Weight gain.

[Wizwise2000]

Hi everyone,
In 13 days one of my 04 females has gained 123 grams, another just under 90. Will they get obese gaining weight at this rate?

I'm feeding every 4 days a rat about 10% of their weight.

Thank you,
Shane

[smeagel]

feed them as much as they will eat. i feed my 04 pastel every 4 days and he is 400 grams already. as far as i am concerned there is no such thing as overfeeding a young ball.

[Artemis]

Wow smeagel, you sure opened up a can of worms with that one in the general forum ;)

Personally, I agree, especially since BPs tend to go off feed. Mine eats twice a week, once and then again 2-3 days later, and then again 4-5 days later, and it starts over. And if you are worried about your snake being "fat" then grab a pepsi can and compare, and cut back if you need too ;) Also, it depends a lot whether or not you plan to breed your snakes and are in a rush to do so, but I just want mine to be happy and well fed.

Also, bear in mind that age will usually have a lot to do with both their feeding frequency, and growth rate.

Artemis

[arkuden]

same here. mine doesnt seem to be gaining weight at rapidly but i am feeding him ever few days..

[smeagel]

i'm not in a hurry to breed hi. i just feed him as often as he will eat. i do not force him to eat. and i know that he is not fat because. i continue to feed them as much as they will eat just caus eht ereason that they will go off feed and not eat for a period of time.

[greenman1867]

Wow, can I get some opinions on this? I know over feeding Boas can dramatically shorten their lives. Is this true with Balls as well?
I would like to beef up a couple of my smaller balls now they are feeding, but I would hate to do them harm. Right now I am feeding as suggested by mykee, once a week (6 days actually) at a 10:1 weight ratio Ball:rat.

No offense smeagel I am just curious and want varied opinions.

Shawn


Originally posted by smeagel
feed them as much as they will eat. i feed my 04 pastel every 4 days and he is 400 grams already. as far as i am concerned there is no such thing as overfeeding a young ball.

[daniel1983]

I have always heard that feeding every 2-3 days can shorten a bps life....but I have not been shown any proof. I prefer to feed on a 5 day cycle, since it takes a bp between 2.5 to 3.5 days to digest one meal. I figure his digestive system deserves a break every now and then. It can't be good to be in a steady state of digestion.

[mykee]

If your balls are gaining 90-120 grams every two weeks; YES you will kill them. Period. Chances are this was just a good week(s) for you and there is zero chance that your ball will continue to grow at that rate. You'll see.

[nita]

I'm guessing the is 90 - 120g before bowel movements. Mine can gain that kind of weight in a week easily at least until they drop 40-60g with one crap. Just as an example one of my females went from 1165g on Feb 23 to 1530g on Mar 4. That is eating 2 rats with one poop and one urate in between weights. After a shed and another poop she is currently sitting at 1380g as of March 11. So she gained 365g in 9 days but only 215g actually stayed on by the end of another week, she eats 200g rats every week unless she is shedding. She does not look overweight at all, and honestly the day after she has eaten you can't tell she was fed, so they are not to much to feed her IMO.

[nita]

Just a note my largest from 04 is currently 748g the smallest is 262g but then again that one is a later hatchling. I do have one the same age as the 748g girl that only weighs 264g but she is a mouse eater and was under 100g when I got her. None of my snakes look fat or skinny they all look healthy so I'm not worried, some are just better feeder who take better food. I don't think you can over feed a baby, they will just shed more often.

[Markus Jayne]

Woah!!!!! If you feed your ball pythons as much as they want to eat you WILL have problems. Steady and consistency wins the race here folks!

Why is everyone in such a rush to get there snake big? I'll tell you why. Because you want to breed them early...right. Well guess what...they might not breed! I know this because I was one of those people that thought bigger was better. And trust me when I say...it isn't. I still have some females that were phenominal feeders. They were the ones that always got the extra rats because no matter how much I fed them, they would always eat more. Well those particular females have yet to lay any eggs and they are 5 years old!!!!

I am being very honest with you here and hopefully you will let common sense prevail. Fat snakes either don't go or they slug out...period! I talk to a lot of big breeders and it seems to come up a lot. "Damn...I've got these absolutely huge females and I just can't get them to go!" Man...if I had a dollar...

Look at your snakes. Know them. Love them And don't get them fat!

Now go clean your room! LOL!

Markus

[smeagel]

I am in no way close to be being an expert. Thank god for the seasoned breeders and keepers on here to point out the mistakes. The learning never stops, thats why I like this site. :)

[mykee]

Great post Mark.

[nita]

WizWize, what does your snake weigh??? I know people feed 10% of their snakes weight and I can see that in maybe a 2000g ball but really where do you find 10-20g rats? Just a thought. Every one says balls can pretty much start on hopper or weaned rats and even those are 40g range. If I was feeding my big snakes 10% of their weight I would feed 2 times a week, I feed bigger so I only feed once a week. For the people that are feeding as much as the snake will eat and it seems to be eating constantly as in every other day, give it something bigger and that will stop, as soon as I went from weaned rats to small rats with my hatchlings not one would accept a meal at the normal bi-weekly date, but automatically ate again at the week mark. But then again I have never had a snake that even appears remotely "fat", have no idea what kind of feeding that would take for a BP.

[mykee]

Nita; a 40g weaned rat right off the bat, no chance in hell.
You can find 10-20g rats if you look in the cage about 4-6 days after a mommy rat gives birth.
As for the whole "feed it as much as it will eat" people, I used to be one of those. I found that not only did females who gained too much weight not breed (as Mark mentioned), but these overfed balls go off feed, and when they do, you'll be waiting months for them to start up again. Very sporadic eaters those overfed balls, unhealthy too.
I find that 10% (which, BTW is smaller than the "average" meal size) works beautifully for me, with my balls eating and gaining weight slowly and healthily. No point in getting your females up to 2000g by their second winter if they're too fat to be interested in breeding. Slow and easy definitely wins the race on this one.

[Wizwise2000]

Nita,

My females are only around 450g right now. I was feeding every 4 days. And as Mykee said, 10-20g rats aren't hard to get, they are just a few days old. I stopped feeding every 4 days and moved it to every 7. I also feed just a little larger.

I don't want them growing really quickly and being too fat like Mark and Mykee has mentioned either. I certainly don't want them going off feed. I had one fast for a couple months, she looked fine, but lost around 90g. She's eating again after giving her a gerbil. Hopefully she'll accept a rat this week.

Mark and Mykee, thank you for the information, it's appreciated!

Many thanks for all the replies everyone!

Shane

[Ray]

it's all about common sens.Than you reach most.
I am with you Mark;) I'am glad whe can lurn a lot from you guys.


Ray;)

[Bristen]

here's a question to you experienced folks... I purchased a few females (received them last month I believe)... they are CH03. 4 of them were quite small (111g, 176g, 178g and 200g). What do you folks think of these females with regards to the 2005 - 2006 breeding season? Any chance? They are currently pretty good eaters... they eat every 5 days like clockwork (unless in shed). Even if I manage to get them to size in time, how unhealthy would that be for them?

All opinions are welcome...

Thanks,
Bristen.

[mykee]

Bristen, no chance in hell that they'll be up to size in less than a years' time. EVEN if they were 03's like you said (which by thier size, I doubt) there's just no way you can SAFELY put over 1300g on a yearling and expect her to give you eggs the following year.

Completely aside from your original question; who would be irresponsible enough to sell 03' animals that are between 100-200g?! That's terrible!! Those animals are SO very undersized it's not even funny. If they only gained 200g in even a year, they are really poor eaters, regardless of how they've eaten for you, and you may have to wait until the 2011/12 season to get them up to size at this rate.