Grow Faster, Breed Sooner? (NOT POWER FEEDING)

[Ball_Pythons4life]

Do we know what their feeding frequency is in the wild? I find it pretty gross to experiment on animals solely for the purpose of breeding and making money off them sooner and it doesn't give me a lot of confidence that health, long term or short, is a main concern. Why does he only do it on males and only until breeding size if he truly thinks it's so safe and healthy for them? I saw it asked on that thread a few times but didn't really see an answer on how old the males have lived or how they are doing now, seems like many suggested they were likely sold off as breeders seem to do quite quickly to move onto the next best thing so was there any true long term info or just they "seem fine", which doesn't tell us anything.

I don't mean this to be an angry reply, but I have a few problems with this post.

Let me ask you this. If there's a plague of rats and your a snake will you eat a big one and wait another 5 days and eat another big one? How do we know that the feeding regime that seems to be the status quo is right just because it works? Mike Wilbanks wouldn't be this big of a breeder if he didnt do what was in the best interest of his animals, but why would you even breed reptiles if money isn't a motivator. Its the same thing as being a doctor and liking your job, you're still going to want to get paid. And also "many" is a large exaggeration for the people saying they were getting sold off, as it was only one user

("Of course it’s not forever. Just long enough to make money on them and then sell them to someone else.")

He also says why he only uses this technique on male

("ps…I have found no real advantage to growing females quickly. They will routinely breed at 18 months but I think it is better to wait until they are 2-3 years of age. They seem to have more eggs throughout their lifetimes and grow to an overall larger size if you wait to breed them.")



note: I used a few examples from the original thread.