Posted by:
Bluerosy
at Mon Feb 1 12:29:54 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Bluerosy ]
Unless you are a breeder worried about the bottom line, success is not gauged by how fast a snake grows or how soon and how many egg a female throws. Good body weight, muscle tone, resistance to disease and illness and behavior determine basic success.
I don't agree with that. Growing snakes can and should be fed as much as they will eat. These snakes seem to have a better survival rate and also do not turn off feed as easy as well fed snakes.
So if we are to teach newbs on proper care I think it is better to err on the side of frequent meals. As of the last 10 years on this forum and talking to folks they seem reluctant to feed more frequent or larger meals and they meet in the middle in some way anyway. To encourage maintenance feeding is not going to help a newbie undertand and may promote more 5 year old kings that are 20" or less..
Example would be a neonate or yealing kingssnake that is lean during the fall months. Even with temps raised this snake will more likely shut down and go off food completely if compared to a sibling which has been fed appropriatly. Thus the chances of survival and long term health is greater than a snake maintenance fed.
What works for a snake is leaving it in te wild. A snake can survive better with more choices. And that can never be duplicated in captivity. Espcially by newbs. In captivity we are limiting their choices for survival. So we have to make adjustments and one of the best ways is feeding as much as a snake eats DURING ITS FIRST TWO YEARS. After that a full grown snake can get obeses and especially if the snake is not in a breeding project. Excersie and searcing for food or mates is what they do in the wild. they don't get this in captivity. However..
..females that ARE bred in captivity need extra weight to ovulate and produce follicles and eggs. this can be stressful if the female is lean. Also males go off food during the spring and summer months due to phermones of females located nearby and get restless and refuse food.
So if a nsake wants to eat- feed it! Some species only feed during certain months during the year. Rubber boas for example. they tend to powerfeed (overstuff) themselves to reproduce but them shut down ealry and take a long winter nap. If you don't know rubber boas they need serval (5 or 6) mice in a sitting to survive the fall and winter in captivity.
But since this is the Kingsnake forum we should really stick to kings and not snakes in general. Just as we can't apply things to lizards or torts. Snakes of different kinds sometimes do need very specialized care and feeding.
My exoperince has been from maintenance feeding are snakes that succumb to captive conditions easier and may remain finicky problems feeders throghout life.
Also with so many newbies coming on here feeding kingsnakes pinkies when they are clearly hopper size is pretty common. it comes up here very frequently. So already newbies are afraid to feed their kings larger or more frequent meals. they have schedules as ridiculous as once per week on pinkies for a 15" kingsnakes , OR even larger than that.
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RE: My thoughts on keeping pyros... - Bluerosy, Mon Feb 1 12:29:54 2010