Are we feeding too much?

[Vypyrz]

That is a very good point there seclark.

Putting things into context. Humans have a much higher metabolism than reptiles, in relation we eat small amounts often to maintain energy for day to day activities. Ball pythons are recommended to be fed 10-15% of their body weight, I weigh 85kg, but I don't eat 8.5-13kg at each meal...

I think we cannot compare our eating needs/habits to those of a reptile...

Yes we can. This was something I did a couple of weeks ago and had some interesting conclusions. I am 6'-3" and weigh 220lbs. According to the 10-15% rule, I would need to eat 22-33 lbs of food. Impossible, I thought. Then I remebered that is for one week, which works out to 3.1- 4.7 lbs of food per day. So I headed off to the kitchen to look at some of my food. Keep in mind that this doesn't account for calories, only food weight. Here's what I found:
1- can of green beens, wt. 16oz
1- can of corn.............wt. 16oz
1- can of tuna.............wt. 16oz
Now, look at it like this: Servings per container,
1-can of green bean- 3.5
1-can of corn--------3.5
1 can of tuna-------- 2
My conclusion: If you eat 1 can of tuna and 2 cans of vegetables, that is 2 servings of meat and 7 servings of vegetables per day. Toss in a couple slices of whole grain bread, a couple pieces of fruit and a glass of milk, and you fall within the 10-15% per week and I also comply with that nutritional pyramid thing...

But your comments about feeding less on a set schedule are interesting. I have been mulling this over in my mind. I think that 10-15% of body weight one a week is too much, I feel that 5% would be more suitable each week. This would allow less fat to be stored on the animal whilst still providing it with all the nourishment it needs to grow...

I have also been wrestling with this concerning my adult male. Applying the 10-15% rule, I should feed him a rat weighing 230-352g every 14 days. I know for a fact that he will not eat rats this big. I have offered. Instead, I cut the weight in half and offer a rat 120-160g every 7 days. Usually 3 days after eating, he will start roaming his tank at night until next feeding day. I was thinking about putting him on a diet and feeding him the smaller size rat every 14 days, which would equal 10-15% of his weight per month, instead of per week, and give him another week between feedings to roam off some his love handles. But then again, I'm not so sure he is even overweight, since there are no recommended size/weight charts. He doesn't look overweight, just dominant. I was thinking about starting another thread and see if people will post the length and weight of some of their males so I can at least get a comparison to work off of...

These are my thoughts, I've not seen hard facts that feeding smaller meals is detrimental, but I've found plenty saying that feeding every 7-14 days is too much...

There have been alot of good posts in this thread on both sides of this issue. The fact remains that there are just no conclusive scientific experiments. Why don't some of the members in the Biology, Zoology, or veterinary fields just apply for a government grant to conduct the studies. I mean, if people can get grants to study cow farts and earthworm mating, surely they would give out a grant for research that would benefit the multi-billion dollar reptile industry...

Rob