Ok, I know power feeding is bad for your snake. I just don't know exactly why. All I hear is that it messes up the intestines? That is about as in depth as a local pet shop will get around here..... But my question is, I have a male that I want to eventually breed with my friends female. My friend power feeds his snakes. If the intestines are all screwed up can this cause the female to be infertile? Also, what EXACTLY does power feeding do to your snake? (the negatives)
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Do's and don'ts of power feeding.
phiber_optikx
Mar 25, 2005 04:08 AM
Replies (8)
Kel
Mar 25, 2005 07:47 AM
Wouldn't say I'm an expert as I'm only a pet keeper and hobby breeder, but my view of the risks are:
- "Powerfeeding" is a polite term for "Deliberately overfeeding".
- You risk ending up with an overweight snake, with the potential for excessive fat deposits.
- Most fat deposits are harmless, but they can sometime choke internal organs and cause death. A particular example I've seen twice, is where this has caused kidney failure.
- An overweight snake will tend to have a shorter lifespan.
- Overweight females can have problems with egglaying, making the whole process counter-productive.
As with any risk there are no absolutes, so some snakes can be powerfed without any of the above consequences. Personally, I wouldn't take the risk.
I assume that most people powerfeed in order to get snakes to breeding weight earlier. Are the potential benefits of breeding one or two years earlier, really worth the health of the Corn? I'd rather just be patient.
Just my two cents...
snakepimp
Mar 25, 2005 08:52 AM
Well, I have a somewhat different experience, which is probably out of the norm.
I have several corns that were raised over 3-4 years, and several that were raised in one or two years, to breeding size.
My lavender, who is 5 years old, now has a prolapsed somethng or other. I think it's his rectum, actually, not his hemipenis, because it doesn't look like the pictures of prolapsed hemipenes. Going to the vet today. Can't explain that.
I have a 5 year old Amelanistic Corn and she is my favorite snake, personality wise. I raised her from a hatchling, slowly. She got egg bound this year, but appears to have passed them all now, but there is a lump on one side of her, laterally very near the vent, like a egg-shaped protrusion. It is not going away.
So, my slowly grown snakes are having health problems.
My "power-fed" snakes are doing great. I have one corn who is in her second breeding season, and isn't quite 3 years old. She lays the healthiest clutches, regains weight quickly, has the most ferocious feeding response (even on thawed prey) and is altogether feisty.
Also, I have an 11 month old female who just laid a perfect clutch of 14 eggs, and she is gaining her weight back quickly, though I have no intention to double clutch her. She is not, in any way, obese.
I am really shooting for the middle ground as far as feeding goes. I have tried it both ways, and it doesn't seem to make much difference if you ask me. My experience is fairly limited so far, but that's what it has been.
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Jeremy J. Anderson
Gem State Reptiles
draybar
Mar 25, 2005 05:01 PM
>>Ok, I know power feeding is bad for your snake. I just don't know exactly why. All I hear is that it messes up the intestines? That is about as in depth as a local pet shop will get around here..... But my question is, I have a male that I want to eventually breed with my friends female. My friend power feeds his snakes. If the intestines are all screwed up can this cause the female to be infertile? Also, what EXACTLY does power feeding do to your snake? (the negatives)
Look at it like this.....You want to be 300 lbs by the end of the year. You just keep stuffing and stuffing yourself until you start gaining weight(getting fat) and you keep on stuffing and gaining and stuffing and gaining.
Now does that seem healthy?
Obviously not, so why would it be hard to understand that this is also unhealthy for your snake or any other animal for that matter.
Simply put, power feeding makes your snake gain too much wieght too quickly. Makes for a fat snake. Excess fat is unhealthy...unless of course you are a walrus....lol
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)
Draybars Snakes
mattcbiker
Mar 25, 2005 05:17 PM
Feed your snake as often as you'd like just make sure it doesn't get fat. The snake should be lean and muscular, with clearly defined muscular striations. I think a "safe" amount while at the same time providing very fast growth potential is feeding 2-3x a week. That may not be powerfeeding, but it is plenty of food.
As for the guy who just had an 11 month old lay 14 eggs, I have no idea how big that snake was or how much he was feeding it. That's just crazy for me to think about.
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Matt from Minnesota
snakepimp
Mar 25, 2005 06:32 PM
I never fed her more than 2-3 times per week, but she was ALWAYS hungry, which is why I named her Shelob. She weighed 320 grams when I put her in with the male, without any kind of cycling, just to see what would happen. They "went for it" immediately, and I fed her one more time before oviposition. She is feeding again and weighs 274 grams as of today. I will not, of course, attempt to double clutch her. If she's anything like her mother, she will lay a second clutch any way...
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Jeremy J. Anderson
Gem State Reptiles
phiber_optikx
Mar 25, 2005 07:48 PM
That is what my friend feeds his is 2 sometimes 3 times a week. Is this unhealthy for a corn? Mine eats once a week, sometimes he will take 2 a week but not often.
snakepimp
Mar 26, 2005 12:25 AM
I feed my snakes if they're hungry, and if they don't look fat. It's a difficult thing to tell, if you don't know what to look for, but I have good idea of it. Once or twice a week is totally adequate. Once sometimes, twice sometimes, all good.
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Jeremy J. Anderson
Gem State Reptiles
Gargoyle420
Mar 31, 2005 09:03 PM
It's about money and not caring about the health of the snake...Paul
