Feeding less frequently

[smellati]

My bp is about 30 inches long, and eats appropriate size rats (small rats) that are rather big, once a week. Big enough to leave a bulge in his belly, but not too big. Anyways, I have noticed that he seems to get less and less motivated to strike and eat. At one point, I waited 2 weeks to feed him again and I got a very strong feeding response.

My question is,
is it ok to feed only once every 2 weeks, or close to 2 weeks? He just doesn't seem all that hungry. Sure he'll eat it, but it's more like, "whatever" to him. Will he lose weight, or grow slower?

[Adam_Wysocki]

In my some what humble opinion, "lumping" a ball python is too much ... ball pythons seem to have slower metabolisms than other pythons and while "lumping" other snakes works well, with ball pythons the food seems to "build up" causing weaker feeding responses over time and eventually a fast.

In my experience, feeding a food item that is even the same width as the snake will eventually cause the same "build up" a subsequent lack of interest in food.

People are amazed when they come over to my shop and see how small the prey items are that I give to my snakes once a week and yet how large most of my ball pythons are (especially for their age). I think this is because by feeding them smaller prey items they eat more aggressively each week and digest their food more efficiently (using more of the food item instead of just passing it mostly as waste).

Of course this is all just how I personally do things and to each their own.

In the end, you could feed your ball python one small rat once a month and it would be fine it's entire life. These snakes are designed to eat only a handful of times a year in the wild (the life of a predator is a hungry one) and eating in captivity is luxurious to them!

-adam

[frankykeno]

Funny this thread should come up as Mike and I were just discussing this the other night.

We were wondering if it's possible (or plausible) that if you offer your snake an overly large meal consistently you might be actually screwing with it's natural predator/prey response and therefore ultimately it's feeding reaction to prey offered.

This was our train of thought. An animal that has an abundance of easy to get, larger prey sources will adjust to this at some point and perhaps lose it's aggressive feeding response somewhat (in other words, why work hard if it's so easy to fill one's belly). Offering a slightly smaller prey source (at least in our thoughts) or offering multiples of that smaller prey for larger snakes, might keep the snake believing it has to work for that smaller meal, stay alert and stay aggressive in order to get enough food to grow. After all these aren't higher thinking mammals, these are creatures that have had to react and adjust to their environment for eons in order to thrive.

Just a thought really....


~~Jo~~

[smellati]

Feeding multiple prey is out of the question for me. It is such a pain to get him to eat 2 smaller prey. If I feed one smaller prey once a week, I fear that he will always be hungry, or is that the point?

[Adam_Wysocki]

These are snakes that can go well over a YEAR without feeding and be fine ... their idea of "hunger" and yours are two very different things. One smaller prey item a week is fine. I'd bet that you'd see his/her appetite increase over time so that in a few months feeding multiple smaller prey items weekly is a snap!!

-adam

[daniel1983]

I'd bet that you'd see his/her appetite increase over time so that in a few months feeding multiple smaller prey items weekly is a snap!!

That would be a good bet. I am starting to love wicked feeding responses. Multiple smaller prey items are freakin' awesome