Lazy Boys?

Here's my male Spider Mojave having a soak before his shed.(probably tonight) My humidity is spot on this is just his method at shedding time. He's right around 1 year old. He had a nice medium rat today that is gonna put him very close if not over the 1,000 gram mark. He has grown like a beast since being put on rats in February. Probably put on 500 grams in just under 6 months. Hopefully next year both of my girls will be ready for him. I have heard from one or two sources that some breeder males can get "lazy" around females when they get past the 1,000 gram mark. Is there any truth to this? I ask because I'm considering bumping his feeding schedule down from weekly to bi-weekly. It'll save me a little money, but that isn't really the point. He is just shy of 30" long and very wide but feels dense, firm, and not at all obese or fatty. He's just a beefy boy.

This pic was taken today a few minutes after pounding that medium rat and slinking right back into his 8" wide crock bowl. I took his bowl out of his tub to change out paper towels bloodied by the rat.

http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...psc36ed326.jpg

I dont think there is really any truth to it. Both my lesser and pastel boys are over 1kg, my pastel will breed anything, but hes seasoned. My lesser is on his first breeding season and shows no interest in the ladies. Just their individual personality I think.

In my opinion a medium rat for a snake less than 1000g is crazy. Smalls are more than enough for males, for their entire lives.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

In my opinion a medium rat for a snake less than 1000g is crazy. Smalls are more than enough for males, for their entire lives.

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x2

The only Bp in my collection that gets mediums is my 2500g girl

I'm surprised he's eating mediums. My 1500g bp was on mediums for a short time after he hit the 1300-1400g mark, but him and I agreed he liked smalls better so he gets 2 small rats bi-weekly. You can definitely downgrade.

That pic is great btw. Like how he looks like he is "floating" in a pool with his face sticking up out of the water.

And because you said beefy it made me think of this:

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...ps05528b90.jpg

I don't I think they get lazy at a certain gram weight. I think it has more to do with their body condition. In my experience, when my males got chunky they became lazy breeders. Ours get one small rat once a week unless they go off feed for breeding. We like to keep them slim.

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My males are all on mice, 1-2 mice weekly. Although I used to feed more and my lesser for example, well, got a little beefy, to use a previously used description. Suppose that could be why he has no breeding interests, hes on a diet now.. lol

how long do you wait before feeding them their second mouse?

If i feed two, one right after the next. I also feed my females small rats, so the really big girls get two or three, same deal, one after the next.

I appreciate the input. I'll definitely size down the food and frequency of offerings. I think I stayed with the prey equal to the body size guideline for too long after 500 grams. That's probably why he thickened up so well. I have no problem going back to small rats. Cheaper anyway.

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Originally Posted by alykoz

how long do you wait before feeding them their second mouse?

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When I feed multiple mice I just wait until the first mouse is all the way down into the belly then offer the next one a minute or two later. You don't want to interrupt all the muscle contractions it takes to move the first mouse down. Give them a minute to get comfortable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

In my opinion a medium rat for a snake less than 1000g is crazy. Smalls are more than enough for males, for their entire lives.

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X3

I was thinking the same thing but, given the variation in what some suppliers call small or medium I didn't .
I've got a fairly consistently sized supplier and still sort my smalls by weight to suit the snakes I have.