Feeding to much?

[For Goodness Snakes]

How often do you feed them that size prey Brian?

I feed more and more often than most people that keep ball pythons.

I offer my babies one or two live fuzzy rats about every 4 days or so, I offer my adult males a live small to medium rat about every 5 to 7 days, my adult females (2000 to 3000 grams) will be offered one or two mediums per week especially during the breeding season and my big girls (over 4000 grams) will be offered a large rat once a week especially during the breeding season. Most people don't feed their males very much, but I have found that if my males are a little light going into the breeding season, there is a very good chance that they will go off food and will starve to death. I expect my males to go off food so I buy a little insurance by feeding them heavy during the off season, with anticipation of the fast.

I want my snakes especially my females to be borderline overweight.

I know that most breeders would disagree with my feeding schedule, all I can tell you is that it works fantastic for me.

This year I'm going to produce 32 clutches out of a possible 35 adult females the average eggs per clutch so far is just over 7. I've had several 9 egg clutches, and a 14 egg clutch with several more double digit clutches just about to drop. I believe the reason for these large clutches is because of how I feed. A female that is a little robust will produce more follicles than a snake that is a little on the thin side. More follicles more babies, works for me.


Brian