What is overfeeding?

[CosmicOwl]

I just wanted to get some opinions on this subject. When you guys are raising young snakes what do you consider to be overfeeding? And does it have more to do with the size of the meal or the frequency of the feedings?

[FWK]

For the most part I let the animal tell me how much to feed. I start with some sort of baseline, say I have a neonate rat snake just about as big around as a small pinky mouse and the care sheets suggest one food item about as thick as the snake at its thickest point every 5-7 days, and watch how the snake reacts. If the snake is always "hunting" within a day or two and staying very thin I'll feed a bit more often. If it becomes lethargic or shows signs of becoming obese I'll wait a couple extra days between feeding. I've got a few colubrids coming up on their first birthday and they've all required almost constant adjustments to their food size and frequency due to rate at which they are growing. To me overfeeding is an overweight snake. As long as it staying lean and showing good growth I'm happy.

[EL Ziggy]

Very good question Owl. I've gone back and forth between thinking I'm feeding my animals too much or too little. I've come to the conclusion that it's largely trial and error and very subjective. Different species also have different requirements. You just have to find the method that works for you and your snakes. I have 3 colubrids. I was originally following the Munson feeding plan and saw modest/consistent growth. At about 6 months I switched to the 10-15% of the snakes body weight per feeding and have seen a more robust growth rate. My yearlings eat every 7 days on average. If I fed them very large meals every 3-4 days, which they would probably eat, I'd consider that over feeding.