Alright...

I purchase all of my feeder rodents, always have. After last year's breeding season, I took a look at my rodent bill and decided to try find a way to cut back.in previous years I have followed conventional wisdom, feeding females as much as they can eat every 3-4 days. After I perused Mader's and Rossi's books, over the last year and a half I have used the metabolic rate formula that they describe to help determine feeding routines for all of my snakes (kings and pines): ten times the animal's body weight(in kilograms)to the 0.75 power. The result is I am feeding males four 50g rats a month. With the females I added a little to compensate for reproductive costs, but I am feeding nowhere near as much as I have in previous breeding seasons: typically six 50g rats per female over the course of a month. This is the first breeding season that I have done this for, but I have seen increased clutch size and fertility (see clutch size post below) across the board. I will continue to practice this for future breeding seasons to see if the trend holds. Is more better? Many people have success with this method, myself included, but if I can meet the metabolic and reproductive needs of my animals with fewer rodents (reduce the risk of obesity, possibly other maladies) I am for it. I am lucky to break even/ gain a few dollars in this hobby, so there are financial benefits as well ( don't get me wrong- animal care is #1 with me - no one comes close to starving around here).



Let's here it, pros and cons.



Dave

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