Feeding schedules

[Fangs]

The post about small head syndrome got me thinking(bit of a shock eh?)

Given that if it is primarily caused from overfeeding what then constitutes overfeeding?

how often should you feed
hatchlings?
juvenilles?
sub adults?
adults?

cheers

[sobrien]

I would say that all of them should be fed once every one or twice a week but you just increase the size of the prey. Don't use this as a guide as I am only starting out on snakes myself. I would be interested as to what everyone else has to say.
Cheers Simon

[pythonss]

hi fangs..good question you have raised and a hard one to answer in a general out line.

We feed our animals on a nine day rotation, weather juvis or adults.The diet is adjusted by the amount they are given eg.. adults that have just finished breeding have there amount increased while returning weight lose from breeding. Juviniles are feed apropreate sized items and as many as they wish, but with this type of feeding it has to be monitored as each animal will have a differant matablism Eg.. very active animals will gain weight at a slower rate than a snake that sits and hides alot. So its really is a try and see type deal as is giving food items of the right size.

Most of the over weight reptiles we have seen (pinheads) have come from what is known as power feeding. This isnt health in our opinion and is done by giving growth suppliments with there food items( such as mutton bird oil.) Most of the time the reason behind this is the $ return on breeding animals earlyer than usual.

If you breed your own rats. Give them good food and that will ensure that your snakes are receiving a good healthy diet as well.
hope that helps a little..
cheers paul.

[grahamh]

Hi Paul

Originally Posted by pythonss

Juviniles are feed apropreate sized items and as many as they wish...........

I'm interested in the 'as many as they wish' - does this mean that - say a year old diamond (like Snap) should be given as many weaner mice (her normal food item) as she will take per feeding session.

I gave her a weaner and a fuzzy after her shed the other day and she was looking for more but I didn't provide any more.

[lutzd]

Good question, Graham! The last feed I gave Lil she ate two medium and one full sized mouse without a problem and was still looking!

She IS fairly active, and doesn't look unproportioned (is that the right word??) and moves well, so I hope I'm doing the right thing. I feed her about every two weeks.

[Fangs]

Thanks for the info pythonss,
so a 9 day rotation for all stages of development including hatchlings to say yearlings?

Graham,just an observation from your reply wouldnt a year old diamond handle a bigger prey item than fuzzies and weaners?

cheers

[pythonss]

With diamonds we are a little strickter with there amount of food.

diamonds get fat rather easy from what we have seen so we dont really let them eat all they want. eg a carpet of the same size would get 1 rat more per feed etc and with diamonds we would feed every 2 weeks instead of 9 days.

new hatchlings we feed once a week untill they are moved from there tubs and into there first enclosure then they go on the 9 day rotation.
cheers paul.

[Fangs]

Thanx pythonss,

new hatchlings we feed once a week until they are moved from there tubs and into there first enclosure then they go on the 9 day rotation.

sorry but that leads me to another question.
At what age do you move from tub to enclosure and what size enclosure do you use?

cheers

[Hawkeye]

Also Pythonss, why 9 days? I am just little interested as talking with David (Lutz) and his comparison between his and Nicoles snakes and their relative sizes (being hatch mates). Also does not having a cooling period during the 24h cycle make a difference (ie keeping heaters on for 24 hours must keep thier metabolisms higher and therefore they maybe should eat more often?)

Bugger this I am becoming a eco-hippy naturalist!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers Hawkeye

[grahamh]

Originally Posted by Fangs

Graham,just an observation from your reply wouldnt a year old diamond handle a bigger prey item than fuzzies and weaners?

Hi Fangs

Snap is fairly small about as thick as my thumb in her widest part. There are a couple of photos of her feeding a month ago and two weeks ago - both using weaners. She also has this habbit of eating from the tail end which makes it a bit more of a struggle. The next batch of Reptile Munchies will include some bigger snacks.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/modules...view_photo.php

http://www.aussiepythons.com/modules...view_photo.php

[James]

Looks like I might try my babies on 2 pinkies a week when they feed.

I am also with fangs on the question when to move from tubs to their first encloser.

[dan_lizard]

I know that everyone has their own idea on how to feed, but I personally do not like to feed my reptiles on a specific cycle. I prefer to do it haphazardly, obviously still making sure they are always looked after and fed properly. But not every saturday at 9pm, or whatever. I personally think that this is better as then the herps come looking for food, and try to "hunt" some. In the wild they are not fed once a week, more likely once every 2 to once every month. I would never not feed a herp if he needed it, but the fact that snakes can often go 6-8 months without feeding must surely say that they do not require being fed on a particular cycle.

I am not having a go at anyone, as I don't think feeding on a cycle is a bad thing (especially if you have a large collection. Then it has to be done to get them all fed!!), this is just a personal preference.

[Fangs]

I do hear what you are saying Dan but where did you come up with how often snakes feed "in the wild"?
Surely it would depend on what the food source at their location is like.
I'm sure that given the opportunity a snake in "the wild" would gorge itself at every opportunity given the chance.
From my own personel observations with our two I can see quite easily that they are hungry for a lot of the time.We feed ours about once a week but I have no doubt whatsoever that they would eat twice as often given the chance.
Hardly anything we feed ours seem to go to waste ie:what goes in the front doesnt =what comes out the back so they are obviously using their food to make energy and growth.
cheers

[moses]

ok, so should I feed my 7mth old coastal as much as she can take at one sitting regularly?