feeding

I want my female bp to catch up to the male what feeding tactics should i use, the male is probably two months older than the female i was thinking for obvious reason to feed her more but the question is 2 small rats a week or the bigger meal only once.

I, personally, feed my snakes once a week.

I feed them frozen mice that are no bigger than the widest part of their body. Some say you can go a tiny bit bigger but i'll wait till their grown up to try that.

Why do they need to 'catch up' to one another?

Just feed them one or two small rats a week....that is enough to feed a ball python through its entire life :)

she doesn't have to catch up it's just something i would like

Since female ball pythons generally grow larger than males....she will most likely catch up and surpass him in time....

How old and what size are your bps?

she might be a hatchling maybe 15 or 16 the male is probably 21 inches

the manager at the snake shop where i go says he grew a female to 1500 grams in one year does that sound right or healthy.

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Originally Posted by emilio

the manager at the snake shop where i go says he grew a female to 1500 grams in one year does that sound right or healthy.

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It may be possible but not common. Generally it takes 2 years to get a female up to breeding size.

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Originally Posted by emilio

she might be a hatchling maybe 15 or 16 the male is probably 21 inches

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So I guess by 'small' rats you are talking about rat pups......not small adult rats. I would feed appropriate sized rats until I got to the small adult size. Then, I would stay with small adults and offer multiples if necessary.

sorry i meant mice

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Originally Posted by emilio

she doesn't have to catch up it's just something i would like

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How about instead of treating your snake like a toy that you can play with, you instead acknowledge that it's a living creature and treat it with a little respect.

Feed her on a regular schedule and let her grow as fast as she wants, not as fast as you want.

I don't think anyone here would be too fond of an 18 foot giant stuffing 40 big macs down their throat twice a week.

;)

-adam

I've heard that if you "powerfeed" a snake (which is what it's called when you stuff them with more than they need to make them grow faster) it can significantly shorten their life-spans. So, no, it's not healthy.

mmmmmmmm, big macs:yes: oooh yeah, big macs:yes:

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

I've heard that if you "powerfeed" a snake (which is what it's called when you stuff them with more than they need to make them grow faster) it can significantly shorten their life-spans.

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Unfortunately, that is one of the many internet myths about ball pythons. I'm pretty sure it's based on a study that was done about 15 years ago at USC by researchers investigating obesity in humans. They "powerfed" fruit flies and found that many suffered from a shortened life span. No study has ever been done using ball pythons or even boids as test cases. No one can say for sure one way or then other if "power feeding" can effect the life span of a ball python.

That said, I still think feeding a ball python more food than it actually needs is a little more on the side of cruelty than "good" care.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

No study has ever been done using ball pythons or even boids as test cases.

-adam

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Is that even legal? And there are isolated cases of this happening in boas... but you're right, I've never heard any story directly from a BP owner.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

Is that even legal?

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Why wouldn't it be?

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

And there are isolated cases of this happening in boas... but you're right, I've never heard any story directly from a BP owner.

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There's a HUGE difference between the opinion of a snake owner with little to no training in clinical or scientific research and a comprehensive study using scientific methods to prove a supposition as fact. Anyone can make claims about anything they want, but where's the beef?

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

There's a HUGE difference between the opinion of a snake owner with little to no training in clinical or scientific research and a comprehensive study using scientific methods to prove a supposition as fact.

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That, my friend, is something I am WELL aware of. :D

I doubt that any such study will ever be done.

In order to conduct the research on 'powerfeeding' and get viable test results, the resources and time required would be outrageous. Imagine....

You would have to:
1. Have a large test group of 100+ snakes
2. Purposely 'powerfeed' half of them, and feed the others on a regular schedule as a control group. That would most likely elimate the possibility of any breeder participating because they would have to purposely 'powerfeed' half of their animals. Just think if you are the one that finds out 'powerfeeding' does shorten lives, and half of your animals die after 5-10 years.
3. Keep these snakes and record exact feeding data(weights, etc.) over their entire life span which can be 25+ years.
4. Have the money to feed, house those snakes for their lifetime, and pay someone to conduct and analyze the data.

....and there are probably other reasons, but I see these as definate reasons that it will never happen.

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

How about instead of treating your snake like a toy that you can play with, you instead acknowledge that it's a living creature and treat it with a little respect.

Feed her on a regular schedule and let her grow as fast as she wants, not as fast as you want.

I don't think anyone here would be too fond of an 18 foot giant stuffing 40 big macs down their throat twice a week.


-adam

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you come off a little arrogant yourself being experienced. You know very well most snake owners hurry growth I dont treat anything that breathes like a toy I bet everyone on this site is guilty of the same.maybe not continuosly but at one time or another. your post bothered me a little thats all,inexperienced people on this sight are looking for info not to be belittled

Adam is not trying to belittle you, although sometimes he can be a little blunt. :rolleyes: You have to understand that he is very passionate about bps and would like to see them all recieve the best husbandry possible. If there's really no urgent need to get your snake bigger faster (and I can't think of a feasible reason why you would need to), why do it?

Uh, I would also like to point out that most owners don't hurry growth. I'm dying for my two girls to be at breeding weight by next year, but I'm not going to push them to get there. If there there, we'll hopefully have some cool babies. If not then I'll be waiting another year. You'll find the majority of people on this site are more in line with that philosophy. :D

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Originally Posted by emilio

you come off a little arrogant yourself being experienced.

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You're asking about pushing food down your snakes throat so that she'll hurry up and grow and you're calling me arrogant? Give me a break. If you don't like what I have to say, ignore it ... I promise, it won't hurt my feelings if you do.

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Originally Posted by emilio

You know very well most snake owners hurry growth

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No, I do not "know" that ... As a matter of fact, most ball python owners that I know (especially the ones from this site) do very good by their ball pythons feeding them one appropriately sized prey item a week.

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Originally Posted by emilio

I bet everyone on this site is guilty of the same.

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Based on what evidence?

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Originally Posted by emilio

your post bothered me a little that’s all, inexperienced people on this sight are looking for info not to be belittled

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And your post bothered me more than a little. If you're an inexperienced person that has taken the time to do any research at all, you'd know that feeding one appropriately sized prey item a week is by far the most recommended way of feeding a ball python ... there is a reason for that.

Hope this helps. :D

-adam

thank you ,what I like about this site is you guys are trying to give us the right info. When ever I go to the shops they probably tell me what I want to hear or info that disregards the animal thanks for the info again steadily gaining exp.

wow, the last time I had a "discussion" with you guys, we had a slight difference of opinions...but this time NO ARGUMENT. I agree with you guys as far as "powerfeeding". My babies are feed once a week and seem to do just fine. Zut gets 1-2 adult mice depending on if she's hungry enough. Monty had been getting 3 adult mice but I've lately switched him to 1 small rat a week. It doesn't seem fair or right to try and make the snake eat more than normal