Accelerated Growth Rate And Power Feeding

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My time to chime in. On the subject of power feeding vs frequent feeding... If you Google those words then you'll find numerous videos on YouTube as to the definition. It all comes down to how fast you want your snake to grow compared to the "average" growth rate for that species (or hybrid, mixed, jag, outcross, pure... whichever). As said previously in this thread, feeding snakes is much different to feeding a warm-blooded animal. And the general 'sheeple' out there are quick to judge you, when you tell them how frequent (or infrequent) you feed your family pet. So I believe there's that unwanted stigma as well to factor in when it comes to how often each keeper feeds their snake. My rule of thumb is a hungry (not starving) snake is a happy snake. Besides, if you lived your life confined to a 4 foot by 2 foot room, you wouldn't need a Sizzlers buffet every single week to keep you going...!
 
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Hey guys just thought I'd follow up with a pic of the new snake I've just taken on from NPWS through the recent ballot.... he/she is sitting at 7.5Kgs and defintely being put on a diet
I'm assuming it's a very well loved pet hence the size

0eae7613f29f5f2458c6224954809857.jpg


For context, she/he is about as wide as 1.25L coke bottle, maybe bigger


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Pretty sure there was a study undertaken at Sydney uni on power feeding. Not sure if the info is still on this site but it was at one stage.

From memory they found no issues regarding health between those power fed and those not.
 
Pretty sure there was a study undertaken at Sydney uni on power feeding. Not sure if the info is still on this site but it was at one stage.

From memory they found no issues regarding health between those power fed and those not.

I don't really have any interest in a uni study to be honest as it means little more than nothing.
And in my opinion promoting the behavior of over feeding disguised as power feeding to young keepers is negligent!
 
So a scientific study carries no weight?

An overweight snake is just as bad healthwise as an overweight human. No question that it is detrimental to the organisms health.

Power feeding doesn't necessarily mean an overweight animal though. If kept in optimum conditions for metabolism and growth then food should be converted to growth not weight.
This will depend on age and maturity.
If an animal is getting fat rather than growing then it shouldn't continue to be fed in the same manner.
There is a difference between feeding the animal too much and feeding it at an optimal level for growth which I thought was the aim of power feeding?

I'm not a power feeder but if the conditions are right and it's not maintained for the animals whole life then I don't have a problem with it.
As stated in another post in the wild
sometimes conditions are equal to what we would term power feeding. They don't last forever though and shouldn't be in captivity either.

As long as the animal is actively growing what harm will it do? Given true seasonal temperature variations is important.

To me keeping an ectotherm at higher than normal temperatures and keeping metabolism elevated is more detrimental and will have more of a bearing on longevity. Live fast, die young.
 
So a scientific study carries no weight?

An overweight snake is just as bad healthwise as an overweight human. No question that it is detrimental to the organisms health.

Power feeding doesn't necessarily mean an overweight animal though. If kept in optimum conditions for metabolism and growth then food should be converted to growth not weight.
This will depend on age and maturity.
If an animal is getting fat rather than growing then it shouldn't continue to be fed in the same manner.
There is a difference between feeding the animal too much and feeding it at an optimal level for growth which I thought was the aim of power feeding?

I'm not a power feeder but if the conditions are right and it's not maintained for the animals whole life then I don't have a problem with it.
As stated in another post in the wild
sometimes conditions are equal to what we would term power feeding. They don't last forever though and shouldn't be in captivity either.

As long as the animal is actively growing what harm will it do? Given true seasonal temperature variations is important.

To me keeping an ectotherm at higher than normal temperatures and keeping metabolism elevated is more detrimental and will have more of a bearing on longevity. Live fast, die young.

A need for an animal to be big and strong to successfully pass on it's genetics in the wild is not the case for captive reptiles though.

Do the obvious health concerns for captive bred stock kept under optimum conditions outway this? Or are we just content knowing they will live and breed just fine if feed conservatively?

Or is the need to make a buck as quick as possible the most imperative part?
 
And you never heard of a study that found beyond any doubt that product x is good for humans only for another study 2 years later to denounce all the findings? It happens all the time with products for the human food/health trade so how reliable are they when done for animals?

Like I said, you believe what you want, I'm not trying to convince you one way or the other.
 
Heard of plenty of studies like that. It's the nature of science and a lot studies would need to be done to see if the results are replicated. One study doesn't prove either way but it does make you think.

I was just trying to point out that over feeding and power feeding are not the same thing or shouldn't be. Power feeding is giving the optimum amount, over feeding is giving too much.

What are the health issues with power feeding?

Sorry Wally what are the obvious health concerns for captive stock?
 
Rapid growth in all animals leads to weakness of bones. Overworking internal organs to process excessive food of a reduced nutritional value puts excessive strain on internal organs.
Animals without the need or ability to burn off excessive calories leads to build up of fat, particularly around the liver.
'Power feeding' as its called normally leads to the animal being artificially heated in order to be fed through times that it should be resting, (brumation), a natural and essential part of the animals healthy cycle which again leads to more stress on organs that are designed to be rested for several months each year.

Then you have the group who overfeed because they think they are power feeding and if power feeding is good then feeding more must be better.
Really power feeding is not necessary, has no benefit to the animals. Can not help the animals in any way so even if it were doing no physical harm if it doesn't benefit them it has no place in captive keeping.
 
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I thought this male was underweight when I first acquired him. His skin felt loose and crinkly. He's since then put on a fair amount of weight and his skin feels smoother, more firm. I was trying to feed him up before brumation. But perhaps he was never underweight at all?

View attachment 320361
That looks like something you would find in png or the everglades in Florida nice Morelia
 
Totally agree that power feeding has no benefit to the animals. It's done purely for our selfish reasons.

I kind of agree with most of your points Paul but I would love to see some studies that actually back up the points. Overall I agree with you. The points where I don't is just nit picking so I won't bother.

I have never power fed and in fact feed my snakes varied amounts at different intervals as I think it's more natural. I give all of my animals a "real" seasonal cycle by supplying no night team heat year round. My snakes have pretty much stopped feeding now and won't eat again until August /September, even last seasons hatchies.
 
In regard to the study, it all depends on what the beliefs of the people are who do the study. If for example the people carrying out the study were practitioners of power feeding, a study confirming no ill effects carries no weight and will be seen as biased. But if they had the belief beforehand that power feeding was not in the best interests health wise for the snake and then found no ill health effects after conducting the study then the study would carry a lot of weight (pardon the pun).
 
I think most of our captives are overfed pretty routinely. Snakes that is. As other experienced keepers have described their regimes, I don't have a regular feeding routine, the snakes just get fed when it's convenient for me, and feeds can be as much as 4-5 weeks apart sometimes. I do, however, bump the food intake up when preparing females for breeding, but not by much. Snake metabolism and metabolic rates reduce when food is not plentiful, they are not like mammals or birds which must have constant and substantial amounts of food regularly to maintain body temperature and energy outputs.

Jamie
 
Hey guys just thought I'd follow up with a pic of the new snake I've just taken on from NPWS through the recent ballot.... he/she is sitting at 7.5Kgs and defintely being put on a diet
I'm assuming it's a very well loved pet hence the size

0eae7613f29f5f2458c6224954809857.jpg


For context, she/he is about as wide as 1.25L coke bottle, maybe bigger


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yeah, a little bit round hey lol
 
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