Here's a quick question. Has anyone here raised a female ball python to breeder size feeding one medium sized meal once every 7-10 days like everybody seems to think is correct? How long did it take?
I had a male ball python for 11 years that I fed like that, I doubt he ever hit 1100 grams. Most people say 1500 grams is acceptable breeding weight for females in captivity.
I know many people that have ball pythons as pets, and at three years old they are about 600-800 grams. If you plan on breeding a female, do you plan to raise it at this rate until it gets to breeding size?
I doubt it. Now as far as the long lived snakes go, for example the 48 yr old ball python. Well many of the longevity records were set by the reptile curator at the Chicago zoo. He feeds his snakes small meals very sporadically(every few months). All of his snakes look thin and underwieght, but they live a long time. Now that just isn't practical for somebody looking to breed.
Now let's look at the scenario where you feed hatchlings heavily. You might call them overweight, but when they are 2 years old, maybe 3 years old, they will look proportionate and healthy. I know you can't compare humans to ball pythons but I will. Babies are fat. Babies eat several times a day and have high body fat percentages until they hit about two years old. Then they start to get proportionate and take on the body shape of an adult.
I don't have 30 years of experience but here is my take. Feeding young ball pythons heavily for a few years and then feeding them routinely on a less frequent schedule will not hurt them seriously in the long run. We all know that snakes have the highest growth rate during their first few years. Has anyone ever noticed how hard it is to put length and weight on a ball python they picked up from someone that didn't want it anymore? I picked up an 800 gram 3 year old snake and it grew, but very slowly. After 2 years she was right around 1250 grams.
This post got long, but I had to jump in and speak my mind.
Cole Maas
