Burm or Retic??

[Hypancistrus]

I don't think overfeeding is bad, but it just makes the snake reach it's full potential too fast? Like feeding a large breed puppy food that is way too high in protein makes the puppy grow super fast(although that can kill XL breeds of dogs)

This is an interesting topic (minus all the flaming, of course). I will be getting my first burm next week at Daytona, so I've been re-reading a lot of the materials online about large pythons and their growth. I, too, have read a few articles that suggest that growth can be safely controlled by the size prey you offer.

NERD's article, which is on retics, so I've not read it before, implies that yes, you can keep them from growing so fast by feeding smaller meals, but that if you go too small, they are hungrier and therefore more likely to attack you when being handled, thus putting you and your snake into a dangerous situation.

So it appears the question is... what size prey is TOO small for safety, but not so large as to cause excessively fast growth, i.e. power-feeding caliber growth??

I know in the cornsnake community there is some annecdotal evidence that snakes who were power fed as babies to achieve breeding size ASAP have shortened lifespans. I myself have always been a more conservative feeder with my snakes because of this.

Has anyone found the same to be true with burms and retics that were power fed as babies??

This is one of the articles I found and read re: Burmese python feeding and growth. It is from Reptiles Magazine, circa 1998.

http://www.bobclark.com/aAN_98.asp

The growth rate of Burmese pythons can be influenced by several factors, with the snakes being capable of an almost unbelievable rate of growth under ideal conditions. Burmese pythons that are kept at temperatures in the mid- to high-80s, and that are fed all they will eat twice a week (on average), can reach a length of nearly 10 feet in one years' time. In contrast, I know of a Burmese that was fed only one mouse every 10 days, and in seven years it reached a length of only slightly more than 4'/, feet. I obtained this snake, and after a year of heavy feeding it reached a length of 11 feet.

So obviously 10' in one year seems akin to power feeding, while 4.5 feet in 7 years is not acceptable. It does not appear to stunt the growth, however, if Clark was able to get it to 11 foot with more frequent and larger feedings.

Good topic.