Power feeding?

[Drew87]

Great post learing alot of stuff here

[whitesnake12]

In terms of power feeding the way I see it for babies that are always hungry,for example my cinnies are about 74 grams and eat on rat fuzzies and by the 3rd day their ready to strike at nething that comes near the rack smelling like food.So in case like that I feed them every 4 to 7days,once they reach over 500grams I feed them sm rats every 7 to 10days and the next day if they still look hungry I give them one more smaller sized rat.I have never had any over fed ball python nor have I had a BP throw up.

[Darkice]

Power feeding is ok as long as you don't over do it. By over doing it I mean feeding the snake before it poops. Snakes have slower metabolisms and and shouldn't eats every couple of days.
Their body can actually outgrow their intestines. Which will cut their lifespan in half. They are also susceptible to fatty liver disease.

Everyone wants their snakes to grow fast but would you rather have a healthy snake?

Just remember.
Feed the snake.
Wait for poop.
Feed again.

[janeothejungle]

Their body can actually outgrow their intestines. Which will cut their lifespan in half.

Can I get a citation on that?


I'm kind of in the same boat as Philly, ie I've always considered "power feeding" to be, in essence, tricking the snake to take more food than it would on it's own (ie the sneaking one food item behind another to trick the snake into taking both). For clarity, I personally refer to what most of this thread is talking about as "fattening" (ie offering as much as the snake would take on it's own). Within my collection, I feed babies more often than adults and have had periods in which certain individuals were offered food more often than their age-group peers (usually if they were picky eaters or slow growers). As with everything, moderation is key. I see no reason to constantly feed a snake just to put additional size on them if the snake is healthy and growing at a steady rate, proportional to its peers.

My .02

~Kat

[starmom]

...By over doing it I mean feeding the snake before it poops. ...

Gosh, I feed my adult snakes 80-90g rats every 7-10 days and many times they haven't pooped yet. I do not consider this power feeding.

[Wh00h0069]

I don't pay attention to when my snakes poop. I feed most hatchlings every five days. I feed hatchling males that I want to breed the same year that they hatched every 3 or 4 days. I feed all sub-adults and adults every seven days. If I want a sub-adult female to gain a little weight before breeding season, I will toss a second rat in after she has eaten the first one.

[Ladydragon]

I feed all my snakes every 7 days, hatchlings to adults. they all get two adult mice or if available appropriate sized rat pups. Would this be considered underfeeding, esp. for the hatchling? is this bad for the hatchling? to me he is steadily gaining weight, pees and poos and sheds regularly. I know this thread is about power feeding, but I have to be difficult

This is the stats on the hatchling:
lemon pastel male
born: june 08
I acquired him July 9, 08
weight when I got him was 74g
feed two adult mice weekly
current weight on empty: 427g.

[JD Constriction]

I attempt to feed everyone every 6-8 days.

I heard Marc Mandic (markus jayne reptiles) speak on reptile radio about how he thought alot of people use smaller meals than he offers in his once per week feedings.

He basically said that an appropriately sized meal to him leaves a nice sized bump in the middle of the animal. Also he noted that he feeds 45 day old rats to his hatchling ball pythons (assuming I heard him right). For me that's a pretty good sized pup if not a weaned.

I've since adopted a regiment of feeding larger prey items and I've got to say for the snakes that eat consistently and aren't afraid of a larger prey item this has been a really good approach. For both hatchlings and adults. The week off gives them time to defecate and it also gives them a very good sized meal that probably rivals smaller meals in shorter increments.

The ones that eat every week are doing great! I have a pair of pastel axanthics that were born in July and are 450g empty and eat small rats. Then there are others that weren't as consistent who are atleast on weaned.

I like the once a week method myself

Hope that helped!

[Ginevive]

I feed all my snakes every 7 days, hatchlings to adults. they all get two adult mice or if available appropriate sized rat pups. Would this be considered underfeeding, esp. for the hatchling? is this bad for the hatchling? to me he is steadily gaining weight, pees and poos and sheds regularly. I know this thread is about power feeding, but I have to be difficult

This is the stats on the hatchling:
lemon pastel male
born: june 08
I acquired him July 9, 08
weight when I got him was 74g
feed two adult mice weekly
current weight on empty: 427g.

I don't see it as underfeeding, per se. If your snakes are healthy looking, rounded, not skinny, and growing nicely.. and also not obese and sausagelike, then you're doing it right. I sometimes feed my youngsters every 5 days as opposed to 7. I also feed different snakes at different rates, though. This is because, I don't generally feed them when they're in shed. So, if I am feeding everyone on Tuesday, but two are in shed that day, I pass on them until after they have shed. It takes some note-taking of course, but we all do that anyway

I actually feed mine in different "formats" as well. For example, I have one adult male that I do not use for breeding. I basically feed him a "maintenance" diet, of one near-adult rat every 10 days. He stays sleek and happy, and since he does not udnergo the physical activity of breeding, he does not get overly fa either.. stays nice and sleek but Not thin and baggy. Now, my breeder girls, I feed a smiilar rat to them every 7 days in the time preceding breeding time.. to stock them up, but not so much that they get too huge.. it is kinda like, reading each snake to see what it needs.

For the '08 females that I plan on breeding once they're big enough, I do feed them more often than the same-aged males. I feed the males roughly every 7 days on adult mice, and the girls, every five days. I do have one '08 male that I want to breed, who gets fed every 5 days as well. I don't feed anyone closer together than 5 days.

IMO, two adult mice for a nice-sized '08 is just fine. Sounds like an impressive growth rate, in fact.I have one that is similarly sized (a holdback from my first '08 clutch) but I only feed him one rat hopper at a time, and he is kind of fat. If your snake is not overly obese, then you method sounds good.

[simplechamp]

Just remember.
Feed the snake.
Wait for poop.
Feed again.

I don't think I can agree with that as a rule of thumb. I'm sure it may work in some situations, but if I only fed my snake when it pooped it would be something like this:

10/10/08
10/12/08
10/17/08
11/04/08
11/23/08
11/30/08
12/01/08
12/13/08

That is the record of my snakes bowel movements since I started keeping track. As you can see that would be a pretty screwed up feeding schedule. Sometimes she defecates 2 times right in a row, sometimes she goes 2 or more weeks. Maybe my girl needs some supplemental fiber to get her "regular"?

I know you don't mean to follow the rule to an exact T, but I think feeding 10-15% body weight every 7-10 days is better. And if you really are determined to get them up to weight (powerfeeding, if you will), try every 5 days, but only under close observation, watching for detrimental effects of overfeeding.