Trying to figure out a feeding schedule...

[PitOnTheProwl]

Why one? Why not multiple?

[Gio]

As PitOnTheProwl mentioned younger animals will require a different level of food intake. I will add newer keepers have the propensity to overdo it which happens far too frequently.

The O/P mentioned it had been 5 days, then there was another feed today and is asking to feed tomorrow. If you don't see what is going to happen here without pulling back the reins you are not looking at things clearly. This snake's system needs some time to process and eliminate now.

Unless you have a rather young royal, you will not see these animals starve even by waiting what some would consider a long time. I have an adult royal that has eaten once in the last year and you would never know it but that's a different subject.

A lot of feeding "advice" you see is often geared toward maturity and breeding. If you are growing a pet and not in any rush for size, which is unhealthy IMO, you are not harming your snake in any way by waiting a little bit.

So while some may push you in the direction of feeding often or prior to defecation, there is certainly no harm in waiting for waste elimination prior to feeding again. NONE.

In this particular case I'd definitely wait. 3 meals in 5 days is too much. The O/P needs to hear that and needs to wait it out. Advice to the contrary is not constructive in this situation.


I offered that advice because it is safe and easy to figure out. Feed, eliminate and feed again. Are there other ways?? Certainly, but I see far too often feed, feed, feed! The end result of that is almost always a shortened life.

Obviously this is not aimed at long time experienced keepers who know their animals and maybe that caused some misunderstanding.

I won't debate or argue here, as all I wanted was to offer the O/P a safe practice for feeding that has very little thinking involved.

While it is very hard to underfeed "most" snakes, it is entirely too easy to overfeed them.

[SmoothScales]

As PitOnTheProwl mentioned younger animals will require a different level of food intake. I will add newer keepers have the propensity to overdo it which happens far too frequently.

The O/P mentioned it had been 5 days, then there was another feed today and is asking to feed tomorrow. If you don't see what is going to happen here without pulling back the reins you are not looking at things clearly. This snake's system needs some time to process and eliminate now.

Unless you have a rather young royal, you will not see these animals starve even by waiting what some would consider a long time. I have an adult royal that has eaten once in the last year and you would never know it but that's a different subject.

A lot of feeding "advice" you see is often geared toward maturity and breeding. If you are growing a pet and not in any rush for size, which is unhealthy IMO, you are not harming your snake in any way by waiting a little bit.

So while some may push you in the direction of feeding often or prior to defecation, there is certainly no harm in waiting for waste elimination prior to feeding again. NONE.

In this particular case I'd definitely wait. 3 meals in 5 days is too much. The O/P needs to hear that and needs to wait it out. Advice to the contrary is not constructive in this situation.


I offered that advice because it is safe and easy to figure out. Feed, eliminate and feed again. Are there other ways?? Certainly, but I see far too often feed, feed, feed! The end result of that is almost always a shortened life.

Obviously this is not aimed at long time experienced keepers who know their animals and maybe that caused some misunderstanding.

I won't debate or argue here, as all I wanted was to offer the O/P a safe practice for feeding that has very little thinking involved.

While it is very hard to underfeed "most" snakes, it is entirely too easy to overfeed them.

My advice was not necessarily directed toward an extra feeding. As long as the animal is getting an appropriately size meal (I'm a fan of 10-15%), then there should be no reason to feed today and then feed tomorrow. I was simply saying that if you've fed it today and it's next feeding day is 5 days away, there is no need to skip or put it off if the animal hasn't defecated. As I said, I have one that will pass 3 days after feeding like clockwork, and she is getting a 10-15% meal. Meanwhile another one that will only pass after every 3rd meal. (They are MASSIVE.) If I waited for her to defecate, she'd only eat once a month. Both get weighed once a month and are growing fine.

[Gio]

My advice was not necessarily directed toward an extra feeding. As long as the animal is getting an appropriately size meal (I'm a fan of 10-15%), then there should be no reason to feed today and then feed tomorrow. I was simply saying that if you've fed it today and it's next feeding day is 5 days away, there is no need to skip or put it off if the animal hasn't defecated. As I said, I have one that will pass 3 days after feeding like clockwork, and she is getting a 10-15% meal. Meanwhile another one that will only pass after every 3rd meal. (They are MASSIVE.) If I waited for her to defecate, she'd only eat once a month. Both get weighed once a month and are growing fine.

Right,

There are plenty of variables involved in feeding. Josh mentioned a few so did Pit.

In almost all cases feeding frequency and husbandry play the biggest roles in growth. Husbandry is major.

I personally NEVER use a set schedule, and I vary prey type, size and frequency. In the winter months I use seasonal temp drops and now that all of my snakes are mature they will usually go off feed in the winter.

My advice in this particular thread is more how I would approach feeding a boa constrictor but the practice is acceptable to pass along to somebody who is just starting out with royals. I don't know the ages and experience levels of most of the people here, but it is fairly easy to spot somebody who should be given advice toward the conservative side which is why I wanted the O/P to let that snake empty out.

Regurge isn't a prominent issue with most pythons, but stuffing them is not doing them any good.

Being in a constant state of digestion draws energy away from other functions.

Will the O/P's snake eat if presented food? YES! These animals are hard wired to deal with feast and famine. They have been for millions of years.

If we were to discuss a "feeding schedule" I would say, sans a baby, I would feed various prey sizes and change the intervals. Feeding some large meals, some that would be considered larger than recommended, and then wait a long while. Then I would feed rather small sized prey and decrease the interval between meals. Then there would be a longer "clean out" period before starting up again.

Vincent Russo, author of THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR has studied and proven boas to grow more when they are not being fed. That does not mean starved but rather getting a break from constant digestion.

You can apply that to other snakes, keeping in mind metabolisms for different species are going to require some variation.

One can assume ALL snakes have evolved with a "feast or famine" diet. They are experts at conserving energy and nutrients for long, long periods.

Captivity generally brings nutritional "overstock", because our snakes are not faced with the challenges of the wild. They are setup well and can become fat and happy. That doesn't always equate to healthy. We feed prey items that are also captive bred and are not as lean as wild prey which contributes to obesity in some cases.

There are always pros and cons to diets. In the wild some animals perish when they can't get food, but in captivity many, a great many, animals (snakes) die way to early because of overfeeding.

Before putting this to rest, I wanted to elaborate a bit further since my initial response was written quickly prior to leaving the house.

In this specific situation, the snake should eliminate its previous 2 or 3 meals before being fed again. If the snake is constantly hungry, increase the prey size. The snake WILL grow if you are giving adequate to slightly larger prey and waiting for it to dedicate.

Once you are comfortable with feeding and knowing WHEN you think its time you may want to try to change things.

This response could be rather confusing to a newer keeper which is what I wanted to avoid.

Again, my first answer was based on not overdoing it which is common, simplicity, and safe/healthy growth.

[ArabianOak]

well gang, my baby ball took a pretty decent size poop this morning...first time I've seen it happen...pretty nasty and all white...lol. good size though...

thoughts on next feeding now that the poop has occurred?