Demand or Scheduled feedings?

[andrea88]

Just wondering what kind of feedings you do for all your herps.
Demand (feeding only when the herp is obviously and actively searching for food)
or
Scheduled (feeding once a week, once a day etc.)

and Why?

Personally I have always fed all of my creatures (herps, mamals and bugs) on a demand basis. When they are out looking for food or obviously hungry, they get fed. I believe that this promotes more natural behavious and better health. I have never had an obese (or underweight) pet. I have never had a sick pet. I never have wasted food.
Anyways those are my reasons. I apply them to my life as well. I eat when Im hungry. If I go a day w/o food, oh well! The "3 square meals a day" thing is a joke.

[Fimpster]

I feed my snakes on a schedule, but I vary the schedule from 5 days to 9 days to (somewhat) immitate nature. In the wild a mouse does not come walking by every 7 days! lol

[ThEmAdHaTtEr]

I just feed mine every week. Every time they see the blue rubber maid they get into 'Feeding Mode'.

[reptilez]

I feed my snake once a week because thats when she seems to get hungry.

I feed my Bearded dragons fruit and vegies one day and insects the next.
i feed my leo's every other day because they usually dont eat that much, approx. 5-6 crixa day. and i throw the old crix into my BD's tank before i give my leo's new crix.
-Reptilez

[Zoe]

I feed my snakes about weekly... sometimes it's 7 days, sometimes 8, sometimes 10. I rarely waste a rat, and I always start with the worst feeders.

The chameleons I feed three times a week.

Zoe

[Pixie]

Good question!

I used to feed by schedule strictly but then noticed that some snakes were getting some fat (especially one piggy corn!) and some refused meals (usually my bps).

For the past few months, I use my schedule just as a general guide and space out the meals differently. I feed a little bit less than I used to (most aren't so little anymore) and the timing is never exact. Unless they are very young, they get a meal somewhere around 10-14 days and their activity level will usually determine when I feed.

I do have different patterns for my colubrids than my boids since their digestion is at different speeds. Generally my colubrids get fed once a week (except for piggy Waldo who's on a "diet"!!!) but it never is ever 7 days on the mark. They can wait up to 10 days sometimes and sometimes have 2 meals in a week. It seems to me like it would reflect reality in nature a little more.

As for my boids (save the young boa who's fed once a week) I feed every 10-14 days. And again I usually choose the feeding night when the particular snake is out and active.

The funny thing is that I've come to learn my snakes, some better than others and my female bp, I ALWAYS know when she'll eat or not and exactly how much. Since she only eats mice, it's usually anywhere from 2-5. The last 6 months or so, I've been right on her feeding moods which is weird. She's never regular on the number of mice she eats, sometimes it's a gorge fest and other times she seems wishy-washy and takes less. I just find it really neat that I can seem to know how many she wants. Since I prekill my mice just before, I've saved a lot of wasted food this way.

The other thing with my bp's is that I don't fuss around when it comes to feeding. When I offer a food item, they have 10-15 minutes to show interest and eat, if not that's it, back home! I'm not very patient and don't like to try to tease a snake into eating. My philosophy is "fine, you're not hungry, then don't eat! next time!" They always do the next time and actually, it's been quite some time since I've had a refused meal! They know mom don't kid around!!! LOL

Pixie

[BurmBaroness]

I dee my snakes on a schedule, every Thursday for the younger ones, and every other Thursday for the older ones. They all eat, except the BP's, who are somewhat weird......lol. I am the same way you are Pixie, I give the BP's 30 minutes to eat, and if still ignoring food, they don't get offered food agan till the next Thursday. They eat every 1-2 weeks. No one here is too fat, and the BP's are nice and chubby, so it must be working. When I get out the feed totes, everyone comes alive!

[nellie]

My feeding schedule varies a little. I try to always feed on Friday evenings, but sometime I go out of town and things get a little hectic. I either feed on Thursday or Sunday if I'm leaving for the weekend.
Of course, my BP likes to skip meals on me for a few weeks at a time!!!
Dixie and BurmBaroness,
Are you dangling the food for upto 30 minutes? Or are you throwing the item in and letting them come and get it?
I just don't have the patience to dangle a dead mouse for a half an hour. Thats why I'm asking.

[marisa]

Mine is just whenever really.

At first it was schedualed. Now the colubrids get fed every 6-14 days, and my Ball Python gets fed whenever he is looking hungry...i.e..searching around a lot etc. and that ends up being every 4-6 days.

Marisa

[Lisa]

we feed every week starting with the worst feeders and moving on. if they don't strike we move on to the next snake (with the exception of 2 snakes). this way we rarely waste a rodent.

[Xetox]

I feed mostly when they are hungry witch seems to be every 14 days and the colubrids seem to be every 7 days.

A few of mine are on a schedule but they have been since I have had them and they are not fat!

My cams get fed daily with a variety of food!

[Burmies]

I feed my snakes every 7 to 10 days.

Burmies

[tHeGiNo]

Well mine sort of coincides with both. Most, I feed on a scheduled basis, mostly because this is once a day. My Ball however I feed around once a week, and this is also when he is out hunting.

[BurmBaroness]

I will dangle the rat with a pair of long handled hemostats, and after a few minutes, I will leave it with the snake. some of my snakes like the "rat dance", others want me to drop it an leave........lol.