Kitty the BP progression thread!

[redshepherd]

My girl was 340g and 29 inches at 9 months, and it was around that time I started to notice some chunky rolls on her sides. As I'm not aiming to breed or "get her up to size" quickly and trying to err on the side that will lead to longevity (greater space between feeding times reduces the stress put upon their organs. BP organs can remain expanded for about 10 days after feeding! wow!), I elected to cut her back a little bit on feeding frequency.

Thought I'd input that it's not that greater space between feedings leads to longevity in itself. Some people might take that the wrong way and under-feed or "maintenance feed" their snake (the nicer way to put under-feeding), which may even result in stunted growth.

Simply don't OVER feed your snake- if you observe that the snake is chunky and has rolls, it's just been over-fed. Then adjust the feeding schedule.

It is the idea of some hopeful breeders overfeeding with the hope that the female will get "up to breeding size faster" and breeding a chunky female too young that results in poor body condition and poor breeding results. Feed your snake on a normal schedule that doesn't result in a fat snake, and it'll be fine.