Is feeding twice a week to much ?

So I was wondering if feeding twice a week was to much ? I'd like to get my male a female up to size for next year. the female is a year old and the male was born this year. so if I feed twice a week is that to much or no? I don't want to hurt them :(

I feed them as often as they want to be fed. I have some that only eat once a week and some that are hungry every 3-4 days. If your ball python is young, you don't need to worry so much about it becoming obese.

Your female won't be ready anytime soon. She needs to have healthy size on her and not just be fat and at breeding weight. Unhealthy weight will cause more problems. How much does she weigh now?

If your female is only a year old then you're looking at next season and not this one.

I ment for next season or when ever she's ready and I just weighed her she is 414g

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Originally Posted by snake2615

So I was wondering if feeding twice a week was to much ? I'd like to get my male a female up to size for next year. the female is a year old and the male was born this year. so if I feed twice a week is that to much or no? I don't want to hurt them :(

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Mine are about a year old too. During the winter they were eating every 7-11 days, but when warm weather came they started eating more often. They're feeding about every four days now, but I think they're about ready to slow down.

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Originally Posted by snake2615

I ment for next season or when ever she's ready and I just weighed her she is 414g

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Well it sounds like she's been on a once a week "not large enough meal" diet if she's a year old, either that or she's been picky at some point in her young life:)

I have no females that small that are that old but then I tend to feed twice a week as soon as they will, basically after the 3-5 meal.
414 grams at 1 years old is not a great pace, not unhealthy by any means but a lot smaller than she would be if she'd been fed more often.

If you get her eating more she might make it next year, if she doesn't eat more often then it will probably be 2 years more before she's of size.

Yes I was only feeding her once a week and she was very pickey when she was little but she has been pounding food a ton lately and just wonderd if two a week was ok and if so how many days in between ?

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Originally Posted by snake2615

Yes I was only feeding her once a week and she was very pickey when she was little but she has been pounding food a ton lately and just wonderd if two a week was ok

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My snakes have grown awesome on a twice a week diet, just don't feed too large of meals and throw them off feed.
Try to keep the total of both feedings to around 15% to 20% of the snakes weight and you won't make yourself a sausage snake ;)

Its not a problem, you just have to know when to skip meals if you feed them on a 2-3 times a week type of deal.

Sorry to hijack your thread but I didn't want to start a new one.

Am I feeding too often?
~3 months old
~95g

9/13 - Rat fuzzy
9/17 - Rat fuzzy
9/21 - Rat fuzzy + rat pinky
9/25 - Rat pup

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Originally Posted by Rusky

Sorry to hijack your thread but I didn't want to start a new one.

Am I feeding too often?
~3 months old
~95g

9/13 - Rat fuzzy
9/17 - Rat fuzzy
9/21 - Rat fuzzy + rat pinky
9/25 - Rat pup

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No.

wow this is very helpful! I was about to post the same question...

i have 3 females that i feed every Sunday and Wednesday.

2 females - 1000 Grams
1 female - 750 Grams

do you think i can make 1500G by November or December?

this would be the ideal time for breeding right?:)

yes a lot of people start dropping temps around the first of october and then start introducing males to the females around the first of november good luck but i introduced my male to my female the other day and within a couple hours they locked and didnt stopped til yesturday :D

to answer your other ? it all depends on the females and the feeding if you can get them to weight mine got to 1000 grams and quit eating for a few months and then started pounding rats like they didnt miss a beat so it all depends on what they want to do

ahh ok, thanks mdfreak2! btw, they need to be at least 1500g to breed right?

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Originally Posted by frost0214

ahh ok, thanks mdfreak2! btw, they need to be at least 1500g to breed right?

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yes that would be correct

I feed my hatchlings more frequently than I do my yearlings and adults. I have concerns that many of us are over feeding our animals and while you might get quicker results to get to breeding weight - to what end?

Fat is not good for any creature. I have chosen to slow grow my animals, I like them muscular and lean. I do feed up my females a few months heading into breeding season, but when not breeding, I don't feed aggressively.

I was speaking with someone recently who is now adopting a similar philosophy to me after having an animal just die and necropsied - it died of fatty liver disease from being over fed.

One thing I want to point out.

It's NOT just the size with females, age matters too. An 18 month old female who makes 1500 grams is not likely to take, despite being the ideal size. Most females need to be at least two years old and 1500 grams to breed with good success. Many breeders say 1500 grams OR in her third winter. Younger females are just not ready to have eggs. They may breed, may even build follicles, but then 9 times out of 10 they re-absorb. Even if they do lay, they almost always have smaller clutches of two or three eggs, instead of the 6 to 10 eggs a more mature female will lay.

For me, the extra time spent waiting for the female to grow and mature is well worth it. I'd much rather give her an extra year to grow and get 10 big healthy hatchlings out of her, than push her too young and end up with only 3 little hatchlings or none at all. And I've heard it said by some of the bigger breeders that breeding a female young can cause her to have small clutches all her life.

You of course must ultimately decide what is best for you and your animals, but for me and my stock, we'll be patient. :)

Gale

After watching the SnakeBytesTV episode recently where they revealed their feeding results, I've gone from a twice a week feeding schedule to once a week. I believe this will do two things for me:

1. I will save money on rats.
2. I will have faster growing snakes.

Basically, feeding a large meal once a week should get you a huge increase in growth compared to two smaller feedings a week. Even one regular sized meal a week is better than two smaller meals.

It's looking like to me, that the commonly held idea that more smaller meals makes for a faster growing snake is a fallacy. It looks like smaller meals increase the snake metabolism with no downtime. So most of the nutrients they get from those small meals go back into digesting the next small meal.

hey Josh, I was watching at the same vid just before I visited this thread!
lookin at Brian's experiment, its best to feed larger meals once a week, but he did it on corns. not sure if this will apply to BPs as well, I sure hope it does.
i've been feeding my baby bp large prey once a week, almost as big as the thickest girth, she seems to be doing well.
but from what i read feeding large preys may cause them to go off-feed, is that true?

You won't be able to feed them large prey twice a week, but as long as it's not too big, once a week shouldn't be a problem. I've at times fed my snakes meals that were probably too big, and they looked a bit uncomfortable for a few days, but they ate again a week later.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I feed my hatchlings more frequently than I do my yearlings and adults. I have concerns that many of us are over feeding our animals and while you might get quicker results to get to breeding weight - to what end?

Fat is not good for any creature. I have chosen to slow grow my animals, I like them muscular and lean. I do feed up my females a few months heading into breeding season, but when not breeding, I don't feed aggressively.

I was speaking with someone recently who is now adopting a similar philosophy to me after having an animal just die and necropsied - it died of fatty liver disease from being over fed.

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Thanks a lot! this is very helpful... i am just so excited to get them to the right size.. :)

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Originally Posted by angllady2

One thing I want to point out.

It's NOT just the size with females, age matters too. An 18 month old female who makes 1500 grams is not likely to take, despite being the ideal size. Most females need to be at least two years old and 1500 grams to breed with good success. Many breeders say 1500 grams OR in her third winter. Younger females are just not ready to have eggs. They may breed, may even build follicles, but then 9 times out of 10 they re-absorb. Even if they do lay, they almost always have smaller clutches of two or three eggs, instead of the 6 to 10 eggs a more mature female will lay.

For me, the extra time spent waiting for the female to grow and mature is well worth it. I'd much rather give her an extra year to grow and get 10 big healthy hatchlings out of her, than push her too young and end up with only 3 little hatchlings or none at all. And I've heard it said by some of the bigger breeders that breeding a female young can cause her to have small clutches all her life.

You of course must ultimately decide what is best for you and your animals, but for me and my stock, we'll be patient. :)

Gale

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whew! this is really good information, most guides say 1500g and that is it. I am very new to the hobby and want to get babies as soon as possible. thanks for the tip! i do not want to jeopardize the health of my girl by rushing breeding... ;0

depends on the snake. some will only eat one rat a week where others will eat up to 5 if you let them. my breeder males\females get fed twice a week with the females generally eating two rats each sitting.

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Originally Posted by frost0214

whew! this is really good information, most guides say 1500g and that is it. I am very new to the hobby and want to get babies as soon as possible. thanks for the tip! i do not want to jeopardize the health of my girl by rushing breeding... ;0

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You are welcome!

Believe me, being patient is not always easy. I've been waiting on my het pied females to grow up. One should have been ready last season, but she went off feed for a while, and as badly as I want a pied, I refused to push things. Let me tell you, seeing all the pictures of baby pieds hatching here about made me crazy!

But, patience is a virtue. This season both of my girls are big enough and old enough and with a little good fortune on my side, in a few months I'll finally get to post pictures of my own pieds. :D

Gale

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Originally Posted by angllady2

You are welcome!

Believe me, being patient is not always easy. I've been waiting on my het pied females to grow up. One should have been ready last season, but she went off feed for a while, and as badly as I want a pied, I refused to push things. Let me tell you, seeing all the pictures of baby pieds hatching here about made me crazy!

But, patience is a virtue. This season both of my girls are big enough and old enough and with a little good fortune on my side, in a few months I'll finally get to post pictures of my own pieds. :D

Gale

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whew! well said Gale! well said... i am a long way to go, since i only have 4 female normals 3 potentially will breed this year... but hey, i gotta start somewhere right.. gudluck on your pieds! and YES it is really addicting loong at pictures, and watching videos or successful breeding.. :)