Just hit a year old. GROWTH RATE

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

yeah, i went from
live mice (he killed and didnt eat)
live rats (killed and didnt eat)
live asf's (didnt kill, didnt eat)

i got so sick of him killing them, i left a ft mouse in there over night, and it was gone...

i kept doing that, till he started striking for food, and then attemped to switch to rats...
and that was a PAIN.
i had to gut the mouse, and rub guts or the mouse allll over the rat...
and he finally took it.

and i did that for about 3 feedings, and then now, its 1 small rat every 7-10 days. f/t of coarse. lol

[Neal]

I need to get ready to switch mine over, which I don't think will be a problem at all. Right now I feed her an adult mouse, which is bigger then most stores give. I think he gives me his breeders, lol. I think once she gets a little bit bigger i'm going to re-evaluate what I feed her. The adult mouse leaves a bulge, but I think sometime soon i'm going to probably up prey size.

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

i switched mine to rats asap.
i try to do that with most my snakes.

rats are a little more "meaty" so i went from a adult mouse, to a pup rat.
and worked my way up lol

[Neal]

What is equivilant to a adult mouse on the rat family?

[Neal]

Just weighed the mouse I usually give my anaconda, 21 grams. So I think i'm going to switch to like a Rat Pup, or maybe a tad size bigger, I want to see the size of the rats first though.

What is the weight of the rat you feed yours?

[mumps]

A lot of people think I grow my animals too quickly, but a mouse per feeding? A yellow? Mine had an adult mouse for a first feeding, and has been on appropriate sized rats ever since.

She's a little over 3 now, and eats super jumbo rats (3 per feeding, usually every 2 weeks), or a chicken or two. Never misses unless shedding, and feeds throughout the winter.

She's around 10 foot and probably 15 pounds. Grams. That's funny. For a yearling annie...

Chris

[Neal]

A lot of people think I grow my animals too quickly, but a mouse per feeding? A yellow? Mine had an adult mouse for a first feeding, and has been on appropriate sized rats ever since.

She's a little over 3 now, and eats super jumbo rats (3 per feeding, usually every 2 weeks), or a chicken or two. Never misses unless shedding, and feeds throughout the winter.

She's around 10 foot and probably 15 pounds. Grams. That's funny. For a yearling annie...

Chris

I think it's funny that you feed your snakes like you do. I feed my snakes the way any other anaconda owner does, or even breeders for that matter. I refuse to powerfeed them, you may want to, and thats your issue, but not to sound like a jerk or anything but none of us listen to anything you say because of your initial post some odd months back with something similiar to this post. So please refrain from trying to give any advice to anybody in the anaconda forums, because nobody is going to listen to you.

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

I think it's funny that you feed your snakes like you do. I feed my snakes the way any other anaconda owner does, or even breeders for that matter. I refuse to powerfeed them, you may want to, and thats your issue, but not to sound like a jerk or anything but none of us listen to anything you say because of your initial post some odd months back with something similiar to this post. So please refrain from trying to give any advice to anybody in the anaconda forums, because nobody is going to listen to you.

i agree, in some ways.
ill listen to what you have to say, but most everything i have read about how you care for you conda, i dont agree with that much...
Neal and I, are taking a 7-10 day approach. and its what we like, and what works for our animals.
i also refuse to powerfeed my snakes, and want my animals to have a healthy long life.

[Neal]

I wouldn't powerfeed any of my snakes simply because they don't sit there and eat 2-3+ meals in the wild that often. They eat something as needed which is weekly.

I however went from every 7 days, to every 5, for the next few weeks just to make up for a few lost meals while shedding.

[mumps]

I'm glad you don't want to take the advice from someone who has been keeping and breeding giants for over 20 years (over 30 with reptiles in general).

How many studies of wild anacondas have been done which show how much a baby eats and grows? None. Jesus Rivas has been studying greens in Venezuela for some time, but I haven't seen any papers published on neonate growth rates. I have, however, been witness to many species of animals which ALL grow exponentially in the first year of life, and then slow down after that. It's called "surviving in the wild". Now I don't want to hear about "that's not snakes" when I talk about wild monitors reaching sexual maturity in less than a year, or your cute puppy reaching adult size in six months. Any animal that wants to have any hope of survival will eat anything and everything it can in its first year of life. It's what nature intended. Just because a snake can survive on pawltry offerings doesn't mean it should. Do snakes ever go off food? Yes. Do you think they know what they're doing? Yes. Are problem feeders a pain in the you-know-what?

Bottom line: Allowing a snake to eat when it wants is not "powerfeeding". People who think so (like some breeders) cannot comment on the longevity of snakes because as soon as something cooler comes along they sell their old breeders for the "next cool morph", never having a snake reach a ripe old age. How long have you guys (Neal and Fiend) been keeping snakes? How many care articles have you written? How many species of reptiles have you worked with? How many lectures, presentations, or public showings have you partaken in?

Give me a break.

I know you guys won't take any advice I give, and that's fine. Your snakes certainly won't suffer from your methods, but don't go around thinking your way is the only way. Get off the computer for a couple of hours and go take in some nature...

Chris