Grow Faster, Breed Sooner? (NOT POWER FEEDING)

[Hugsplox]

I'm gonna preface this by saying I have never bred BPs, I just wanted to comment on this from a normal keeper's standpoint. I'd also like to say that I got my BP from Mike, and I am a huge fan of his business.

I don't see a big issue with this, the only problem I had with what Mike said, was that he hadn't noticed any long term issues. These are 20+ year living snakes, so I'm not sure how long he's been doing this or if he really has the data to back up there being no longevity issues with snakes he's done this with. If I missed him discussing this let me know. I think Mike's problem especially in this back and forth he's having with folks, is that he's the big breeder talking to a bunch of normal hobbyists who don't have the experience he has, so when he responds to them.. it's just not in a way that's conducive to learning.

I like the idea, I think the method works, and obviously Mike isn't going to use it if it was hurting his animals. Mike breeds so many snakes that I trust what he says, and I do not believe for a second regardless of what anyone says that he's putting the money before the animals. That being said, he posted that article for educational/information purposes, and then when questioned he gets defensive, and some of his comments (MOST of the comments actually) aren't value added. So essentially he turns a teaching opportunity into a argument.

In short, I trust Mike, I trust his methods, I don't agree with how he communicated in his responses.