Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I give Ty a good-sized mouse every other Friday... (which was the feeding schedule he was on before I bought him.) Unfortunately, I don't know how old he is (I got him indirectly from a little boy who didn't want him anymore) but he's about two and a half feet long. He seems to be doing well with this schedule, but... for those of you who have comparable-sized snakes, how often do you feed? I was told that every two weeks was sufficient, but it sounds as if you all feed more frequently than that. I get mice for next to nothing at work, so if he'll eat them, I might just start bringing home a few more.

There aren't any "fixed" rules for feeding. My smallest male (2 1/2') eats 3 - 5 mice per week. I bet yours would do better to eat more often or more. How often does he shed? If shedding 2 months apart, I think he could use more food or food more frequently.
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Jay A. Martin

3-5 appropriatly sized mice? Holy crap.
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-Irish
My Snakes

Yes. However, they are not fully grown adults. And my BP is not fat. In fact, he's quite healthy.
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Jay A. Martin

The dark male is about 9 years old and aside from the albino, the smallest. He was fed 3 - 5 mice weekly just like the albino. Clearly, he is not fat or 5' long. The albino is about 3 years old and also in good health.

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Jay A. Martin

Well, since the most I've ever fed (and heard of anyone feeding except for powerfeeding) is 1/week, it just seemed kinda excessive to me. Yours look plumper than but but *shrug*.

My lil unknown whom I've been feeding 1/week )or less depending on if it's in the mood or not) for a year -

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-Irish
My Snakes

Pepito, whom I feed every 2-3 weeks, usually.

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-Irish
My Snakes

>>Well, since the most I've ever fed (and heard of anyone feeding except for powerfeeding) is 1/week, it just seemed kinda excessive to me. Yours look plumper than but but *shrug*.

What do you mean 1/week? Feed once per week? 1 mouse per week? I only feed growing snakes once per week in the growing season (spring/summer).

Hatchlings - subadults
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Offer food every 5 - 7 days

Adult
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Offer food every 7 - 10 days

Source: The Ball Python Manual

My snake is exactly 4' long and I took out a lighter like yours and he looks virtually the same as yours (width). I should have used something for scale. I ran a tape around the thickest part of his body and he's at 6 1/4". What's yours just out of curiosity?
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Jay A. Martin

Ah, I must've misunderstood. I thought you said 3-5 appropriatly-sized mice a week. I feed 1 a week.

I have no idead as to his girth. I've never thought to measure him.

I just looked for my tape measure, but no luck. I found a 6th Ed Zippo, tho. Er?
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-Irish
My Snakes

You did. I do offer 3 - 5 smaller mice per week. Now, this does not mean he feeds this way year-round. He feeds well in the spring and summer and ALL of my reptiles go off-feed for fall and winter.

I bet you'll be surprised when you measure your snake
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Jay A. Martin

Ah ha! I see the misunderstanding now. I feed mine all year long, unless they go off feed, which none of mine have. I just thought most people did the same as I, since, well, most do. Now it doesn't seem excessive. Thanks for clearing that up, lol.

Surprised how?
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-Irish
My Snakes

A lot of people tell me "when they're young, feed every week, or you're underfeeding." So I get used to "healthy" looking snakes. Then I see snakes on nature shows, and they're what everyone considers "thin." I figure that what they look like in nature is what they're SUPPOSED to look like.

Anyway, that's my rant. If you want them to be bigger, every week when they're young, every two weeks when adults. If you don't NEED them to reach 5', then every two weeks when young, 3 when adults (my feeding schedule). But don't power-feed. It can cause long-term damage.
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-Irish
My Snakes

what is powerfeeding?

When i first got Pontiac(2 foot long), from the dealer, he was a CB (the "runt" of the litter). he was kinda thin compared to the others. So the first day i got him, i fed him a hopper, he ate it. the next day i fed him again. and then after a week passed, i started feeding him one adult mouse every week. seems to work fine. He poops 1 day before i feed him, so that makes it kinda cool.

Powerfeeding is stuffing snakes full of food so they grow fast. Usually snakes CAN eat more than they SHOULD eat.
Unfortunately there's not hard and fast definition of what powerfeeding is, but growing snakes slowly does make them live longer. I don't see feeding a sedentary, plump snake like a ball python every two weeks as being a problem, even if it is still growing.

"Power Feeding" is overfeeding a snake (usually a female) more food that it should have for the sole purpose of getting it to breeding weight.

For example:

A normal BP feeding schedule (1/week, then 1/two weeks) will get her to breeding size in about 3 years.

Say you have a neat snake that you think you can breed and sell her offspring for a good profit. You feed her a rodent about every 3 or 4 days when young, then every 7-9 days when adult. This'll usually make her breedable in about 2 years.

However, powerfeeding usually causes things like (now I'm not positive on if I get this right or not, but you get the idea) liver damage, weak bones, things like that.

It GREATLY reduces their life spans and ability to fend of diseases because the body becomes so stressed by being forced to grow at an unnatural rate.

Short-term (like getting a runt up to healthy weight) won't do long-term damage. But two years straight . . .

Also, snakes' systems need time between each meal to replenish all those little digestive flowers and bugs, hehe. If fed too often, they might not be able to digest properly, and will usually regurg at first, until their metabolism speeds way up to compensate.

Basically, PFing speeds their metabolism up (shortening life span) and puts a strain on their organs, to summarize.
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-Irish
My Snakes

As you can see, you will get varying defs of PF. As long as I have been involved with reptiles, this is my opinion:

PF is the attempt to grow an animal quicker than it might normally grow. For example, as documented by the Barkers, the average female will reach a weight of about 1000 grams by her third winter. A study performed by them of 3 females, optimally kept, reached a weight of just over 1000 grams in the first year. I cannot comment further because I do not know the constraints of their experiment.

PF is considered by many, an attempt to make the animal grow faster over a shorter period of time.

Does it hurt them? I would think sustained PF over several years has the potential for damage, however, you must take other factors into consideration: seasonal temps, exercise, age, growth cycle, breeding, loading, etc.

And to my knowledge no study has been performed that would lead to anything conclusive.

Use common sense and learn as much as you can and you and your animal will be happy.
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Jay A. Martin

1000 in the first year? What kind of feeding schedule is that? My big male is 3 and just reached that. My little unknown is a year, and I'd guesstimate it at around 300 (I'm getting a good scale at the beginning of July as soon as I can find one).

Do you have the addy to that study somewhere?

All of the info I've gotten has been from people who do rescue/breeding/medicine/science and have been in snakes for years and years. So, I don't have any personal experience, and I don't think any of then have done elaborate long-term studies, so. *shrug* Just disections after their various rescues die.
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-Irish
My Snakes

The Barkers would have the details. The results I reported are in The Ball Python Manual.
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Jay A. Martin

I think I have that book. Thanks for the reference, I'll have to check it out. Know of any other studies?
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-Irish
My Snakes

n/p

I feed my 1 1/2 year old male BP 2 mice every 2 weeks. When I got him he was underfed (almost 2,5 feet (75 cm) and 288 grams) and also got very ill. Therefore it took me some time to get him in shape. Now he is almost 3 feet (90 cm) and 650 grams.

My little female BP gets 1 mouse every week. She's now around 21 inches (55 cm) and 158 grams.

Monty Python (male on the left) and Cheetah (female on the right)

Naara.net

Buy, and read a book on the captive husbandry of BP's.

Buy, and read a book on the captive husbandry of BP's. "The Ball Python Manual" would be a great start.