Power feeding VS "Frequent feeding"

So I know that power feeding isn't good for ball pythons. But has anyone heard of "frequent feeding"? AKA Feeding like 3 times a week but smaller food items than if power feeding. Is this harmful? Will it grow a ball python as fast as power feeding without the internal issues and life shortening? I can't find any info except a YouTube video by the K brothers

Why would you want to do such a thing?

The whole point is I want to know if it's safe. My snakes eat smaller food and are growing REALLY slow. If there's no harm, then I'd do it. I'd never power feed because it's harmful. But I'm asking if frequent feeding is different, and would prefer answers instead of passive aggressive comments/questions. This is a place for answers, not questions hiding accusations.

Don't do it. It's not a race, just raise them slow and steady. In the end you will be better off.

I grow mine slow. No reason to rush it wasting food and having fat snakes.

Why are they eating too small food items?? If that's what you mean by 'my snakes eat smaller food'. How would you even fit 3 feedings in one week, even an adult ball python being fed pinkies wouldn't be able to do that....I don't think at least...

Feed appropriately sized food less frequently and your snakes will be full grown in 2-3 years, when they are supposed to be.

Rushing an animal to grow is never good and is always detrimental to the animal. If you are trying to grow for breeding just know that fat snakes end up putting out more slugs...

Feeding 3 times a week IS power feeding....and comes with all of the downfalls of power feeding. Such as premature death, obesity, and potential reproductive problems.

Assuming prey size and feeding frequency is correct, growth rate is really not a huge concern. If you're feeding too small of meals, increase the meal size. If you're feeding them less often than necessary, feed them a little more often, but I don't advise feeding more often than every 7 days. It's better (in the long run) that you allow a snake to grow at its own rate even if it's a bit slower than normal, than overfeed it to compensate.

Ok thank you. All I wanted to know is if it was the same as power feeding. I figured it would be, but I wasn't sure if they were able to digest it differently for some odd reason. Thank you for your asnswers. And I don't feed "small" but I don't feed "large" either.

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Originally Posted by CrazycatOP

The whole point is I want to know if it's safe. My snakes eat smaller food and are growing REALLY slow.If there's no harm, then I'd do it. I'd never power feed because it's harmful. But I'm asking if frequent feeding is different, and would prefer answers instead of passive aggressive comments/questions. This is a place for answers, not questions hiding accusations.

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You said yourself that they are feeding small...

Just please feed your snakes appropriate food items and they will grow at a steady rate, no need to power feed if they are eating the correct size food...

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Originally Posted by CrazycatOP

So I know that power feeding isn't good for ball pythons. But has anyone heard of "frequent feeding"? AKA Feeding like 3 times a week but smaller food items than if power feeding. Is this harmful? Will it grow a ball python as fast as power feeding without the internal issues and life shortening? I can't find any info except a YouTube video by the K brothers

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Keep it simple. I doubt you'd notice much difference in growth if you fed one snake (3)10g rodents each week and another snake (1)30g rodent. You're just talking about splitting up a normal sized meal into smaller portions, right? Different people have different opinions on what constitutes power feeding - from train feeding to simply overfeeding. I only count growing snakes since it's generally just a rush to get them to breeding size. If a growing snake is consistently more girthy(proportionately) than a healthy adult male, you're power feeding.

Power feeding is forcing your snake to eat more. So we all know that's not right. Over feeding is feeding too much and/or too often. I don't think you really can over feed a BP. I have never ever heard of a "fat" BP. They are probably the most self regulating species of snake. Unlike a boa, when they don't want no more they won't take no more. Due to what we know about their digestion, even if you are feeding an adult BP mice because they are anal about it, it would be better to feed them all at once than to spread out over a week.

That said....

A lot of people will say "7 days" but I know from my years on these forums and elsewhere that that is a PC term. I know plenty that feed breeding females every 5 days or do a 3/4 schedule like Sunday/Thursday or feeding something larger than normal every 7. And I have never seen any report of a bad outcome from that.

All...

Just to be clear here we are talking ball pythons not boas. I have yet to have an overweight ball python. If anyone has any reports of ball python deaths because of voluntary feeding (not force or tube feeding) please let me know.

In my experience a ball python who has had enough to eat will strike and refuse to eat. Most of my animals strike from 2 to six months a year.

My holdback animals are fed an appropriately sized meal about twice a week. This continues until the animal reaches "max food size" which for males is a small rat and females a medium. At that point I back off to a weekly schedule unless the animal is on strike. The only time I break this regimen is when a female begins eating again after laying. Depending on the animal and its weight I will bump up the feeding schedule until the animal hits its before lay weight.

In my experience animals experience better growth when fed something that is the diameter of the snake no more than once a week (see exception above). Multiple smaller prey items fed frequently is probably not the best idea. Python digestive systems are designed to eat a relatively large meal then rest. If the animal is eating frequently the digestive system will not take the rest period it is designed to have.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

I know plenty that feed breeding females every 5 days or do a 3/4 schedule like Sunday/Thursday or feeding something larger than normal every 7. And I have never seen any report of a bad outcome from that.

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To be fair, how many of these breeders have ball pythons over 20 years old?

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Originally Posted by John1982

To be fair, how many of these breeders have ball pythons over 20 years old?

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That is a good question that I hope someone has an answer for. Most of my females are between five and ten years old. My oldest is fifteen.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

That is a good question that I hope someone has an answer for. Most of my females are between five and ten years old. My oldest is fifteen.

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My oldest are 15 as well.

Just a little something to add:

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Lifespan/Longevity
The average lifespan of ball pythons in captivity is 20 years. Reports document the maximum lifespan in captivity ranges from 28 years (at the Oakland Zoo) up to 50 years (reported by the Philadelphia Zoo). Average life span in the wild is reported to be 10 years. (Gorzula, et al., 1997; Bartlett and Bartlett, 2000; Bartlett, et al., 2001; Gorzula, et al., 1997)

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I couldn't find a newer source so this is what I have to go on.

So making it past 10 years means we are doing a better job for them than they would have in the wild. Hitting 20 means we are doing as good as most other keepers and beyond is just fantastic.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

I don't think you really can over feed a BP. I have never ever heard of a "fat" BP.

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There are definitely fat BPs out there. I'm sure most of them that get overweight then often end up fasting but there is no reason to let that happen to one in captivity. They get that sunken in spine look as all the extra chub pushes up to the sides. I don't remember the specifics but there are liver issues related to them being over fed. I'm part of the slow and steady crowd for my breeders but the closest I've personally owned to being over weight was my super phantom when I first got her. It seems to be more common with snakes that eat live. I'm sure a little googling could pull up more extreme examples.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...12.27.09_1.jpg

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Originally Posted by HannahLou

There are definitely fat BPs out there. I'm sure most of them that get overweight then often end up fasting but there is no reason to let that happen to one in captivity. They get that sunken in spine look as all the extra chub pushes up to the sides. I don't remember the specifics but there are liver issues related to them being over fed. I'm part of the slow and steady crowd for my breeders but the closest I've personally owned to being over weight was my super phantom when I first got her. It seems to be more common with snakes that eat live. I'm sure a little googling could pull up more extreme examples.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...12.27.09_1.jpg

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How was the animal when that picture was taken?

I guess she seemed fine. Nothing vet worthy so I can't say what was effected internally. I've had her over a year and she protested switching to ft so she dropped some weight during that initial process but the smaller meals kept her growing normally length wise but just thinned out her sides. She's either about to ovulate or I just missed it so she's bigger now but still doesn't look nearly as round even building. I wish I had taken more pictures of her body condition when I first got her. So this will be her first clutch and I'm curious to see how it goes or if she has slugs as I think someone had already mentioned.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Just a little something to add:

Quote:

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Lifespan/Longevity
The average lifespan of ball pythons in captivity is 20 years. Reports document the maximum lifespan in captivity ranges from 28 years (at the Oakland Zoo) up to 50 years (reported by the Philadelphia Zoo). Average life span in the wild is reported to be 10 years. (Gorzula, et al., 1997; Bartlett and Bartlett, 2000; Bartlett, et al., 2001; Gorzula, et al., 1997)

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I couldn't find a newer source so this is what I have to go on.

So making it past 10 years means we are doing a better job for them than they would have in the wild. Hitting 20 means we are doing as good as most other keepers and beyond is just fantastic.

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Most write-ups you can find on reptiles will say, "average lifespan: 10-20 years", haha. Averages can be funny things anyhow, unless we know how they're doing their figuring. I reckon somewhere around 20-30% lower than the recorded maximum is a fairer idea of how long a healthy ball python will live in captivity. I bet 30 years is closer to a real age you can expect a captive bred pet ball python to reach. I doubt there are many CBB ball pythons dying at 20 years unless they've been overfed/bred a great deal. It's definitely an interesting topic with answers that will change, or become truer, as more time passes.

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Originally Posted by John1982

Most write-ups you can find on reptiles will say, "average lifespan: 10-20 years", haha. Averages can be funny things anyhow, unless we know how they're doing their figuring. I reckon somewhere around 20-30% lower than the recorded maximum is a fairer idea of how long a healthy ball python will live in captivity. I bet 30 years is closer to a real age you can expect a captive bred pet ball python to reach. I doubt there are many CBB ball pythons dying at 20 years unless they've been overfed/bred a great deal. It's definitely an interesting topic with answers that will change, or become truer, as more time passes.

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Yeah, I wish we could get comments on this from someone who has kept a lot of animals for a long time. As far as I know most of us on here that are active relatively small time.

Thanks for all the answers. I won't try the frequent feeding. (I suspected I wouldn't do it. The most important thing is the health of my snakes. I see them as pets, not breeders).



Anyone know how to close or end a thread?????? I'm new here

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ic-drop_1x.png