Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone out there know the best possible feeding frequency for maximum growth with retics? ie, as much as they will eat, every day, every other day? I'm trying to get a female up to breeding size this year.

IMHO its a very bad idea.Its like feeding a baby human everything it will eat until it cant eat no more.Great possibility of being obese and very unhealthy for the child so imagine what it would be like for a snake,considering that their systems arent as well equipped as ours to hold that much stress on their bodies (heart,fatty buildup,etc.).I'd be more worried about the consistency of the meal rather than frequency.There are safer ways of doing it,like waiting patiently for her to mature.Feeding a snake way too much at any given time can only lead to problems in the long run as well as the short term,but its your snake so do as you like but think of the snakes well being first before anything else,babies,money,etc.and then try to breed her when she is old enough to do so. Regards Bill McLeod

I am terribly sorry, I forgot to mention that my female was right around 10 feet. When I said maximum growth rate, what I really meant was what are the safest parameters. I'm trying to get some extra weight on her. I took it for granted that everyone knew my entire situation. Thank you for pointing out the dangers of powerfeeding. Healthy snakes should be a primary concern of everyone, not taking a backseat to breeding. Once the snakes health and well being are satisfied breeding should only be secondary.

If shes 10 ft and was mine and i wanted to breed her then i would go with 4-7 lb. rabbits fed on a well balanced diet for maximum nutrition.Try the smaller size first and see how it goes and if you think she can go with a much bigger prey item then go for it.I'd feed every 5-10 days depending on the schedule you want to follow.The thing about retics is they will eat as much as you let them so i'd keep it to 1 big one per feeding or 2 smaller ones.Hope thats of some help. Regards Bill McLeod

I did see your other post saying that your snake wasn't a baby and you just wanted to fatten her up a bit for breeding but I have something to share anyway.

Last year, a man brought his yearling retic back to the local reptile store for help...He had tried to feed her so much so fast that he nearly killed her and once she was so messed up, he didn't know what to do. She was only 4.5-5 feet long and had a prolapsed anus and vent, all because he wanted to make her big fast.

Luckily, the reptile shopt owner was able to save her...he halted the feedings, literally sewed her vent closed to allow for healing and after a couple months, she was back to "normal" again. She was resold to someone else.

This story is a little too generalized and thus can be misleading or misinforming. You're my friend Sybella and I don't doubt you that the snake came back to the store with the injuries you have described. But this could have been caused by many other things. And to state factually that it was because he overfed it is assuming too much. I have always fed my tics and burms for maximum growth their first 10-12 months of life and have never had a single health problem, prolapse or otherwise. That particular snake that you mentioned could have been handled wrong, could have been injured, could have been overly dehydrated, could have had a genetic predisposition to weaker than usual anal muscles/tissue.. Unless you take it to a vet you just don't know, and even then, sometimes vets are stupid and you'd still never know. In any case, I don't like generalized posts like this because of the simple fact that people may read it, take it to heart and then be paranoid about feeding their retics too much. And this in and of itself can cause problems. Just my thoughts. No hard feelings I hope. I still love ya.

>>I did see your other post saying that your snake wasn't a baby and you just wanted to fatten her up a bit for breeding but I have something to share anyway.
>>
>>Last year, a man brought his yearling retic back to the local reptile store for help...He had tried to feed her so much so fast that he nearly killed her and once she was so messed up, he didn't know what to do. She was only 4.5-5 feet long and had a prolapsed anus and vent, all because he wanted to make her big fast.
>>
>>Luckily, the reptile shopt owner was able to save her...he halted the feedings, literally sewed her vent closed to allow for healing and after a couple months, she was back to "normal" again. She was resold to someone else.
-----
The fastest way to achieve great wealth is by living more poorly for much longer.

LOL! It's ok, Brian.

It wasn't just conjecture. The man who brought the snake back in explained what he did...he fed the snake as much as it would take every other day, without a break, with the sole intention of making it huge fast. After 6-7 months of this, he realized he had damaged the snake. Luckily for the snake, he had the sense to ask for help and be honest.

Yes, this is an extreme case and there could be other reasons but with all things, a happy-medium must be found.

The person asked if over-feeding was dangerous...the correct answer is; It depends.

Do you know what it takes to become a vet? To say that vets are sometimes stupid is ludicrous.

I have dealt with a lot of vets over the last 25 years of serious reptile keeping. That's undoubtedly longer than you've been alive, as I can tell by your attitude that you are quite young. Very often vets will know next to NOTHING about reptiles. So I can say with accuracy that they are sometimes stupid, meaning that they sometimes know little or nothing about reptiles. Being stupid "sometimes" may be bad, but I guess it beats ALWAYS being stupid like you.

>>Do you know what it takes to become a vet? To say that vets are sometimes stupid is ludicrous.
-----
The fastest way to achieve great wealth is by living more poorly for much longer.

Snakes are a very small percentage of the animals that vets deal with. Many vets are still learning about snakes just as we are. When the demand is greater than that of the treatment of other animals, I'm sure that vets will spend more time learning about them. You should keep in mind that it takes many years of study and hard work to become a vet. The fact that they don't know as much about snakes as they do more common pets certainly does not warrant them being labeled "stupid". I just thought that was an unfair statement. As for my age, I too have been collecting snakes for twenty-five years. I started as a young teenager. Judging from your reply, I would have pegged you for a much younger person. I guess we were both wrong.

Whew!

But it definitely tells us what we need to know.

KLG

Brian does have a point. I've taken my critters to the same vet all my life. They are really great about seeing anything there. If it's your pet, they'll see it. Since they see the zoo's animals, they have some experience with a little of everything.

The one time I had to take my retic to the vet (for worms thanks to a "free" rabbit--ggrrrr!!), they changed the dosage of the medicine 3 times. The two vets couldn't agree. One prescribed something and the other called me to change it. Then, once I was done with the first course, I found that she still had worms a month or so later. So, I had to do a repeat treatment. I think, if the had gotten it right from the start, it would have worked the first time. I'm glad it wasn't something truly serious...I might have lost my pet; in this case, an 18 year old, 14 foot retic.

So yes, sometimes vets are stupid. Unless it's something you do every day, it's hard to keep all the facts in your head straight. Instead of looking it up in their books, double-checking the math on dosages and weight, or consulting with other vets, they make mistakes that could easily be avoided. "Educated" and "smart" aren't always interchangable, despite 8 years of medical training.