Is it time to start extending periods between meals?

My banana boy is almost a year and a half old, over 600 grams and gets a small rat (50 grams give or take) once a week. Should I start to extend the duration to one meal every 2 weeks?

Since no one else has answered yet, I'll just add our site's "sticky" guide- maybe you can answer for yourself: (from this chart, it wouldn't seem like a longer interval is needed if his appetite & digestion are good) Keep in mind we aren't actually seeing him either. ;)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...%2F98qfzDH.png

Since he is 600g, I would keep feeding him weekly until about 1000g then switch to a 7-10 day schedule. 2 week feeding schedules are not really necessary for smaller snakes. I don’t bump my snakes to 2 week feeding schedules unless my breeder females reach 2000+g


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I see. I just wanted a second opinion since I recently joined a reptile server and they said he should go on 2 week intervals by now, but I trust you guys more. ;)

As per Boger's post, I got some pics of his girth. Pretty sure going by the weight chart often posted here he's in a bulky, but healthy shape for a BP but might as well see if you all agree that my judgement is sound.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...506&height=675
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...506&height=675
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...506&height=675
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...506&height=675

As a side note, I've always loved the pattern on his back in the last image. Like some kind of crazy amoeba. :rolleye2:

He looks a little on the well-fed side to me too, but I wouldn't do any radical changes- he's still young & growing. If anything, only lengthen the time between meals by a day or 2- or do that every other feeding. In other words, don't obsess about it either- wild snakes don't eat on schedule, that's for sure, plus they get more exercise & deal with less-reliable temperatures. He's gorgeous, btw. Incidentally, this other reptile source you consulted...are you sure they were specifically addressing BPs with this advice? Because that sounds more like what would be typically advised for colubrids or other species. And let's see what others here think about him too...mine is only one opinion & remember, I don't breed BPs, I've only kept some. ;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

He looks a little on the well-fed side to me too, but I wouldn't do any radical changes- he's still young & growing. If anything, only lengthen the time between meals by a day or 2- or do that every other feeding. In other words, don't obsess about it either- wild snakes don't eat on schedule, that's for sure, plus they get more exercise & deal with less-reliable temperatures. He's gorgeous, btw. Incidentally, this other reptile source you consulted...are you sure they were specifically addressing BPs with this advice? Because that sounds more like what would be typically advised for colubrids or other species. And let's see what others here think about him too...mine is only one opinion & remember, I don't breed BPs, I've only kept some. ;)

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Why thank you. I'm pleased with how he's been retaining his colors considering his morph thus far. :)

The question I posed and the answers were specifically with BPs in mind, yes. But the userbase is younger than here and therefore less experienced. It's also real-time chat room (not sure if you're familiar with the name, but the app is called Discord) so it can be a flurry of posts all at once sometimes. In other words, not the most reliable source by any means.

The occasional 1-2 day extension seems like a nice middle ground at any rate. Once his full enclosure eventually gets here he'll hopefully move around more but for the time being he's very sedentary, so a slight easing of the dinner bell every now and then doesn't sound like a bad idea. ;)

I would do every 10 days for him. That's the schedule I've got my 500g-1000g males on.

Sounds good then. :gj:

Late here, but it's hard to underfeed a BP if feeding at least every 2 weeks and being given appropriate sized meals.

As bogertophis said, he's still growing, so I wouldn't worry too much. If you go to a less frequent schedule - like every 10-14 days, it won't hurt him, he will only grow slower.

I disagree with the feeding chart on duration once BP's are adults though. Every week is too much IMO. I have also found that smaller meals are better for adult BP's than larger meals. Shayna, my 9 year old female BP, eats like clockwork on small rats every 2 weeks. She's over 1,800G. She does fast in the winter, but rarely ever skips a meal otherwise. On medium rats, she would skip meals often when offered every two weeks. She puts back her weight (that she loses during winter fast) quicker and seems more active and healthy on the small rats as well.

I do not think one size fits all, but it's difficult for snakes to lose fat once it's put on.

He's looking good BTW.

EDIT: Small rats to me are 60-90G. 50G is a weaned rat, at least from my suppliers. I buy from perfect prey and big cheese mostly.

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Originally Posted by dakski

...I disagree with the feeding chart on duration once BP's are adults though. Every week is too much IMO...

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Thank You! I've thought that for a very long time, but it's not "my" forum, so I defer to those more into BPs than I am, & to those responsible for posting "sticky" resources like that feeding chart.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Thank You! I've thought that for a very long time, but it's not "my" forum, so I defer to those more into BPs than I am, & to those responsible for posting "sticky" resources like that feeding chart.

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I think it's very easy to overfeed captive snakes. I've done it. I did it with Figment my Hypo Lavender Corn snake. I followed an online feeding chart. Then I met Don Soderberg, who knows corn snakes as well or better than anyone. He set me straight. Solana (female corn) has stayed lean and healthy and fit on a every 2 week one adult mouse schedule, and Figment has lost some weight and leaned out. I probably hurt him long-term feeding too much (jumbo mice - too fatty) and too often (weekly) for a bit.

Many of these "feeding schedules" are also meant for either breeding animals or exceptional animals. Solana is only about 365G and I have no plans of breeding her. Figment is large for a corn, but was too heavy at over 650G, for him. He's now about 580G and has a much better body shape.

I digressed. It's difficult for keepers to imagine animals as efficient as snakes, who don't get meals on the regular in the wild. Additionally, about 90% of our calories go to maintaining our body temperature, where as snakes, being ectothermic, don't need that. They are also largely ambush predators.

Shayna, my female BP, will go 5 months without eating a thing and lose 5-7% of her body weight. Hard to imagine for people who keep mammals and ARE mammals.

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Originally Posted by dakski

I think it's very easy to overfeed captive snakes. I've done it....

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I agree, & so have I in the past, without meaning to. We think we're being 'nice', & we want our pets to be 'happy', & not going hungry. We think about meals like the humans we are.

And beside, I think it's also harder to judge with snakes that are designed to be heavier-bodied, like BPs or boas. And with BPs, there's also the worry that they may go "off feed" for a while, so I think there's a tendency to try to "pay it forward" just in case.

An update, I've started to extend each time span by a day between feedings until it reaches 10 days (first week was 8 days, this will be 9, ect.) so hopefully that will go well. I know he's still young and growing but I don't want him getting overly chunky either.