Posted by:
FR
at Thu Feb 7 15:22:39 2013 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FR ]
What do (some)keepers do, or what do snakes do? Those are two different questions.
Snakes naturally feed as often as they can, from daily, if prey is available, then it dwindles down to not feeding at all, when its not available.
Normally there are seasons for prey type, and they consume as much as they can, before it runs out,(or becomes educated) Educated prey is prey that has outgrown them, or has learned to avoid snake predators.
They seek temps to match the amount of prey consumed. In between, they conserve energy by lowering their body temps.
In captivity, you can offer choices of temps and allow them to feed when they want, or do what most others do, average it out and use a average temp, like low 80's and feed once or so a week.
I recomend learning how to tell how much to feed. As long as a snake is growing low and lean, no amount is too much. If the temps don't support proper assimilation of those prey items, then the snake grows short and fat.
You also need to keep in mind, fat is very necesary in the animal world and its something hard to come by.
The reality is, with proper temps(usable temps) they do not get too fat. Fat snakes is a product of poor temps.
Power feeding is about as silly a term as you can get. If you think about it, a snake feeds when hungry, If its finds lots of food in nature it consumes it, then goes to the right temps to process that food. I would think "power" feeding when a snake does not or stops feeding on its own.
Another major point is schedules, snakes feed for many days in a row, and stop for one of many reasons, HUMANS, set a schedule, based on a calender that has nothing to do with snakes. If you have questions ask.
My adult hogs have temp choices that range from very cold, 39 to 55F up to over ninty F. My female just fed today for the fifth time this winter, So far, when we have a cold front, they head to the cool side and do not feed, when the front passes, she starts to follow a routing of coming out daily and I offer food. AS I said, she just fed for the fifth time. Whats odd is, I have a pair of kingsnakes, next door to them, and they are the opposite, when it gets cool out, they head for the heat. They have stayed feeding all winter and are growing like weeds. They were dwarfed skinny hatchlings in Oct. and they are 2 foot bright healthy snakes now. And they have a choice to go cool if they wanted.
Ok, best of luck, I have a story and pics of wild snakes feeding daily. Again best of luck
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RE: Feeding and Frequency - FR, Thu Feb 7 15:22:39 2013