not interested in power feeding at all just to get to breeding size ASAP. I am curious...

Has any long term obervsation/study been done on a power-fed snake vs one that is not? How does power-feeding affect a snakes lifespan, etc?

I am in no hurry to force my snake to grow, but I am curious how intentionally overfeeding your snake affects it.

I feed every 4 - 5 days for anything under 500g, then once a week for anything larger.

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Originally Posted by Turbo Serpent

I feed every 4 - 5 days for anything under 500g, then once a week for anything larger.

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Yea I was thinking about dropping to 4 days a week. That isn't considered power feeding b/c I really don't wanna power feed.

Seems like recently I've not been able to give my yearling enough!

When he first got home he went on about a month long hunger strike. Since beginning to take food, he's been in hunt mode 80%+ of the time, even with feedings 3-4 days apart...

The breeder was feeding every 7 days for us. We got him and the next day he was supposed to eat we waited like extra 3 days. Then fed him he ate. Taking mouse down within 30 seconds. So today we dropped another one in. This making it like 4.5 days. Same thing. Soon as it hits the aspen hes ready to take it down

So does feeding every 4 days 10-15% sound good?

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Originally Posted by MitsuMike

So does feeding every 4 days 10-15% sound good?

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idk im just feeding our guy a small mouse a every 4 days. He seems to be eating that just fine. Not sure exactly the size of the mouse :p or weight

I say anything under 500 grams that is on mice should be every 3-4 days. If you go by girth of snake to girth of mouse you could be under or over feeding. Some are slender and some are plump.

Like this for example. You go to get a feeder and they look smaller then your snake girth wise. 1 is under feeding 2 may be over feeding depending on the weight of rodent to the weight of your snake. That is if you go off the 10-15% rule.

I say feed every 3-4 depending on the size of the prey. Just do what you think is right. When you ask a question like this on here you will get different answers for sure. It ultimately ends up being your call on what to do. I like many others see nothing wrong with the 3-4 day schedule for the youngins.

When they are small they are constantly growing like a weed. They absorb majority of the prey instead of deficating it out. They can use the extra food when young. J ust dont feed them 3-4 days the rest of their life. Once they get into fatty rats, normally over 500 grams/ 1 year old feed every 5to7 days.

I just thought about this, a problem with the whole 10-15% rule. So when your snake is over 2k or 3k grams do you still go by the rule? No way. People feed full grown adults a medium (80) gram rat once every 7 days, some even go longer.

I am sorry to stretch this out but the whole 10-15% rule is something I have a problem with. There is loop holes everywhere, try to go off the girth of your snake. Only you can tell if they are still hungry and I bet with the size of your snakes 3-4 would not be a problem if done correctly..

Yea we feed ours 4 days he always looks like hes still hungry :P

But hes still a little guy so he needs his food :P

In my opinion a natural diet is a healthy diet for any animal of any age, and for snakes, a natural diet is a slow diet. They are built to go many, many months without food. I'm not saying anyone should feed a snake monthly, I'm just saying that it probably isn't the healthiest thing to feed them every few days. I feed my older snakes a relatively large meal every two to three weeks, while hatchlings get an appropriately sized meal every week. None of my animals are obese, and none of them are underweight. They grow relatively slowly, but I think it's a fair price to pay for good health.

While considering a feeding schedule, the only thing on your mind should be the snake's health, not how long it will take to get up to breeding weight or anything else.

Don't worry about how big your snakes are at what age; growth varies between individuals. I have two ball girls that are roughly the same age, both in perfect health, on a similar feeding schedule, and one is half the size of the other. Just like with people, some are freaks. ;)

I ask about the feeding mainly b/c I wonder if my snakes are plump enough.

Example:
Norm
6 months old
27" inches long
268 grams after feeding today
1.25 inches width at widest pt

My normal female is roughly 6 months old and bout 27 in long. she went on a 6wk hunger strike in january and febuary this year but shes eating again now. i weighed her the other day and she was 320g and i feed her a mouse that weighs 20-30g every 5 or 6 days. depending on when she wants it. i used to think she was on the small side till i realized each is an individual. shes healthy, brights eyed and does what she does so im not too worried bout it.

I am trying to switch her to rat pups or fuzzies in the next few weeks and see how that goes

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Originally Posted by ElwoodG

My normal female is roughly 6 months old and bout 27 in long. she went on a 6wk hunger strike in january and febuary this year but shes eating again now. i weighed her the other day and she was 320g and i feed her a mouse that weighs 20-30g every 5 or 6 days. depending on when she wants it. i used to think she was on the small side till i realized each is an individual. shes healthy, brights eyed and does what she does so im not too worried bout it.

I am trying to switch her to rat pups or fuzzies in the next few weeks and see how that goes

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A 20g mouse is too small. 10 - 15% means at 320g, you should be feeding between 32g - 48g.

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Originally Posted by ElwoodG

My normal female is roughly 6 months old and bout 27 in long. she went on a 6wk hunger strike in january and febuary this year but shes eating again now. i weighed her the other day and she was 320g and i feed her a mouse that weighs 20-30g every 5 or 6 days. depending on when she wants it. i used to think she was on the small side till i realized each is an individual. shes healthy, brights eyed and does what she does so im not too worried bout it.

I am trying to switch her to rat pups or fuzzies in the next few weeks and see how that goes

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I just picked up a het albino female at a show last sunday amh she weighs 268 grams and was hatched on August 26/09 so she is 6 months! She looks very healthy but my 7 month old male is twice her size! If she look healthy then no worries!

I feed every five days with the 10% rule to both, which are under 500g.

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Originally Posted by bman123

I just thought about this, a problem with the whole 10-15% rule. So when your snake is over 2k or 3k grams do you still go by the rule? No way. People feed full grown adults a medium (80) gram rat once every 7 days, some even go longer.

I am sorry to stretch this out but the whole 10-15% rule is something I have a problem with. There is loop holes everywhere, try to go off the girth of your snake. Only you can tell if they are still hungry and I bet with the size of your snakes 3-4 would not be a problem if done correctly..

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Your argument doesn't make sense here. I definitely agree that the 10-15% isn't perfect for all situations. I usually say to feed 10-15% when the snake is still young & growing quickly. However, I think a rat that is as fat as the girth of a big adult BP would be too big of a meal just as much as 10-15% of the body weight would be.

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

In my opinion a natural diet is a healthy diet for any animal of any age, and for snakes, a natural diet is a slow diet. They are built to go many, many months without food.

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This brings up a good point, which is that not only are snakes capable of going a long time without food, but that they are designed to essentially turn off their digestive system between meals, so they aren't wasting energy. This is part of how they can go on long feeding strikes without any significant weight loss. I don't know one way or the other, but I wonder if it is unhealthy for a snake to live with its digestive system always "on".

For this reason, I feed my snakes on either a 5 day schedule or a 7 day schedule. Occasionally, I'll feed a day late, so then the next feeding might be only 4 days apart to get back on schedule, but I do not feed more often than 5 days as a general rule.