can i "power feed" just this once?

the last 2 feedings, i have had to feed my now 473g BP, small 30-32g mice, the reason being, my job schedule is very hectic, and sometimes i work alot of overtime and i dont know what days i will have off during the week. Now i have found a mom and pop store that has the perfect selection of mice\small rats, and last time i found one that was at around 70g. That was 3 feedings ago, and my BP was able to take it, here is the issue, i feed every 5 days, and the last 2 feedings i had to use petland (30-32g mice) because they are open at the time i get off work. The mom and pop shop i go to closes at 6. My bp has definetley seem hungry lately and after he feeds on the smaller 30 gram mouses he always is in "hunt" mode, as opposed to when he took down the 70gram small rat he took him down, then went into his hide and did;t come back out, almost as if "im so full im going to sleep!"

So, last time i fed was on 4 days ago, and today is my second day off work. I know that i will be working the next 5 days and i might not make it to the mom and pop shop and might have to go petland and once again get a mouse thats way too small. Now i dont want to get into the habit of feeding 2 mouses, so thats out of the question, and i dont want to try and fed him the "medium rats" that petland has, because they seem way to big. So is it ok for me to feed one day early since i know i can get him the proper size prey today? or should i just wait until tommorow which makes 5 days and once again feed a small mouse?

My understanding is "just this once" will not be power feeding. Power feeding would be doing it every time, all the time.

Your snake wont take frozen thawed? If you are not ready to thump rats yourself, the mom and pop shop will probably sell you a "sleeping" rat and you could freeze until you were ready to use it next week.

Also, a 473g could easily go a week inbetween feedings IME.

i mean i guess he could go a week in between feeding, but if he has been feeding every 5 days without any problems for so long why mess with that? i mean its everybodys fear to have a BP fast, so why mess with a good thing? There some people in here who can only DREAM that there BP eats every 5 days, i dont want to mess with a good thing.

On F/T thats out of the questions, i HATE mice/rats, i even had sort of a traumatic experience when i was a child, and lets just say im disgusted as well as scared of them even! When i buy them i use leather gloves to open the box they come in and scoot them into my BP's tank, so dealing with a high number of them is out of the questions, and liek i said before, there is NO WAY im gonna have a pack of dead rats next my t-bone steaks in the freezer.

So im guessing i can feed one day early this once no problem?

That wouldn't be power feeding. I would go ahead and feed him.

I agree with DemmBalls, feeding every 4-5 days is not power feeding, and I don't see why not feed a little more often if they're smaller prey items.

IMO, "power-feeding" is more like feeding every 2 or 3 days, where the snake has just finished digesting annd you're offering another meal.

Go ahead & feed today, you won't be power feeding

It is not power feeding if the snake accepts the meal. I feed my young ones every 4 to 5 days.

Power feeding is putting the nose of a f/t or pre-killed prey item into the mouth of your snake as it's finishing up swallowing another one so that your snake thinks it's eating one prey item and not two.

Ball pythons know what they can handle. When they've had too much, they'll stop feeding. So, there's no problem feeding a day earlier if he'll eat.

Same as above. What you are doing is not even close to what power feeding is.

Well, actually, there is not real firm definition of power feeding. There are several depending on the source. But this doesn't meet any of those criteria.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

It is not power feeding if the snake accepts the meal. I feed my young ones every 4 to 5 days.

Power feeding is putting the nose of a f/t or pre-killed prey item into the mouth of your snake as it's finishing up swallowing another one so that your snake thinks it's eating one prey item and not two.

Ball pythons know what they can handle. When they've had too much, they'll stop feeding. So, there's no problem feeding a day earlier if he'll eat.

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I agree 100%. If my snakes are hungry...They get fed.

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Originally Posted by FrankieCarbone

Like i said before, there is NO WAY im gonna have a pack of dead rats next my t-bone steaks in the freezer.

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First off, you should never freeze a delicious T-bone steak. That's just horrible! Second, go ahead and feed that little pig, nothing bad will happen. On the other hand you don't HAVE to stick to feeding every 5 days. I don't believe that sticking to a schedule is why or why not BPs go off feed.

dont worry so much. if he can eat it and handle it without a regurge or scale seperation then do it. i have a 2500+ gram ball python that takes xtra large rats with gusto. she looks gravid for a few days and poops like a rottweiler but it has no ill effect on her. feed as much as it will eat while its eating as you never know when it will stop eating.
adam jeffery

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First off, you should never freeze a delicious T-bone steak.

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well i eat alot of red meat, its not just t-bones, i also eat alot of sirloin, and london broil, and of course, im not going to go out and buy one steak at a time when i want to eat one, so i have to freeze them, i pretty much eat steak every other day, im a red meat monster!

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feed as much as it will eat while its eating as you never know when it will stop eating.
adam jeffery

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my thoughts exactly, 5 months, and has not refused a meal, got him at 129g, 5 months later 423g, actually on the scale it says 505g, but im deducting grams i feel are dead weight because he has not pooped in like 9 days, and has fed twice since he last pooped. gotta take advantage while u can is the way i see it, hes eating like a beast.....

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Originally Posted by eel588

First off, you should never freeze a delicious T-bone steak. That's just horrible! Second, go ahead and feed that little pig, nothing bad will happen. On the other hand you don't HAVE to stick to feeding every 5 days. I don't believe that sticking to a schedule is why or why not BPs go off feed.

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Agree on both comments! If you have a good eater chances are unless your husbandry changes or it's breeding season he should be fine. If anything he'll just be a little more hungry.

I would stick with rats or one type of prey item. My suggestion is that you buy two rats or more so that you won't have to run to the store alot, that is if you can house the rats for mean time or going for f/t. Power feeding is 2 to 3 day feedings a week, which I do months b4 I breed. Just my $0.02.

the pet shop ran out of 70gram small rats, so i bought a slightly smaller one, just threw him in there and he destroyed it. The guy at the mom and pop shop told me though, that he has run out of the larger of the small rats, and there were only like 6 small rats left, so i might be in trouble next week. He said most of the rats that he had for sale are now pregnant. He does however have a tank full of small mice, like hoppers, i will pass by in 5 days to see if they grew, if not i might be SOL and have to get the largest mice i can find......

oh and just want to add, he definetely seemed hungry, when i was forcing the small rat out of the kritter keeper he stuck his head out quickly, and when the small rat finally dropped in there, the rat stood still my bp QUICKLY rushed right to his face for a quick inspection, after a few flicks of the tongue, SNAP, i havent had a mouse/rat scream as high as this one did, it was viscious!

small rat was 57g by the way. The last one 3 feeds ago was 71g..

i cant wait until he is big enough to eat the medium rats they sell in petland, giving the way he is growing, it should't be long now, but those medium rats in petland are huge, they must be atleast 100-120g. But once he can eat those, i know i have a stedy place to and get them with no problems. Petland gets a shipment of rats every week.

Yeah, two mice in a row isn't power feeding. Especially if the little guy is still hungry. Feed him until he's full now, because in a few months his hormones will turn on and he'll hit the 700 gram fast and just stop eating for the rest of the winter. And he will stress you out. But at least he'll have lots of fat to burn through, so he'll be fein.

ps. I have a 550 gram orange ghost girl that BITES ME if I don't give her thirds. Sometimes she bites me ANYWAY because she's hoping my hand is fourths... but okay, I only feed once every 8 or 9 days.