Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would appreciate comments and opinions from those with experience regarding the enclosed quote from "The Reproductive Husbandry of Pythons and Boas" (1990). I spoke to someone with some experience and they believe the informations from the book may be outdated:

"It is tempting to over-feed young snakes in the assumption that they will achieve sexual maturity at an earlier age. Sexual maturation is related to both weight and age rather than either factor alone. In general, the average age of sexual maturity for captive born boids seems to be from 2.5 to 3.5 years. In second generation captive-born specimens , the average age at sexual maturity seems to be slightly younger, about 2.5 years, perhaps due to their more rapid growth.

Overfed specimens are often physically identifiable, as their heads seem too small for their length and girth. These "pinhead" specimens, as they are often called, are aesthetically less desireable. Also, breeding specimens at an early age is potentially dangerous and counterproductive. Young female pythons often produce small egg clutches that have a high rate of infertility. When young pythons are bred for the first time ,100% infertility may occur."

Opinions?

Well. I received a female that did not eat for several months. I took her home and put my little girl was in a shoe box that night and I put in a hopper.....gone in less than an 1/2 hour! After that feeding she never missed a meal! She was a 2000 baby. She would FLY out the cage for a feeding response! In 2001 she was over 1200 grams. So I bred her and she laid 8 eggs in 2002 and 2003.....This year I gave her a year off! She will not eat for me yet. She ate all the way into February/March and just shut down. She looks good but I think depressed! She ate while she had eggs in her. Pin head no. Just a food pump eater. I think I will put my little spider in tonight. She might go.
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RicK @ BbI

Ball Boutique,Inc.
The home of the singing snakes!

what do you want to know...?

most ball pythons in collections today are over-fed ,big bodied ,small headed specimens.......that are going to be bred at too young of an age......

if they die...we cannot complain

if eggs are smaller than normal,,.we can not complain

if the babies are smaller,,, and do not fair well.....we cannot complain

but we will..........

........some balls are like 3 times the size for their heads.........just look at the pics in here or on most websites...

we still do it..they still breed..and people still make money

all for the $$$$$$$$$$
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people???.........people are stupid.........
really???......really.........

Your opinion, and i got it ... thank you.

snakes have been around thousands of years

snake breeding for less than 25?.........more or less......

........book is good...I like it.......

........pinheads ....how do we know their liver isn't compromised?..or their kidneys might be weak?........

.....breed them anyways...........
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people???.........people are stupid.........
really???......really.........

I have limited experience breeding but I do have the book and I do have an opinion.
My thinking is that some people feed lots of smaller prey more often to get that "growth" and others simply feed well with appropriate sized prey. I have seen snakes fed the routine of prey smaller than they could/should take and do see them being more likely to be obese pinheads. I think it is the different 'definition' of powerfeeding.
My opinion is that it isn't good and I don't do it. It is a gut feeling that snakes probably shouldn't look or be like that. But I don't have any definitive 'proof'. I think the hobby is too young to have gotten that data.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Would Blood pythons fit into the catergory of a "pinhead"? They have large robust bodies with small heads.

Just a question.....

If anyone has pics of a "pinhead" please share/.......

Jared

animal is different. Some animals will become obese feeding every 7 days, while others will grow into perfect looking animals when fed 2x's per week (at least for a year or two, then 1x per week). When comparing a wild caught Ball to a captive bred animal of the same size, then yes most captive bred animals do have smaller heads, but they are probably also much much younger, and their heads should catch up eventually.

JMO
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CB

"I post because I'm bored"