ok...1 more for today

[joshthaxton]

Another one of those "why would he ask that" question: I've noticed since pairing up my snakes, that the female has not been defecating on her regular schedule, ex: she didn't for like 3 weeks. The humidity and temps are all good. So my question is "Do females slow their defecation during breeding months to store extra nutrients/minerals?"

[Freakie_frog]

Is she eating the same amount prior to breeding.

If not less food means less poop.

[joshthaxton]

Ha ha wow. No, she isn't. For some reason she won't. She won't eat rats or FT (believe me, I have tried to switch her) Before I started pairing her, she was pounding 5-7 mice/week. Now its like I can barely push her to eat 2-3/week. I figured she would eat more because she'd be putting on weight for the winter...etc..

[janeothejungle]

Ooooh How the biologist in me loves questions like this.....

I'd also point out that there are lots of factors on this one. If you are feeding less, then yes, less poop. But also if you have cooler temps during this season, even if they are eating the same amount, metabolism slows. If you are pairing them then they will also likely use more energy to build/breed, which means less energy is available for other processes....

Cheers,
Kat

[SGExotics]

Ha ha wow. No, she isn't. For some reason she won't. She won't eat rats or FT (believe me, I have tried to switch her) Before I started pairing her, she was pounding 5-7 mice/week. Now its like I can barely push her to eat 2-3/week. I figured she would eat more because she'd be putting on weight for the winter...etc..

5-7 mice a WEEK!!!! I hope this isn't on a regular basis! If you read that you need to get your females on a heavier feeding schedule before she starts breeding, i doesn't mean that much! instead of one mouse per week, a heavier feeding schedule would be like 2 mice on monday, and 2 on thursday... And during the actual breeding season, you shouldn't be attempting to feed her that much. Most females won't even eat anyway, but you should only be offering small meals every couple of weeks during the breeding season, which they most likely wont accept anyway...

[joshthaxton]

yeah 5-7/week. I wasn't trying to bulk her up or anything, that's just how many she eats. She's almost 3 yrs old, and I've had her since she was 1. She won't eat rats or FT, so mice is all i have. I'm still offering small meals once a week (~2 mice) and she still takes. Thanks for the advice though.