Any ideas on how to circumvent the 1000 gram wall?

[MakiMaki]

While some females consistently eat, others seem to hit a wall at 1000 grams and just stop eating and growing. If anyone has a cure for this, or, better yet, a way to avoid it, please share. Any theories as to why they do this?

[majorleaguereptiles]

I personally believe it's just about the size in which they start to become an adult, kind of like going through puberty stage. I'm not sure if it's something in their reproductive system or what, but I think it causes them to lose their appetite during this process. Also it tends to come in the winter time, so I imagine colder ambients can also be the cause.

Only methods I use is to try and put them on a different substrate. I use newspaper and I try to put them on cypress, and make sure they have an adequate hide and humidity. Then offer a smaller prey item, even a mouse in some cases. There isn't really much else we can do in my opinion. It's a difficult question. I just had a female YB that was one of my most aggressive feeders, she hit 1050 and just stopped...

[Wh00h0069]

Offer one small rat once a week. They will eventually start gaining weight again. They will eat when they are ready.

[cinderbird]

Some do it at different weights (i've had a 600gram stop feeding seasonally, but i've had other girls who slam until 1300 to stop eating). The nutshell version is: no, you can't really do anything about it. Offer food weekly or bi-weekly. Your animals will tell you when they want to eat again.

[Homegrownscales]

Agreed I've hit the 1000-1200 g mark with 4 of my 2 yr olds 1 is 3! It seems like They know They are becoming breedable and they slow way down. I have another 1165 g cinny that slams anything you put in front of her. I'd like to add that the 1st 4 are in the cb-70. And the cinny is in a 32qt. She likes the smaller spaces. So maybe smaller spaces helps them stay on food. Something to try anyways, after the breeding season is over I think I'm going to move the other 4 girls into the smaller space to see if that gets them going again.

[LotsaBalls]

Two of my three 09 girls hit about 700-900g and mostly just stopped. My bee never even blinked, she started the season at about 1150g (she was a better feeder than the other two anyways) and is at about 1750g now.

[cdavidson9]

I couldn't agree more with trying to keep them in the 32 qt tubs for a bit until they speed up again. I put my 1200 gram girl into a CB 70 tub, she went off feed, the week I put her back in her 32 qt, she got back on feed immediately.

Might not hurt to give it a shot if they are in big bins right now!

Good luck!

Cheers,

Calen

[loonunit]

How old are they? Do they hit the wall and stay there for more than a year? Or is that just the size they've reached when they hit that 2nd seasonal fast?

Because I have four girls (two 2008s and two 2009s) that got up to 900 grams this fall and spent the winter at 1000 grams. Now they're up to 1300 grams, and I figure they'll be pushing 1800 grams by autumn.

I hate to say it, but I really think you just need to last them have another year to grow, an adjust your breeding plans accordingly.

[snakesRkewl]

I have yet to experience the "wall" and here's my theory which of course goes against some peoples thoughts.
Feed small and feed often

I feed nothing larger than 45 grams to any of my under 1000 gram snakes and prefer to feed 25 to 35 gram rats 2 or 3 times a week depending on the size of female I'm feeding.
All 5 of my sub-adult females bust through the 1000 gram "wall" and never looked back.
Males don't apply to the 1000 gram wall, it's an exclusive club for females

[Homegrownscales]

I feed small as well. I geneally go with rat weanlings for even my largest girls and They eat weekly. Depending on how large they are they may get a size up or more than one. But at the same time I've got 4 that have stopped at somewhere about 1000-1300. The one that hasn't was very stressed in the bigger tub and was defense striking everything and I put her back in the smaller and that stopped and she resumed eating and hasn't stopped.