Power Feeding . . . Basic Information

Dimebag_Dexter · 03-29-09, 08:33 AM

Now I was told you can power feed a snake, 2X a week for example. Is there any harm to doing so, at the few pet stores I have visited they have told me about no negative effects just the snake will gt bigger but will it harm it? Also they told me to handle him for 20 mins a day minimium, I handle him for 10 mins a few times a day, he seems extremely friendly to it, he bobs and jolts his head slightly, I am aware he is stressed out when I move quickly, I have only had him for 5 days now. Can I handle him for lets say; 2 hours a day slowly building up, maybe 30 mins then add on 10 mins a week etc... Theres no harm in slowly starting to handle him more is there? He is also slightly cold at night when I turn off the heating supplies. Is there any harm in leaving just the heating pad underneath the tank on?

Anything else that people who have handled snakes for Years or more know anything more that I havn't touched up on?

I have him in birch wood for easy sheeding, big cave which heats up alot, (Ball Python) Water dish and skull, and I am waiting to see what he likes to add more in, If he hides in his cave more get him more objects he can hide in, if he's more in the open get him things to slide along.

GoodSmeagol · 03-29-09, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimebag_Dexter

Now I was told you can power feed a snake, 2X a week for example. Is there any harm to doing so, at the few pet stores I have visited they have told me about no negative effects just the snake will gt bigger but will it harm it? Also they told me to handle him for 20 mins a day minimium, I handle him for 10 mins a few times a day, he seems extremely friendly to it, he bobs and jolts his head slightly, I am aware he is stressed out when I move quickly, I have only had him for 5 days now. Can I handle him for lets say; 2 hours a day slowly building up, maybe 30 mins then add on 10 mins a week etc... Theres no harm in slowly starting to handle him more is there? He is also slightly cold at night when I turn off the heating supplies. Is there any harm in leaving just the heating pad underneath the tank on?

Anything else that people who have handled snakes for Years or more know anything more that I havn't touched up on?

I have him in birch wood for easy sheeding, big cave which heats up alot, (Ball Python) Water dish and skull, and I am waiting to see what he likes to add more in, If he hides in his cave more get him more objects he can hide in, if he's more in the open get him things to slide along.

First off, VERY fast after I started collecting exotics did I find, if a pet store tells it to you, THEY ARE LYING! There is exceptions of course.
Power feeding, I know very little about, but have read, sure it will make em grow faster, but I know it is frowned upon in the snake trade.
Balls will probably spend 90% of their day hidden.
And are most active at night.
I keep my temps even all day, all night.
low 80's to high 80's gradient ambient temps, with the surface from 80-94.
No lights, I do use ceramic head emitters to raise the ambient temps. They are on a thermostat. But snakes get their heat from below. An under tank heater again on thermostat is on half the bottom which raises the themp to 90, with a hot center spot upwards of 94, 95,.
I only have a few balls, you will get many other peoples opinions on your questions, however I think everyone will say double stuffing is not good.
Just not needed!
Cheers

mykee · 03-29-09, 04:05 PM

Powerfeeding is dangerous to your animal. An obese animal will not only possibly never breed for you, but you will shorten it's life expectancy by as much as 75%.
You can't really fault the pet store for passing on bad information, it's honestly not their fault they're stupid and uninformed. That said, don't listen to anything they have to say. Instead, pick up a book on the captive husbandry of ball pythons and do the research yourself.
Ball pythons stress VERY easily and are not the best snake to own if you want to be touchy-feely and hands-on with them. You should NOT touch your ball python for at least two weeks after setting him up in his new environment to let him settle in and acclimate to his new surroundings.
After this period, I would highly recommend (only if you MUST) keep handling to a minimum (10 minutes or less a day. It does not take very much to stress a snake to the point that it will not eat for you.
If you wanted a snake that you could handle all the time, you should have purchased a corn snake.

never25 · 03-29-09, 04:48 PM

hey mykee, how often should a corn snake be held? i have corns and bps. i usually try to hold all my snakes once a week for about 10-20 minutes each. should i be doing this differently?

mykee · 03-29-09, 07:59 PM

Snakes aren't cats or hamsters. They prefer not to be held at all, but corn snakes put up with more handling than a ball python.

citysnakes · 03-29-09, 10:50 PM

hey Dex, i'd leave the heat on during the night as well.

Chu'Wuti · 03-29-09, 11:13 PM

One thing people new to snake-keeping often think is that snakes will get "wild" and start to bite if they aren't handled. In fact, an overstressed snake is more likely to bite, and some snakes will bite no matter how much they get handled; it's just their temperament.

The first thing to understand is that snakes don't get "tame." They simply tolerate (and sometimes not very well) our handling. None of them actually like being handled. The nice thing about BPs is they tend not to be biters; when they get stressed, they just ball up.

I handle my BP once or twice a week, usually just once, several days after a feeding, when I weigh him & check him for any signs of problems developing. Those don't take long, so I don't aim for "20 minutes" or any set length of handling, and it's probably no more than 10 minutes each time. He's eating very well since warmer weather arrived here where I live (Oklahoma).

A good book for information about all your BPs husbandry needs and about other aspects of BPs (morphs, breeding, equipment, etc) is Kevin McCurley's "The Complete Ball Python. He's a much more reliable source than a pet store.

And so are Mykee and Julian, and GoodSmeagol is sounding pretty good, too!

GoodSmeagol · 03-30-09, 03:21 PM

I am not a reliable source... I share my method of doing things.
Sure I read alot about these things, but usually will share my take on them.

I handle my BP's once or twice a week.
10 minutes sounds like a good number as an average length.
This is besides taking them out to clean the cages, for that I just pick them up and put them on my couch for 5-10min, I do this normally when their cages get soiled.
If when I reach for them they coil or withdraw, they get their way and are left alone.
On occasion however I have kept one out for a longer length, once as much as 30minutes because I half forgot the snake was coiled around my wrist. He just chilled so I did to...

Kmef07 · 03-30-09, 06:56 PM

Quote:

If when I reach for them they coil or withdraw, they get their way and are left alone

exactly know how to read your snakes. you can tell if they are pissy. It might take a time or two to be bitten to learn but it's not hard it's common sense you can tell if an animal is not wanting to be bothered. im not saying that there is a fool proof way to not get bitten and that every bite is preventable but most of the time it is our fault.

and one thing i don't think anyone mentioned about powerfeeding/overfeeding is that the snake can get fatty liver "disease?" anyways it is really unhealthy and i've been told it is what can cause snakes lives to be very short. When a snake cannot digest all of it's food it will store as much as it can as fat because instinct tells it that there are no gurantees on when the next meal will come.