How often CAN I feed? (Underweight youngster)

[Calider]

I haven't had Sassy long. I have a lot of snake experience, including BP experience, but this is my first dealings with a neglected snake. She is a young (year maybe?) spider girl (very wobbly) and she is definitely smaller than she should be. She could handle a small rat, but is used to adult mice. I've never had an underweight snake before, even my LTC chondro wasn't underweight. As Sassy is still growing, I am wondering if it would be appropriate or at all beneficial to her to feed her more often than weekly. Prior to my acquiring her, her last meal was 11/09/16. I received her on 12/16/16 (and sprayed her for mites...) and fed her on 12/17/16 and am wondering if I can feed her again or if that would be pushing it... I just want her to be healthy. She will never be bred, so her final size really doesn't matter, I just don't want her to be malnourished. What do y'all think?

[StillBP]

I took a snake about the same age that was under size about 3 months ago. Put him on a normal 7 day feed schedule and now you would never know by looking at him that he was ever under feed. So I personally would only do a once a week feeding

[DennisM]

Weekly is fine, no need to force the issue. She'll gain the weight and be a healthy snake pretty quickly.

[Calider]

Thank you both. I will stick to weekly mice and let her grow at her own pace.

[Ratikal]

I've always wondered if the feeding schedule has as much to do with bp gaining weight is related to the size and nutrition of their meals?
I asked my DVM, also a herp hobbyist, and she said that a smaller meal on a 5-7 day schedule has worked for her patients. She stated "It also is less stressful on the animals body to quickly take a smaller meal more frequently and prevents less stress passing smaller cal plugs." Only if the patient is showing a strong feeding response when offered food she also stated. It was mentioned that a slight increase in humidity (60-65%) can help with comfortability and as the animal progresses to back the humidity down to normal (50-55%)

[Calider]

Ratikal, that is extremely helpful information! Thank you very much for that! Was contemplating switching her from adult mouse to small rat, but maybe she would be better off staying on the mice, if it is less stress on her system. I did upgrade her water dish today since the one I had in with her was too small for her to sit in comfortably if she wanted to. I actually have a fogger for my other snakes, but they are humidity-loving species... Do you think it would be helpful if she had a little fog too or would that be too much?

[bcr229]

I would switch her over to rats, offer weanlings if you want to keep her meals on the smaller but more frequent side for a while. The reason is that eventually she will grow up to her genetic potential and you don't want a female that wants 8-10 mice for a meal in a few years.

If she's not on f/t the I'd suggest that switch also.

[Ratikal]

I would reference the ball python care sheet resource and make sure your "husbandry" is accurate. Temps, humidity, hides, etc... I use a humidity induction system during the winter. I live in Michigan so my furnace has a built in de-humidifier. I supply humidity into the room my snakes are kept in. Sometimes, if needed, during a shed phase, I deeply moisten a hand towel, heat in the microwave for a minute and place over the screen lid opposite of a heat lamp, leaving a small airspace in between. This helps...bumps my humidity to about 70-73% during a shed. Too much humidity can cause respiratory issues and other problems, too little is bad husbandry! I only increase humidity during a "bad or poor shed phase"

[Ratikal]

Rats are higher in protein but also higher in calcium...
My DVM breeds rats and thats what she feeds. I don't always have rats available personally but my snakes will eat whatever is warm and wiggles...lol
I would be concerned about the size of her meals also, keeping it about a third less than normally suggested for a healthy snake. If she doesn't stress during the feeding and ingests the meal easily and content. Hopefully, she gets better for you and grows into a beautiful spider!
The less intrusion and stress during feeding, the better. Like my fat girlfriend when we visit the local buffet...jk lol

[Warren_Booth]

The frequency of feeding is something that interests me greatly, due to the dramatic physiological changes that occur rapidly upon feeding. Based on work carried out on Burmese pythons, it was shown that within 48 hours of feeding metabolic rate increases 44 fold, and the plasma triglyceride content increases 160 fold (thus the blood becomes thicker). Within 72 hours major organ specific changes also occur. For example, the small intestines, pancreas, liver, kidneys, and heart, increase in mass by between 40 and 100 fold. These changes last 10 to 14 days before returning to pre-feeding conditions. Physiologically, that is a massive amount of stress on organs. So, the question arises, if we feed on a 5 to 7 day routine, are we maintaining our snakes in a constant state of physiological stress (which may explain the short life span of many pythons and boas in captivity)? Furthermore, if we are feeding on a 5 to 7 day schedule, are the animals effectively utilizing all of the available meal, or are we simply pushing this through their systems with a reduced amount of processing?

My opinion in regards to underweight snakes is simply. Of course, prior to that, how do we define underweight. In most cases this would be noticeable backbone and protruding ribs. Anyway, my opinion is that the underweight animal is feed in the exact same way as a healthy animal. In my group, they are fed an appropriately size rodent every 10 to 14 days for ball pythons (my boas are different). In time, they will regain the weight they have lost (ow where never allowed to gain). There is no need to force it.

Warren