over feeding?

[pookie!]

I don't think you can actually overfeed a juvenile, but you can overfeed an adult, and they can become obese.

Really? I honestly dont think I have ever seen that.. interesting..

[AdamF]

Really? I honestly dont think I have ever seen that.. interesting..

You can over feed any age. Personally, I keep mine a bit hungry, as in the wild they don't have a reg feeding schedule. Juvies I feed once per week/10 days, adults once every 2-3 weeks.

[Snake_Tooth]

yes, you can overfeed if your bp continues to take food whenever. for instance, my one male will eat anything, any day, and any time if i let him, so i be sure to keep him on a constant every 7 days feeding schedule so he does not get obese. And my other male used to be fed every 8-9 days or so because i noticed he did not have that thick muscular feeling but rather a fat and pudgy feeling so he had to go on a diet he bred this year and went off feed for over 100 days, and he lost a lot of weight, so i feed him every 5 days just to get him back up to weight. as long as your bp's are on a feeding schedule and you keep track of their weight, you should be good to go. i wouldn't worry too much otherwise.

[Annarose15]

You can over feed any age. Personally, I keep mine a bit hungry, as in the wild they don't have a reg feeding schedule. Juvies I feed once per week/10 days, adults once every 2-3 weeks.

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

[AdamF]

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

Simulating natural conditions? In the wild there is not a ready/steady source of food every 5th/7th day. I did not say starve or malnourished. All of the snake I ever owned were healthy good eaters, proper weight, breeders, etc.

I also would not (should not, lol) give myself all I can eat either. Many are in a race to get their snakes up to breeding size as quickly as possible. Yearlings, get fed 1x per week, 2 year olds, every 10 days, 3 and over 14-21 days. They grow steady and strong. Finally, they get alot less "exercise" in small enclosures, where as in the wild, they move around alot more.

So IMHO, "a bit hungry"= balancing diet with captive conditions

[pookie!]

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

I do it to my dog. I fast him every week as well as give him an over sized "groge" meal.
He only eats one meal a day. Same with my cat.

It keeps their guts in order, and yes I do it to myself. I regularly dont eat and "go hungry".

Simulating natural conditions? In the wild there is not a ready/steady source of food every 5th/7th day. I did not say starve or malnourished. All of the snake I ever owned were healthy good eaters, proper weight, breeders, etc.

I also would not (should not, lol) give myself all I can eat either. Many are in a race to get their snakes up to breeding size as quickly as possible. Yearlings, get fed 1x per week, 2 year olds, every 10 days, 3 and over 14-21 days. They grow steady and strong. Finally, they get alot less "exercise" in small enclosures, where as in the wild, they move around alot more.

So IMHO, "a bit hungry"= balancing diet with captive conditions

Yep I agree 100%! Animals dont get steady food.

I saw a study somewhere on rats, they fed ones on a steady diet every week, ones were allowed to free feed, and the last group was kept at almost starving. Guess which animals were overall healthier?
The nearly starved ones.
Animals dont evolve to eat on set times and have over amounts of food, nothing evolved that way. Nothing thrives that way imo

[gsarchie]

Why would you want to keep any animal "a bit hungry"? Would you do this to yourself?

I think that we certainly should do it to ourselves, and I do it to myself on a daily basis. I don't always eat when I feel hunger pangs in my stomach, I wait a while, with the feeling of hunger actually going away after just a short time.

Here are a couple fo good articles that I read recently. Looks like Americans NEED to go hungry a little more, or at least the 75% of us that are overweight or worse.
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/ave...million-tonnes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4349471/

[AdamF]

I think that we certainly should do it to ourselves, and I do it to myself on a daily basis. I don't always eat when I feel hunger pangs in my stomach, I wait a while, with the feeling of hunger actually going away after just a short time.

Here are a couple fo good articles that I read recently. Looks like Americans NEED to go hungry a little more, or at least the 75% of us that are overweight or worse.
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/ave...million-tonnes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4349471/

I agree! Sadly, for my lazy butt, I fall into the "worse" category, but trying

[jon7]

I think that we certainly should do it to ourselves, and I do it to myself on a daily basis. I don't always eat when I feel hunger pangs in my stomach, I wait a while, with the feeling of hunger actually going away after just a short time.

Here are a couple fo good articles that I read recently. Looks like Americans NEED to go hungry a little more, or at least the 75% of us that are overweight or worse.
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/ave...million-tonnes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4349471/

Agreed! Lol.Thanks for the input guys. Now my next Question, do any of you freeze rodents a specific way? Or do you just put them in a vacume seal, washed or not?

[hungba]

From my limited experience, I have found that other than hatchlings and very small ball pythons, I get a much better success rate (i.e. less refusals, less balls going off feed etc.) if I feed slightly larger prey (NOT too large) every 7 days. I used to do every 5 days for snakes smaller than 500 grams 7 days for above, but it got to be a pain in the butt keeping track as it didn't fit the 7 day week. I decided to do them all on 7 days other than the tiny ones, and I was surprised to see that there are far fewer refusals than before.

In fact, I usually feed on Wednesdays. But last week, I decided to do it tuesday, because I was very busy on wed. 5 snakes refused. Usually, only 2 - 3 refuse (two of them are problem feeders, and sometimes 1 because of shedding etc.) I also noticed that just by doing a day early, that it took a much longer time for them to strike than in the 7 day schedule.

Then again I only have 13 snakes and I am sure there are people far more experienced than I am.