serious question....

[stealthk7gsxr]

well my ball is going on 8 years old. i am use to her every year now not eating for decent spells (over 9 months). but she was always shedding healthy and still growing and active. but when she decides to eat... SHE EATS. but here lately she has been eating as if she is preparing for somethin(every three days now-for three weeks-2 medium rats). i read somewhere that they eat like when they are ready to mate. im not sure if she is or not, but my fiance asked me a question that i had no clue to the answer. if she is ready to reproduce, and i dont mate her, will she be unhappy/sad? i know that may seem weird that i am asking but she is like my baby and i dont really want her to be stressed. any insight would be helpful..... thanks Rome

[spitfireashlea]

She won't get mad at you, just aggravated that she can't get a booty call . She will be fine.

[FatBoy]

Wow...unless I misread that sounds like a lot of food. 2 med rats every 3 days for 3 weeks? Power feeding is not good for bps. You really shouldn't offer food every 3 days. At 8 years old I would be offering a small rat every 7-10 days. Power feeding can contribute to the long periods of not eating you were talking about.

[Kaorte]

No she will not be sad if you choose not to breed her. But as fatboy said, you are feeding her way too much.

[bobbittle]

Wow...unless I misread that sounds like a lot of food. 2 med rats every 3 days for 3 weeks? Power feeding is not good for bps. You really shouldn't offer food every 3 days. At 8 years old I would be offering a small rat every 7-10 days. Power feeding can contribute to the long periods of not eating you were talking about.

Offering them food =/= power feeding.

Power feeding is cramming another mouse/rat into a ball's mouth as they are just finishing swallowing the first one (or second, or so on).

I OFFER my balls as much as they want, once a week. They typically will not overeat. If they eat a little much, they don't eat the next week.

After a 6+ month period off feed I'd offer as much food as the OP too.

[stealthk7gsxr]

well as far as power feeding, thats not really the case. my medium size rat might be a large hampster size to everyone else. sorry for the misconfusion but all the rats seem too big. i never go with a large one due to the fact i have no way to sedate them and she wont eat pre killed. but she has always been that way. she digests quickly in the summer or warmer months i have noticed for some reason. and when its cold outside she normally sleeps a lot. maybe its my fault for never moving her up to larger prey but i am just not ready for it even tho she may be and may have been a long long time ago. i dunno.... maybe its just me over reacting but i'd rather be certain. i mean, is it unhealthy for them to go their whole lives and not even attempt to breed?

[stealthk7gsxr]

She won't get mad at you, just aggravated that she can't get a booty call . She will be fine.

i hope not i just dont want her feeling... i cant even describe it.... maybe i can try bare with me lol... i dont want her aggrivation of not having a mate to make her feel uneasy. i mean i know she is not human, but is she was in the wild she wouldnt be dependant on me to find her a mate.... if thas what she wants. i dont know. maybe i should go take a nap. this is too much

[CoolioTiffany]

I do agree that you are feeding way too much, and feeding once a week would be the best thing to do. Like stated before, that is most likely the reason your snake is going off feed for several months.

I wouldn't think that a snake would get sad if it couldn't breed. Not all captive snakes get the chance to breed, and the ones that don't do just fine. Breeding isn't really a necessity, and you can live your life without reproducing and being perfectly healthy, and I'm sure that goes for all living things.

Also, I'm not sure where I heard this, but I heard that feeding too much can cause the snake's bones to grow but the snake itself isn't growing resulting in having problems with the snake's bones.

[MsPrada]

The thing about powerfeeding is that whoever you ask, there are different definitions. Theres no real 100% accepted definition of powerfeeding, that is accepted by all reptile enthusiasts.

But I do have to agree, two med rats every three days is definately a contributing factor to her fasting. One small rat every 7 days is great, maybe even ONE med rat every 10 days. In my opinion 2 med rats every 3 days will lead to obesity and will cut her lifespan. As far as not going with a large one, thats good. Nobody is saying that feeding two prey items is bad, its the fact that you feed every 3 days and the size is med for both. You said she is 8 years old. She doesnt need to be fed every 3 days. Most people feed often if they are babies while they are growing. After about a year to two years you can switch to the 7 days method or the 10-14 days. I have a one year old myself that eats every 7 days one small rat. I don't think I'll switch her to med till breeding and I will NEVER give her two med. rats.

Oh, and when I say contributing factor, I mean that what Ive read and heard is that if they do overeat they will fast to sort of 'catch up'.