Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I met up with a guy who raises leopards. He was telling me his leopards are about the size of an official football. I didn't think much of it. But they just turned 2 years old! He said he power feeds all his animals, they live long and are healthy. he basically just provides them with an insane amount of food, more than they could possibly eat. He was also telling me about his snakes that are about 12" and as big as a baseball bat. I'm not a snake guy, but the proportions seem way off.

Has anyone heard of this, and could it be safe? Even if I was told it was I wouldn't do it, it just seems wrong. It always bothers me to see rediculously huge little dogs and kids, and thats proven not healthy.

It sure is possible that it could be harmful but there is no evidence that feeding in proportion to the available environmental conditions is harmful in reptiles.
I don't see how it can be harmful IF the diet you are providing is a balanced one and, once again, the environmental conditions that are provided are such that the body could process the intake. I'd be very interested in some empirical data that would support such concerns. I know there's plenty of opinion. I'm not being sarcastic either. Even after keeping tortoises for over 25 years I still wonder what is too much or too little. As with the pyramiding issue, I do know that it is a dynamic factor based on more than one variable.
Ed

Also, tortoises/turtles in the wild have a period in the year, when there is an abundance of food avaliable for them to eat - they don't have it all year round, but seasonally.

I agree, as long as it is a balanced diet, with plenty of sunlight, and the turtles are not getting fat it may not be harmful. I have seen fat water turtles, but never a fat tortoise.

You said they live a long time - how long is long. Our years or turtle years - ha ha.

Bill G.