over feeding?

Good morning BP lovers. just out of curiousity, is it possible to over feed? Im over stocked on live, Im gonna freeze some, but i just wanted get your opinion's.

Wish you were close to SLC utah...I would buy some to lessen your bunch

Yes...very possible to overfeed...just stay on your normal schedule for feeding...and start freezing and stocking up while your breeding...here's a thought buddy????get some more ball pythons...lol..then you will be balanced out on feeders and snakes.lol

Yes, it is possible.
In fact it is likely if you are new to reptiles.

Harry

I feed all of my snakes that are under 700g on a 5 day basis, all that are bigger than that are fed on a 7 day basis. Just keep to a schedule and you will avoid overfeeding.

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Originally Posted by Old Sloppy

Yes, it is possible.
In fact it is likely if you are new to reptiles.

Harry

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Underfeeding is FAAAR more common among new keepers! I see it all the time, unfortunately, but I can't think of any instances where I ever saw an overfed ball python.

On that note, yes, overfeeding is possible, but very unlikely with ball pythons. They are great at playing bartender and cutting themselves off. A lot of time getting them to eat more is the problem.

Overfeeding is more of an issue with colubrids and boas I think. Some of them would literally gorge themselves to death if you let them.

As has been suggested, just keep to an appropriate feeding regimen, which there are literally thousands of threads about on here.

Never had a problem with over feeding yet. My males get one meal a week where breeding females will get two meals sometimes three if theres a left over. If i tried to over feed them they will refuse till they see fit again. Like AK has stated there are far more under fed then over fed.

You can always place an ad on your local Craigslist, or if you have a local reptile group on Facebook, for your overstock :)

I don't think you can actually overfeed a juvenile, but you can overfeed an adult, and they can become obese.

I have them on a regular schedule, and I stick to it. sometimes I will feed a day early, but thats about it. I was just thinking, if Im over stocked I could feed a little more often. But its all good. Just gonna stock the freezer :D

Maybe work down to a 5 day, like Andrew for the little guys.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I don't think you can actually overfeed a juvenile, but you can overfeed an adult, and they can become obese.

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Really? I honestly dont think I have ever seen that.. interesting..

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Originally Posted by pookie!

Really? I honestly dont think I have ever seen that.. interesting..

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You can over feed any age. Personally, I keep mine a bit hungry, as in the wild they don't have a reg feeding schedule. Juvies I feed once per week/10 days, adults once every 2-3 weeks.

yes, you can overfeed if your bp continues to take food whenever. for instance, my one male will eat anything, any day, and any time if i let him, so i be sure to keep him on a constant every 7 days feeding schedule so he does not get obese. And my other male used to be fed every 8-9 days or so because i noticed he did not have that thick muscular feeling but rather a fat and pudgy feeling so he had to go on a diet :) he bred this year and went off feed for over 100 days, and he lost a lot of weight, so i feed him every 5 days just to get him back up to weight. as long as your bp's are on a feeding schedule and you keep track of their weight, you should be good to go. i wouldn't worry too much otherwise.

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Originally Posted by AdamF

You can over feed any age. Personally, I keep mine a bit hungry, as in the wild they don't have a reg feeding schedule. Juvies I feed once per week/10 days, adults once every 2-3 weeks.

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Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

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Simulating natural conditions? In the wild there is not a ready/steady source of food every 5th/7th day. I did not say starve or malnourished. All of the snake I ever owned were healthy good eaters, proper weight, breeders, etc.

I also would not (should not, lol) give myself all I can eat either. Many are in a race to get their snakes up to breeding size as quickly as possible. Yearlings, get fed 1x per week, 2 year olds, every 10 days, 3 and over 14-21 days. They grow steady and strong. Finally, they get alot less "exercise" in small enclosures, where as in the wild, they move around alot more.

So IMHO, "a bit hungry"= balancing diet with captive conditions

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

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I do it to my dog. I fast him every week as well as give him an over sized "groge" meal.
He only eats one meal a day. Same with my cat.

It keeps their guts in order, and yes I do it to myself. I regularly dont eat and "go hungry".

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Originally Posted by AdamF

Simulating natural conditions? In the wild there is not a ready/steady source of food every 5th/7th day. I did not say starve or malnourished. All of the snake I ever owned were healthy good eaters, proper weight, breeders, etc.

I also would not (should not, lol) give myself all I can eat either. Many are in a race to get their snakes up to breeding size as quickly as possible. Yearlings, get fed 1x per week, 2 year olds, every 10 days, 3 and over 14-21 days. They grow steady and strong. Finally, they get alot less "exercise" in small enclosures, where as in the wild, they move around alot more.

So IMHO, "a bit hungry"= balancing diet with captive conditions

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Yep I agree 100%! Animals dont get steady food.

I saw a study somewhere on rats, they fed ones on a steady diet every week, ones were allowed to free feed, and the last group was kept at almost starving. Guess which animals were overall healthier?
The nearly starved ones.
Animals dont evolve to eat on set times and have over amounts of food, nothing evolved that way. Nothing thrives that way imo

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

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I think that we certainly should do it to ourselves, and I do it to myself on a daily basis. I don't always eat when I feel hunger pangs in my stomach, I wait a while, with the feeling of hunger actually going away after just a short time.

Here are a couple fo good articles that I read recently. Looks like Americans NEED to go hungry a little more, or at least the 75% of us that are overweight or worse.
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/ave...million-tonnes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4349471/

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I think that we certainly should do it to ourselves, and I do it to myself on a daily basis. I don't always eat when I feel hunger pangs in my stomach, I wait a while, with the feeling of hunger actually going away after just a short time.

Here are a couple fo good articles that I read recently. Looks like Americans NEED to go hungry a little more, or at least the 75% of us that are overweight or worse.
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/ave...million-tonnes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4349471/

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I agree! Sadly, for my lazy butt, I fall into the "worse" category, but trying

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I think that we certainly should do it to ourselves, and I do it to myself on a daily basis. I don't always eat when I feel hunger pangs in my stomach, I wait a while, with the feeling of hunger actually going away after just a short time.

Here are a couple fo good articles that I read recently. Looks like Americans NEED to go hungry a little more, or at least the 75% of us that are overweight or worse.
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/ave...million-tonnes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4349471/

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Agreed! Lol.Thanks for the input guys. Now my next Question, do any of you freeze rodents a specific way? Or do you just put them in a vacume seal, washed or not?

From my limited experience, I have found that other than hatchlings and very small ball pythons, I get a much better success rate (i.e. less refusals, less balls going off feed etc.) if I feed slightly larger prey (NOT too large) every 7 days. I used to do every 5 days for snakes smaller than 500 grams 7 days for above, but it got to be a pain in the butt keeping track as it didn't fit the 7 day week. I decided to do them all on 7 days other than the tiny ones, and I was surprised to see that there are far fewer refusals than before.

In fact, I usually feed on Wednesdays. But last week, I decided to do it tuesday, because I was very busy on wed. 5 snakes refused. Usually, only 2 - 3 refuse (two of them are problem feeders, and sometimes 1 because of shedding etc.) I also noticed that just by doing a day early, that it took a much longer time for them to strike than in the 7 day schedule.

Then again I only have 13 snakes and I am sure there are people far more experienced than I am.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

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I understand your point of view and I must say I do not know whether it is good for snakes or not to keep them a bit hungry. However, I certainly do it to myself regularly which keeps me in shape.

I guess it depends on the snake's condition just like some people they eat all day all night and they don't get fat. Some people eat very little of clean foods and they get fat. My opinion is that if your snake is fat then feed it less, if your snake is a little thin feed it more. I keep to a 7 day schedule for my snakes (I do not have hatchlings or very small snakes right now), but I vary prey sizes.