Power feeding

So at the reptile show yesterday I had a conversation with some guys from NERD. They loved my high white spider and gave me excellent suggestions as far as what to breed her to when she's big enough (it will be a pastel lesser :)
Then he told me to start feeding her more to help her get up to size. He said they feed their snakes every 3days! He said if the snake doesn't want it, she won't eat it, so it's perfectly ok to offer her every 5 days. I've been reading some other forums and seem to get mixed answers on the subject.
As of now she eats one small eat every 7 days. By the 6th day, she's stalking around her tank and wobbling all over (that's what she does when she hunts)
So what do you guys think about bumping her up a little? I don't want to risk her health for the sake of faster babies!


*MissMishyyy*

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Originally Posted by Mishy

So at the reptile show yesterday I had a conversation with some guys from NERD. They loved my high white spider and gave me excellent suggestions as far as what to breed her to when she's big enough (it will be a pastel lesser :)
Then he told me to start feeding her more to help her get up to size. He said they feed their snakes every 3days! He said if the snake doesn't want it, she won't eat it, so it's perfectly ok to offer her every 5 days. I've been reading some other forums and seem to get mixed answers on the subject.
As of now she eats one small eat every 7 days. By the 6th day, she's stalking around her tank and wobbling all over (that's what she does when she hunts)
So what do you guys think about bumping her up a little? I don't want to risk her health for the sake of faster babies!

IMO, it.depends.on the size of the snake and the meal as well mostly. Most big breeders powerfeed all there high end.morphs.. no matter what they say.. I mean if you have a.male.soul sucker you're going to want to.get him up to weight ASAP. Ill let someone else explain this better as I have to for o work! But 3 days doesn't seem bad, as long.on the sister of the.meal is only.like 8-10% but.. that's my opinion
*MissMishyyy*

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After talking with a few other breeders last year. I fed all my undersized snakes on a 3/4 schedule. Which for me was Monday and Thursday. My smallest when from 1050g in July to 1530 in December before she went of her winter fast.

The other 2 I had at the time went from 1200 to 2000+.

This is NOT power feeding. Power feeding is sticking a PK/FT meal in the snakes mouth as they are finishing swallowing another meal. Basically it's an unnecesary force feed.

Unlike boas, BP's will not eat just for the sake of eating. When they've had enough they stop. I have never heard or see of an overweight BP.

While I have seen a few over weight BPs, they were mostly older males. I've never seen an over weight breeding female.

Why the rush to get these snakes up to breeding size. They can live 20 years or more in captivity and can probably breed for over half that time. Is one extra season to get a snake up to weight going to make that much of a difference?

The prevailing attitude that we must get females (and males) up to breeding weight as soon as possible is short sighted in my opinion. Even if it's not unhealthy for the animal, and I have no proof that aggressive feeding schedules are unhealthy.

Speculation was that power feeding reduces the life span of the animal because it does not allow the proper growth and maturing of organs, personally i have no clue, mine are fed generally Saturday and either Tues/Weds, My girls are ok with that but my male is reluctant right at the moment, so he is choosing to do 14-21 days. (i think he is to used to maintenance feeding from the breeder to want more at the moment)

I put all my animals on an aggresive feed schedule. Every 3 to 5 days. Once the males hit the 800 gram mark i back them off to a once a week schedule. Females that tend to go off feed during cycling and breeding tend to balance out the aggresive feeding schedule so they dont get overweight. Now if your just keeping a snake as a pet you dont need to be so aggresive cause they dont go through the rigors of breeding season.

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Originally Posted by Slim

While I have seen a few over weight BPs, they were mostly older males. I've never seen an over weight breeding female.

Why the rush to get these snakes up to breeding size. They can live 20 years or more in captivity and can probably breed for over half that time. Is one extra season to get a snake up to weight going to make that much of a difference?

The prevailing attitude that we must get females (and males) up to breeding weight as soon as possible is short sighted in my opinion. Even if it's not unhealthy for the animal, and I have no proof that aggressive feeding schedules are unhealthy.

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I am in no rush to get her up to size. While I still am trying to get her to gain weight bc she is underweight, my desires aren't to rush her to breeding size. Itll be a while before I'm all set up with my racks and incubator and everything anyway. I just wanted to know if that is a healthy way to put some weight on her.


*MissMishyyy*

What is her size, and what size food are you feeding?

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Originally Posted by Slim

While I have seen a few over weight BPs, they were mostly older males. I've never seen an over weight breeding female.

Why the rush to get these snakes up to breeding size. They can live 20 years or more in captivity and can probably breed for over half that time. Is one extra season to get a snake up to weight going to make that much of a difference?

The prevailing attitude that we must get females (and males) up to breeding weight as soon as possible is short sighted in my opinion. Even if it's not unhealthy for the animal, and I have no proof that aggressive feeding schedules are unhealthy.

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I would agree, there is no rush unless you are trying to make a living out of breeding then there maybe other factors at play.

There are recorded Royals laying at over 30 years so there is very good certainty that they will continue to be capable to produce into the 20s.

The only reason to try to speed the process is to get an expensive morph to produce before the inevitable price drops and before it spends more in its own keep.

I feed all mine every 7 days no matter what size they are. I dont really feel a need to speed up or rush anything bc im not planning on breeding for profit. So im not overly eager to make sure they get to size. Will it be nice to make some extra money? Sure, but im just in it for fun! :)

I feed my hatchlings and juvies every 3-4 days. Once they hit about 500 grams I back them off to every 7 days. :D

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I feed all mine every 7 days no matter what size they are. I dont really feel a need to speed up or rush anything bc im not planning on breeding for profit. So im not overly eager to make sure they get to size. Will it be nice to make some extra money? Sure, but im just in it for fun! :)

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x2.


But to answer your question about how to increase her size because you feel she is underweight, just keep offering the proper sized food every 4-7 days. She'll grow at her own pace.

No, it doesn't seem to be unhealthy for ball pythons. A feeding schedule that would have a boa dead in 3 years just makes a ball python grow faster.

If you're concerned about her weight but don't need to bulk her up quick, I would feed every 4-5 days until she's to whatever weight you want her. Then I would back off to every 7 days, which is what I'm currently doing.

Don't mean to sound creepy, but are you blonde with shoulder length hair and did you have a baby with you at the show? Did you ask him about a lesser for your spider? I think I was standing right there for that whole conversation!

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Originally Posted by MrLang

Don't mean to sound creepy, but are you blonde with shoulder length hair and did you have a baby with you at the show? Did you ask him about a lesser for your spider? I think I was standing right there for that whole conversation!

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^
Ninja

straight creepin...

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Originally Posted by MrLang

straight creepin...

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I dont think thats creepy lol. That would be really funny if it was her. You oughta be an investigator!

Haha yep!!!! That's me! Win! :)


*MissMishyyy*

Just goes to show you guys I don't make important decisions without asking you guys first. :) so I'm gonna move her to every 6 days to start. I'm not trying to beef her up quick for breeding but I do need to put weight on her. She is 3 feet long, and her fattest part is about the size of a half dollar coin. She's eating small rats.


*MissMishyyy*

Monday is feeding day here. Though recently I've been toying with the idea of feeding every 4 days or so. Mainly because, we get a lot of refusals when offering prey that is approx 15% of the weight of the snake. We have some snakes that just seem flat-out intimidated by the size of the prey. So I was thinking of feeding smaller meals, more frequently.

I've spoke with a few breeders in my area who also feed this way, with great success. While I don't think a 3 day schedule is going to do any harm, you just need to make sure the size of the prey is appropriate. Obviously you're not going to be feeding the snake 30% of it's weight within a week, that's crazy.