Are we feeding too much?

[Bundu Boy]

Document whatever you do & track your results let THE RESULTS guide what you do- not what you expect beforehand. After a few years of adjusting, you will find what works for you.

Hey NR. I keep detailed records of all my balls, i use a card that is available free from my website ( http://www.ballpythonssa.co.za/Ball%...0Ironballs.pdf )

I don't agree 100% with what you are saying about letting the results guide me though. We are dealing with a living animal and I feel that if we only change our care once THE RESULTS are in then we may have some sick or even dead balls on our hands. Naturally, as observant ball owners, we would not (or should not) let it get to the stage where our animals die though.

I agree 100% that we will learn from our experiences. But I do not like the thought that we may be doing more harm than good to our animals by overfeeding them. This is the reason I am researching and questioning this matter.

I am starting to question the fact that recommendations are to feed adults a suitable sized prey once per week. There are a lot of owners here that stick to that schedule because the forum said so, or someone told them so, or they read it in book. But what is the cause/effect of our actions?

My question will always be, what will happen 10 - 15 years from now with these ball pythons that have been fed weekly with this prey size? I think that it is commonly accepted that pumping your snake with food will result in premature death, the question is how much food is too much?

I've spent just 24 hours or so looking at this topic online and I am finding more evidence (opinions, fact sheets and scientific study) that leads me to believe that even feeding adults every 14 days may be too much.

I'm not declaring that it is wrong to feed at a certain schedule, each person must decide what they must do. But in my experience I have found that you should not always follow blindly what is taught to you, especially when the outcomes of what you are taught have not been tested properly...

When it comes to the health of my balls I'd rather be proactive rather than reactive....

[mooingtricycle]

Yes, i think people tend to overfeed ball pythons ( and everything else) by quite a large amount. *after looking at that link, i was a participant, and continue to be on that site/community. That necropsy was proof enough for me, and seeing peoples SAUSAGE snakes just... bothers me. there is NO reason to feed the way people do!*

I feed every other week, sometimes longer. Basically when i feel like it. my snakes continue to grow and gain weight, and maintain healthy weights.

You wont find a female ball python here reaching 1K grams in a year. Sorry, never happen.

[NorthernRegius]

Hey NR. I keep detailed records of all my balls, i use a card that is available free from my website ( http://www.ballpythonssa.co.za/Ball%...0Ironballs.pdf )

I don't agree 100% with what you are saying about letting the results guide me though. We are dealing with a living animal and I feel that if we only change our care once THE RESULTS are in then we may have some sick or even dead balls on our hands. Naturally, as observant ball owners, we would not (or should not) let it get to the stage where our animals die though.

I agree 100% that we will learn from our experiences. But I do not like the thought that we may be doing more harm than good to our animals by overfeeding them. This is the reason I am researching and questioning this matter.

I am starting to question the fact that recommendations are to feed adults a suitable sized prey once per week. There are a lot of owners here that stick to that schedule because the forum said so, or someone told them so, or they read it in book. But what is the cause/effect of our actions?

My question will always be, what will happen 10 - 15 years from now with these ball pythons that have been fed weekly with this prey size? I think that it is commonly accepted that pumping your snake with food will result in premature death, the question is how much food is too much?

I've spent just 24 hours or so looking at this topic online and I am finding more evidence (opinions, fact sheets and scientific study) that leads me to believe that even feeding adults every 14 days may be too much.

....

Well I've some 10 year old snakes, & nearly 10 years of keeping them under my belt, so I can't speak to your research. I can speak to what I have seen with my collection, helping rescues & caring for other people's snakes. I track my results on a computer data base... death, you think that's the result I was speaking to?

There's much to watch throughout a snake's life to indicate health. What I track are, growth, weight- gain or loss, defecation interval, reproduction etc. I even make notes on activity level & temperament.

And from this I can clearly state there is not an exact one size fits all feeding schedule. Let me clarify about how I feed my collection. In winter most of my adults are either off feed or sporadic- so when I speak of feeding intervals of 5,7, or 10 days I am talking about young snakes &/or adults during the late Spring through early fall. I have some adults who fast only 4 months, some fast 6 months EVERY year since they hit maturity. So, when I say let the results guide you, I'm talking about working with the snake.

Yes, I have seen owners who over feed- especially in the world of Retics. I do not. It is very easy to tell when a snake is out of condition. I have also seen grossly underfed snakes, especially BPs while helping out with herp rescue. So again these things do vari.

Can a snake do alright on a 14 day schedule? There are many species of Boids that definitely do. Should a BP under 1 year of age be feed 1 mouse once a month- I think not. So, track parameters & the overall condition of the snake is all I'm suggesting.

[Bundu Boy]

Now that is the kind of answer I'm happy to see, thanks NR.

Naturally, stages of life will help to guide you in how much to feed. I'm not too concerned with the first 12-18 months of a Ball's life as this is when it grows the most. Although I think even my spider may have pushed the envelope a little in his early stages, which was 100% my fault.

My concern comes in once the ball reaches adulthood. Growth is no longer at the same rate as when it was younger and the animal's needs have changed. It is at this point that I am focusing my efforts regarding feeding.

The ball does not need the food energy to grow at a high rate anymore, so do we need to continue to pump food into them?

[Bundu Boy]

Yes, i think people tend to overfeed ball pythons ( and everything else) by quite a large amount. *after looking at that link, i was a participant, and continue to be on that site/community. That necropsy was proof enough for me, and seeing peoples SAUSAGE snakes just... bothers me. there is NO reason to feed the way people do!*

I feed every other week, sometimes longer. Basically when i feel like it. my snakes continue to grow and gain weight, and maintain healthy weights.

You wont find a female ball python here reaching 1K grams in a year. Sorry, never happen.

So an erratic approach to feeding has not given negative results, thanks for sharing

I am starting to believe that an inconsistent feeding approach may have benefits to our balls, this is how it happens in nature for our little friends....

[NorthernRegius]

Now that is the kind of answer I'm happy to see, thanks NR.

Naturally, stages of life will help to guide you in how much to feed. I'm not too concerned with the first 12-18 months of a Ball's life as this is when it grows the most. Although I think even my spider may have pushed the envelope a little in his early stages, which was 100% my fault.

My concern comes in once the ball reaches adulthood. Growth is no longer at the same rate as when it was younger and the animal's needs have changed. It is at this point that I am focusing my efforts regarding feeding.

The ball does not need the food energy to grow at a high rate anymore, so do we need to continue to pump food into them?

Shouldn't happen. But if you are breeding adults you will notice just how much it takes out of both boys & girls... and at that point your replacing lost body weight with a bit of minor growth. Girls can lose over 1/2 their weight laying eggs, males lose weight courting & breeding... males who are pulled from breeding still take their sweet time going back on feed, even though their weight fluctuates less than the girls.

Now, snakes that aren't being bred? Well, I've a few that are on break any given season- I do not breed an adult snake every year here. Again feeding for this is different. As long as you keep good records I still believe it's simple to do right by your animals.

[Haydenphoto]

Ok so how should we be feeding Balls under a year and so on ?

[NorthernRegius]

Ok so how should we be feeding Balls under a year and so on ?

I find that young snakes do well on a 5-7 day feeding schedule. My hatchlings & live feeders get varied 5 or 7 naturally due to the availability of rats- 7 days being the longest they have to wait as my local pet-store is fantastic at supplying my live feeders. Once on FT they are very regular, but they still naturally skip feedings durings sheds, which are usually around once a month to 6 weeks.

I feed prey items that are around equal to the girth of the snake- prey girth to snake girth.

[Haydenphoto]

I find that young snakes do well on a 5-7 day feeding schedule. My hatchlings & live feeders get varied 5 or 7 naturally due to the availability of rats- 7 days being the longest they have to wait as my local pet-store is fantastic at supplying my live feeders. Once on FT they are very regular, but they still naturally skip feedings durings sheds, which are usually around once a month to 6 weeks.

I feed prey items that are around equal to the girth of the snake- prey girth to snake girth.

I have been feeding mine baby's every 5 days sub adults about 5 to 7 days and adult once a week ! I breed AFS so the meals very some of my adults i feed 3 or 4 rats just depends on the size of the rat !

[Danounet]

Thanks everyone for this great info.

I have one question. When is a BP considered Adult? I see 18 months thrown out alot here and there, but no one says why 18 months.

Thanx