% food assimilation growth

[LarryROlson]

Has anyone tried to weigh the food and the snake to determine what percentage of the food actually becomes snake and what % ends up just excrement?

In other words if I feed a snake 200g of food, how much weight will the snake gain or what percent of the food by weight will become part of the snake.

Can anyone guess? Is it 10%, 25%, or 50%?

I am referring to growth rates of younger individuals, say from hatchlings to sub-adults.

Larry

[Gloryhound]

I don't think a study like this could be done accurately. A snakes digestive system is one of the most effeciant digestive systems in animals. If you are feeding a snake on the light side you may see very little excrement with a very slow growth. If you feed them on the heavier side you will see a lot more growth and fat on the snake plus you will see a lot more excrement. With this said you would have to do studies that would expand across the extremes of light feeding to heavy feeding.

[drugaria]

I tried doing that with one of my Balls but ended up with different results every time so i gave up plus balls grow kind of slow.
I also tried it with my Boa and the assimilation rate is astonishing . I would say 90% if not more

[elusivereptiles]

I don't know about weight gain per-say. But I have noticed that my ball pythons shed on a regular basis, and I think that's based upon their intake.

Usually 3-4 feeds (if it's the proper size) = shed

The longest I've had one go before a shed was 6 feeds.

I had a buddy of mine tell me that it was based on the size of snake (which would determine the size food to feed) and the amount of calories the snake intakes will determine when they will shed. Don't know if this is true, but I do know that my snakes shed usually after their 4th meal... Like clockwork.

Usually grow anywhere from 35-110 grams per month. This also depends on the size of snake, and the size of food. Keep in mind that ball pythons can swallow a lot, but that doesn't mean that you should feed them A LOT. If it takes a snake longer than 15-20 minutes to consume it's food (this time shouldn't include them killing it) then it was more than likely to big. Most of my snakes eat at a 5-10 minute pace.

I've noticed that my smaller snakes gain weight at a much slower pace, and my yearling - sub-adults gain at the fastest pace, the big guys just eat, and progressively get bigger, but it's a lot less noticeable.

I'd say my little ones gain anywhere from 15-50 grams per month. And yearlings and sub-adults gain around 50-110 grams per month. Where my big guys gain maybe 35-50 grams per month.

This is a 6 day feeding schedule, and they all eat. Very rarely do I have non-eaters, but when I do its either the time of year or a gravid female.

[Gloryhound]

Interesting the thought of calories come up!

calorie - unit of energy: a unit of energy equal to 4.1855 joules, originally defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of pure water by 1º C.

Well a snake is cold blooded so other factors that would have to be considered in the overall efficiency would be the temperature they are kept at. Will a warmer snake assimilate the food better than a cooler one? I think so as for everything I have heard belly heat helps them digest their food. Thinking about this their should be some specific heat level that would maximize growth?

[elusivereptiles]

No idea... but it's food for thought