feeding amounts

[reptililian]

Glacey, it would be really interesting to see some comparison photos of autopsies of wild lean snakes and fatty captive snakes,

I, too, would appreciate seeing some comparison photos. Also Glacey, to feed a 450gm snake a 25gm mouse every two weeks (forgive me if my maths is shaky here) is to feed it 5% of it's body weight every fortnight. Is this correct? Is this as a maintenance diet? How about pre-cooling off or pre-breeding. Should one feed them up a little more then? Dad and I are currently having this very debate!

 

[Jason]

my baby blond macs (which i only got a week ago) are being fed every 5 days, and will be until they are about 30cm then i back down to once a week, once they are yearlings i go to every 15days or so, they grow good then

 

[Retic]

I do agree that power feeding (every 2 to 3 days) could possibly lead to some problems and I don't do it but feeding a snake under say 2 years of age really shouldn't cause any problems. It is a personal thing of course.
Having said this I still haven't seen any evidence of the ill effects of power feeding and talking to a couple of guys in the States who have bee breeding snakes for many years they haven't had any problems with it.
I tend to feed mine every 5 days until about 18 to 24 months of age.

 

[Brodie]

Yeah, all the big wigs over here say exactly the same thing as your yank friends, boa.

 

[Retic]

That's right, I don't ever follow the herd but I do follow to an extent the excepted wisdom. The Americans have been doing this for many many years and while that doesn't by itself make it right I think they would have unearthed a rather large body of evidence against the practise if it was in fact detrimental. It is all a personal choice issue and anything I put down here is my opinion only and reflects ONLY the practises I choose to follow.

 

[Allan]

I agree with boa
What happens in a "good year" in the wild when there is plenty of food around? Surely there isn't anyone restricting the juvies from eating every 5 days. No, they eat as much as they can get their jaws on in order to grow as fast as possible and thereby increase the chances for survival.

 

[Brodie]

Yeah, exactly. And there are plenty of wild populations of snakes that eat much more than once a week. Take Fogg Dam water pythons for example, they are ready to breed by their second dry season.

Cheers.
Brodie

 

[TrueBlue]

Boa Boa Boa, you crack me up sometimes. How is feeding every 5 days not power feeding. In the wild once a python feeds, most of the time it hides out somewhere to digest its food before it hunts again as a rule, this is how pythons have evolved. You treat your pythons like elapids or colurbrids which have a much higher metabolism and can handle such abuse. Feeding every 5 days does not let the animals system rest at all as pythons need. The long term effects will show in a number of years with slugs in clutches and fat unhealthy snakes. Good luck.

 

[Ange]

I agree with boa too! A healthy looking snake over a stunted emancipated noodle any day. You should never power feed but starving the little critters isn't good either.

 

[TrueBlue]

Oh and buy the way my young get fed every 2-4 weeks for the first 12-18 months and yet they will mate at 2 1/2 and produce at 3. Dunno where you get this 4-5 years from. Infact most aspidities and antaresia will breed a year earlier, at 18 months producing at 2 years.

 

[TrueBlue]

Some poeple really do have no idea.

 

[Retic]

Rob, I'm glad I make you laugh :lol: Seriously though I'm not concerned about how others do it or the ins and outs of feeding every 5 days or 2 weeks. If it works for you that's fine.

 

[Retic]

What you should have said was 'Some people really don't agree with my ideas' :lol:

Some poeple really do have no idea.

 

[Mangles]

It appears to be very much a personal choice how ofetn you feed and everybody seems to think there way is the best.

I personally feed on average every 10 days for my snakes which range between 10 months to 1 year old. Sometimes it might be 8 days depending on the behaviour of the snake and somtimes 14 days or even longer. My Stimsoni is in a hotter part of the house and seems to digest quicker and be much more active than my Coastals, but also does not eat as big a meal, so he normally gets fed a bit sooner, but no less than 8 days between feeds.

Some will say this is wrong, others will agree, but it is working as my snakes are growing at a good rate and appear healthy.

 

[buck]

To use humans as an example as Boa did, think of male bodybuilders who are on large amount of steroids to stimulate muscle growth and than think of what it does to their, umm, reproductive organs

I don't mean to be picky but this is really a poor analogy. The effects of a performance enhancing drug on a human and overfeeding a snake have absolutely nothing in common. If you want to use humans as an example a better analogy would be that the effects of overfeeding snakes and overfeeding humans are exactly the same.

 

[Retic]

Mangles, I am most certainly not saying my way is the best. I am saying the method I use works for me and my animals. I have spoken to a great many keepers and breeders over the years and have settled on a method of feeding that seems to offer the snakes a chance to digest and still achieve a good rate of growth. Of course there are those who disagree and that's what makes healthy debate. As long as a particular method isn't pushed as being the only healthy choice then I am happy.

It appears to be very much a personal choice how ofetn you feed and everybody seems to think there way is the best.

Some will say this is wrong, others will agree, but it is working as my snakes are growing at a good rate and appear healthy.

 

[TrueBlue]

Ok Boa let my try and put this in to perspective for you from my point of veiw. You mentioned that we as humans eat regulary with out ill effect so why not pythons. The evolutionary difference bettween humans and pythons to say the least is enormous. An adult python in good condition can easily go with out food for 12 months or more with out ill effect yet humans are in major trouble in a matter of days with out food. As you know wild pythons spend more time with an empty tract than a full one, so why would take the risk and go to the opposite extreme. Beats the hell out of me.

 

[Mangles]

Boa, nor am I.

Everybody is different and as long as our methods work for us they cannot be wrong.

 

[junglemad]

A hungry snake is a healthy snake i reckon. I have a snake here that would take a feed every time i offered her one. She is already over a metre at 11 months just from fortnightly feeds. If i fed her every few days she would look like a Death Adder instead of a Jungle.

The proof will be in the pudding. I agree "that as long as our methods work for us they can't be wrong" but i will keep myself open to new ideas

 

[Retic]

The comparison between man and snake was a throw away line and not really meant to be analysed.

Ok Boa let my try and put this in to perspective for you from my point of veiw. You mentioned that we as humans eat regulary with out ill effect so why not pythons. The evolutionary difference bettween humans and pythons to say the least is enormous. An adult python in good condition can easily go with out food for 12 months or more with out ill effect yet humans are in major trouble in a matter of days with out food. As you know wild pythons spend more time with an empty tract than a full one, so why would take the risk and go to the opposite extreme. Beats the hell out of me.