Powerfeeding - Why?

[cwarren72]

Slateman touched on everyones favourite subject in one of his post - Is She Fat? I know there are supposedly pro's and con's to power feeding and while I don't power feed my snakes I certainly don't restrict their diet overly, Somewhere in between I guess. My concern is that from a lot of people I have met that power feed their animals(not all) I hear the same or similar sort of comments emerge. "Look how big he\she is," or " Have you seen one this size?" I wonder if the reason behind the powerfeeding ideal is purely to show off.... Any thoughts?

I was under the impression that the only reason people powerfeed their herps is to get them up to breeding size faster...But I've only been in the game for like a month so I know bugger all

[africancichlidau]

Well tim I've been in the game for at least two months and I think that that is the main reason people power feed too.

[cwarren72]

As I said Not all. But there are some? They are the ones that I am really criping about.

[NoOne]

I feed my snakes well when they are at the peak of their growth, until they are about 2yrs old.
I don't see any hard evidence that says this is a bad thing, they are young and growing, i personally think many people underfeed their snakes because of the whole power feeding thing.
I think a snake that seems large, strong and heathly for it's age is a good thing and as long as you adjust their feeding once their grow rate slows down then you'll have no problems.

It's no different to a hatchling getting a good start in the wild, if they are capable of growing that fast then theres a reason for it.

[africancichlidau]

I tend to agree with that theory NoOne. As long as you don't make them obese then feed away but I do believe that if you are going to feed heavily then they should be given the opportunity for lots of excercise.
I'm gonna put little multi-gyms in all my enclosures soon

[cwarren72]

A little snake tread mill?

[NoOne]

"Powerfeeding" gets thrown around alot but it takes alot of feeding to make a young snake overweight.

[Fuscus]

I think you should powerfeed in November and December as that is the snakes feeding season, but slow down for the rest of the year, perhaps even stopping during the coolest part of the year

[varanus]

Powerfeeding to show off? I don't think so. The metabolism of hatchlings is pretty speedy, and they will not become fat. It all goes into their growth.
As for over feeding adult snakes, there is no logic. The growth rate slows down completely once the average size for the species has been reached. It will not continue to grow into a lengthy beast at the hatchling growth rate. We've all been impressed by large snakes sure. But an obese snake is certainly not impressionable.

[cwarren72]

to true. But I have to say that if you think that there aren't those out there with this mentality then you are either nieve or or just plain ignorant. The main reason for this post was mainly to spark a topical conversation, but also to highlight the fact that there those out there who DO powerfeed with the idea in mind of getting their herps as big as they can for all the wrong reasons. As I mentioned earlier I know the pro's and con's of powerfeeding and the difference to overfeeding. It always amazes me to see that some think that just because we do the right thing they think that everyone does. This would be the case in an ideal world but unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world and so we need to be mindful that there are those out there doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. In closing we need to be vigilant.

[varanus]

"Look how big he\she is," or " Have you seen one this size?" I wonder if the reason behind the powerfeeding ideal is purely to show off.... Any thoughts?

I'd have thought more along the lines of the keeper/s sharing their amazement at how quickly one can grow if 'powerfed'.

I must be guilty of showing off. A wee underfed yearling we acquired late last year was just over hatchling size ... she's now as large as her cage-mates .. in full bloom and currently shagging. Here's to a good year.

[Slateman]

I would appreciate if somebody can post picture of fat snake. I am finding hard to find any.

[Ricko]

hey slatey just a little bit off topic but i was watching my olives this morning and after being amazed that my big girl has been lying belly up all night and morning i noticed my male olive has those creases as well. He is only about 5 1/2 foot but not underweight not sure in kg's but he looks healthy and is healthy but whats with the creases? how are your olives going?

Rick

[basketcase]

its nearly impossible to overfeed a growing snake, problems arise wen people dont stop at about the full size of the snake

cheers, jono