Feeding percent rule

[breadpython14]

So is 15 to 20% the new rule or is it still 10% and would 20 be considered power feeding if it's still 10?????

[Skiploder]

So is 15 to 20% the new rule or is it still 10% and would 20 be considered power feeding if it's still 10?????

The rule is not a rule. It is not based on anything nor backed by anything that simulates a proper caloric model. In general people overfed their captive reptiles.

PM me if you would like a calculation of an average caloric intake for a ball python. You can then vary prey sizes and establish a suitable feeding strategy.

[breadpython14]

The rule is not a rule. It is not based on anything nor backed by anything that simulates a proper caloric model. In general people overfed their captive reptiles.

PM me if you would like a calculation of an average caloric intake for a ball python. You can then vary prey sizes and establish a suitable feeding strategy.

O ok, well the reasoning for my question is that my bp is now 380 grams and I bought my weaned rats in bulk but it seems like they all vary from 30 to 36 grams in size. Cannot find any from 38 to 45. So I was wondering was I under feeding my bp with giving him rats at 34 grams when he's 380grams. Then I was wonder should I offer two which would either equal or a little under the 20% so called rule.

[bcr229]

O ok, well the reasoning for my question is that my bp is now 380 grams and I bought my weaned rats in bulk but it seems like they all vary from 30 to 36 grams in size. Cannot find any from 38 to 45. So I was wondering was I under feeding my bp with giving him rats at 34 grams when he's 380grams. Then I was wonder should I offer two which would either equal or a little under the 20% so called rule.

One of those every 5-7 days should be fine. Most people want to pack on the grams quickly to get their animals up to breeding weight. Unfortunately this leads to other health issues such as fatty liver disease. I prefer to keep mine on the light side versus too heavy, but then I'm in no hurry to breed my females either.

[breadpython14]

One of those every 5-7 days should be fine. Most people want to pack on the grams quickly to get their animals up to breeding weight. Unfortunately this leads to other health issues such as fatty liver disease. I prefer to keep mine on the light side versus too heavy, but then I'm in no hurry to breed my females either.

Ok thanks for the confirmation, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't under feeding him.

[nightrainfalls]

Also, if your snake is growing and shedding, it is getting enough food. A lot of people try to benchmark thier snakes. They say it should be so big after so many months. You should not do this. Three snakes fed the exact same diet will grow at three different rates. I weigh my actively growing snakes every few weeks and as long as weight is increasing and I am seeing regular sheds, all is good. I usually feed less than 10 percent. Once the snake has reached near maximum size, I don't even feed that much. Unless you have an extremely active Colubrid, it just is not needed.

David

[Skiploder]

Also, if your snake is growing and shedding, it is getting enough food. A lot of people try to benchmark thier snakes. They say it should be so big after so many months. You should not do this. Three snakes fed the exact same diet will grow at three different rates. I weigh my actively growing snakes every few weeks and as long as weight is increasing and I am seeing regular sheds, all is good. I usually feed less than 10 percent. Once the snake has reached near maximum size, I don't even feed that much. Unless you have an extremely active Colubrid, it just is not needed.

David

David is correct, the 10 to 15% "rule" applies to adult males if you feed every two weeks.

The 15 to 20% "rule" applies to breeding females if you feed every two weeks.

Those are averages and they also incorrectly model that the snake eats on a regular schedule all year long.

Captive snakes tend to be more sedentary to boot. Ball pythons have to expend various amounts of energy to seek mates, eat and den in the wild. These same expenditures do not apply to the great tupperware savannas of suburbia.

What does all this gibberish mean? Captive snakes are being overfed a diet of captive bred rodents that have a differing caloric composition than their wild prey models.

It's funny that many people who espouse feeding their domesticated dogs "prey model" diets at great expense and inconvenience, won't extend that same consideration to their un-domesticated captive reptiles.

If you know what species eat what, and if you know what ailments strike snakes fed too much of the wrong things, then you have enough information at hand to find enough studies to show the link between overfeeding, improper diets and life threatening disease in snakes.

[Lizardlicks]

A related question if OP doesn't mind me highjacking the thread: What a good rate for feeding hatchlings and juveniles (snakes under one year old) to keep them on a steady upward trend without overstepping into powerfeeding? The three guidelines that are most often quoted are feed 10-15% of their weight, feed prey items the same size as the thickest part of the snake, and feed prey items large enough to leave a bump. I just bumped my 300g+ girls up to 40g weans once a week because they didn't seem satisfied on the 30g pups anymore, even though those are a little large when going by the 10-15% rule. Going by the "thickness" rule the prey items still seem a bit small, but going by the "bump" rule, it seems about right.

(Personally, I'm just going to keep going by their feeding cues and keeping to a regular schedule.)

[PitOnTheProwl]

Feed what they eat, if they eat then cool and if they don't then cool too.
I don't sweat the numbers

[bcr229]

I just bumped my 300g+ girls up to 40g weans once a week because they didn't seem satisfied on the 30g pups anymore, even though those are a little large when going by the 10-15% rule. Going by the "thickness" rule the prey items still seem a bit small, but going by the "bump" rule, it seems about right.

That sounds fine to me.