Feeding in general
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wattso
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do i just turn off all heating but retain day/night light cycles?
also how long or rather, what time should i stop feeding befor the cold sets in, to prevent problems with undigested food? march????
and do the actually go into deep sleep continually or not? is it dangerous to disturb them? do i let him wake up naturally or turn on the heat at some point???
also how long or rather, what time should i stop feeding befor the cold sets in, to prevent problems with undigested food? march????
and do the actually go into deep sleep continually or not? is it dangerous to disturb them? do i let him wake up naturally or turn on the heat at some point???
Hawkeye
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How much do you feed your snakes at each feed and how often do you feed them?
Depends a little what I have in the freezer...maybe 4-5 adult mice or a 3 weeker rat and a coupla mice every 7-10 days
What would you class as power feeding?
Probably >30% body weight per feed and more often than weekly but anything that is more than the snake actually needs is "powerfeeding". How much a snake actually needs no one has been able to actually tell me.
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Don't really care I prefer a vareity but try not to get them hooked on mice as that just becomes a practical issue later when the snake gets much larger.
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
Have fed him this winter...will have to think about the next winter
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
Tend to like moderately large prey as it tends to exercise junior a bit more. Small prey feeds tend not to fill him as much despite the total weights of food being identical.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Yes to avoid association of feeding with the cage (personal preference) but saying that anyone with multiple snakes hasn't got the time to spend feedin the way I do.
Just to add a couple of cents to the arguments:
How much does a snake eat in the wild? The 20-30% I have only seen in John Weigels book and no-one has shown me that that is a scientific fact. Also the fact that we captive rear our snakes automatically alter their life style/span. Captive snakes live twice as long as wild snakes (20 vs 10 years on average) and also have much less variation in their environment as a whole (most cages are carefully climate controlled vs the big bad world which is all over the place). This automatically allows more growth and therefore more potential for feeding and subsequently size development.
I also agree that there is an issue with obesity in snakes but then again what is an obese snake? ratio of head to body (pinhead syndrome) is all good and well but it corrects itself with time.
MAybe we need to do some proper research and accurately get weights and lengths of captive snakes and make a percentile chart that would help people with altering feeding when say your snake gets above the 75% line. What do people think about that?
Cheers Hawkeye
Depends a little what I have in the freezer...maybe 4-5 adult mice or a 3 weeker rat and a coupla mice every 7-10 days
What would you class as power feeding?
Probably >30% body weight per feed and more often than weekly but anything that is more than the snake actually needs is "powerfeeding". How much a snake actually needs no one has been able to actually tell me.
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Don't really care I prefer a vareity but try not to get them hooked on mice as that just becomes a practical issue later when the snake gets much larger.
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
Have fed him this winter...will have to think about the next winter
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
Tend to like moderately large prey as it tends to exercise junior a bit more. Small prey feeds tend not to fill him as much despite the total weights of food being identical.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Yes to avoid association of feeding with the cage (personal preference) but saying that anyone with multiple snakes hasn't got the time to spend feedin the way I do.
Just to add a couple of cents to the arguments:
How much does a snake eat in the wild? The 20-30% I have only seen in John Weigels book and no-one has shown me that that is a scientific fact. Also the fact that we captive rear our snakes automatically alter their life style/span. Captive snakes live twice as long as wild snakes (20 vs 10 years on average) and also have much less variation in their environment as a whole (most cages are carefully climate controlled vs the big bad world which is all over the place). This automatically allows more growth and therefore more potential for feeding and subsequently size development.
I also agree that there is an issue with obesity in snakes but then again what is an obese snake? ratio of head to body (pinhead syndrome) is all good and well but it corrects itself with time.
MAybe we need to do some proper research and accurately get weights and lengths of captive snakes and make a percentile chart that would help people with altering feeding when say your snake gets above the 75% line. What do people think about that?
Cheers Hawkeye
10-20yrs, thats a bit light on. Life spans of pythons in the wild aren't known, but one things for sure a e.g 12ft coastal is old than 10yrs more like 30+.
That was the idea of the "power feeding" question no one(not me) knows what it means, everyone has a different opinion.
That was the idea of the "power feeding" question no one(not me) knows what it means, everyone has a different opinion.
ReptileRascals
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Neal...
I only cool my animals during winter or for breeding purposes.
But Diamonds I would prefer to hibernate for obvious reasons mentioned elsewhere.
Wattso...
You will only have to cool your Coastal throughout winter,not put it into a state of comotose hibernation that Diamond pythons need.
The daylight photo-period should be reduced down to 5-6 hrs a day at this time and feeding stopped for the 3 month period.
Temps should range from:
24 day - 16 night in June
20 day - 16 night in July
24 day - 18 night in August
Give your snake its last feed 2-3 weeks before June so it fully digests its last meal before being cooled.Your snake wont lose too much condition during this time as it will be in a state of low metabolism,so not much energy is being used at this point.
PS
The table of temperatures above is a rough guide and can be modified to suit (experiment and use a cooling regime that suits your requirements)
However I do not give a sudden temperature drop in June but slowly reduce and raise my temps to a certain regime throughout the entire year.
EDIT:
I made this post awhile ago on APS as well as another site:
I cool during june,july,august.
I introduce them during july,august,september.
Once mating has been observed I continue introducing the male on and off again untill no further interest is shown.This I feel is to ensure a viable clutch.I have a time table that I drew up in one of my record keeping books that I try to stick to.I'll post it here and hopefully it may help a few members that are new to breeding.
Jan 15 hrs daylight 32* night 24* (eggs hatch)
Feb 15 hrs daylight 32* night 24* (eggs hatch)
Mar 10 hrs daylight 30* night 22*
Apr 10 hrs daylight 28* night 20*
May 10 hrs daylight 26* night 18*
Jun 5 hrs daylight 24* night 16*
Jul 5 hrs daylight 20* night 16* (introduce)
Aug 5 hrs daylight 24* night 18* (introduce)
Sep 10 hrs daylight 28* night 20* (introduce) (eggs layed)
Oct 10 hrs daylight 30* night 22* (eggs layed)
Nov 10 hrs daylight 30* night 22* (eggs layed)
Dec 15 hrs daylight 32* night 24* (eggs hatch)
PS
This is generally a basic schedule that I have used (to give you a rough idea).I will often make changes in temps or daylight hours etc depending on the situation.Once females are gravid you may wish to raise temps to 32* (personal choice)
I only cool my animals during winter or for breeding purposes.
But Diamonds I would prefer to hibernate for obvious reasons mentioned elsewhere.
Wattso...
You will only have to cool your Coastal throughout winter,not put it into a state of comotose hibernation that Diamond pythons need.
The daylight photo-period should be reduced down to 5-6 hrs a day at this time and feeding stopped for the 3 month period.
Temps should range from:
24 day - 16 night in June
20 day - 16 night in July
24 day - 18 night in August
Give your snake its last feed 2-3 weeks before June so it fully digests its last meal before being cooled.Your snake wont lose too much condition during this time as it will be in a state of low metabolism,so not much energy is being used at this point.
PS
The table of temperatures above is a rough guide and can be modified to suit (experiment and use a cooling regime that suits your requirements)
However I do not give a sudden temperature drop in June but slowly reduce and raise my temps to a certain regime throughout the entire year.
EDIT:
I made this post awhile ago on APS as well as another site:
I cool during june,july,august.
I introduce them during july,august,september.
Once mating has been observed I continue introducing the male on and off again untill no further interest is shown.This I feel is to ensure a viable clutch.I have a time table that I drew up in one of my record keeping books that I try to stick to.I'll post it here and hopefully it may help a few members that are new to breeding.
Jan 15 hrs daylight 32* night 24* (eggs hatch)
Feb 15 hrs daylight 32* night 24* (eggs hatch)
Mar 10 hrs daylight 30* night 22*
Apr 10 hrs daylight 28* night 20*
May 10 hrs daylight 26* night 18*
Jun 5 hrs daylight 24* night 16*
Jul 5 hrs daylight 20* night 16* (introduce)
Aug 5 hrs daylight 24* night 18* (introduce)
Sep 10 hrs daylight 28* night 20* (introduce) (eggs layed)
Oct 10 hrs daylight 30* night 22* (eggs layed)
Nov 10 hrs daylight 30* night 22* (eggs layed)
Dec 15 hrs daylight 32* night 24* (eggs hatch)
PS
This is generally a basic schedule that I have used (to give you a rough idea).I will often make changes in temps or daylight hours etc depending on the situation.Once females are gravid you may wish to raise temps to 32* (personal choice)
SsserpentressS
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all my babies
I have a ball python who gets a small rat every other week
i have a corn snake who gets 3 med-large mice every other week
I have a baby red tail who gets 1 rat pinky or 1 very small mouse every week.
I feed babies once a week just to insure that they wont die on me. my ball is about 5 ft, so is the corn.
when snakes get about 6 or 7 feet, you can feed a chicken or rabbit everyother two weeks or so.
power feeding is when, for instance, if i wanted my corn to be bigger faster, I'd give her 6 or 8 mice every other week. and some people do like 4 mice every few days. not good for the snake! they will probably die in a few years.
bethany
I have a ball python who gets a small rat every other week
i have a corn snake who gets 3 med-large mice every other week
I have a baby red tail who gets 1 rat pinky or 1 very small mouse every week.
I feed babies once a week just to insure that they wont die on me. my ball is about 5 ft, so is the corn.
when snakes get about 6 or 7 feet, you can feed a chicken or rabbit everyother two weeks or so.
power feeding is when, for instance, if i wanted my corn to be bigger faster, I'd give her 6 or 8 mice every other week. and some people do like 4 mice every few days. not good for the snake! they will probably die in a few years.
bethany
Gregory
Well-Known Member
How much do you feed your snakes at each feed and how often do you feed them?
I feed them Rats commensurate to their size.
What would you class as power feeding?
Feeding less than every 5 days.
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Obviously some species need to be started on Mouse Pinkies but I like to get them onto Rats asap.
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
At least the first winter sometimes the second.
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
If available I prefer one large item.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Always inside. The association between feeding and handling is never misinterpreted by my snakes. I have very intelligent Pythons.
I feed them Rats commensurate to their size.
What would you class as power feeding?
Feeding less than every 5 days.
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Obviously some species need to be started on Mouse Pinkies but I like to get them onto Rats asap.
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
At least the first winter sometimes the second.
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
If available I prefer one large item.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Always inside. The association between feeding and handling is never misinterpreted by my snakes. I have very intelligent Pythons.
How much do you feed your snakes at each feed and how often do you feed them?
I usually feed every one to two weeks but sometimes I will leave him for 3 weeks and something quite large so that it makes a bulge in the snake.
What would you class as power feeding?
Lots a of meals, big or small more than once a week
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Don't really care,I prefer a vareity
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
Depends on where the snake is from. My proserpine carpet is cooled but not as much as a normal brisbane. I wont be feeding him next winter though.
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
Larger prey.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Inside
I usually feed every one to two weeks but sometimes I will leave him for 3 weeks and something quite large so that it makes a bulge in the snake.
What would you class as power feeding?
Lots a of meals, big or small more than once a week
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Don't really care,I prefer a vareity
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
Depends on where the snake is from. My proserpine carpet is cooled but not as much as a normal brisbane. I wont be feeding him next winter though.
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
Larger prey.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Inside
I am curious why Neil and NoOne think that people are hibernating their snakes rather than cooling them? All the replies that I can see say that the snakes are not fed or are cooled (or not,) nobody mentions full hibernation. Are you suggesting that snakes should be fed whilst being cooled?
I may have it wrong, but my understanding is that full hibernation is for bears, they plug up their orifices with mud, the whole bit... what our pythons experience is different, it's 'torpor' just lowered body temp and metabolism to conserve energy whilst they are not eating, hence the inactivity... Can someone either confirm this for me or set me straight?
In answer to the questions:
How much do you feed your snakes at each feed and how often do you feed them?
The babies get a large meal every one-two weeks, the yearlings get a large meal every two-three weeks.
What would you class as power feeding?
Feeding a big meal 20%, every week.
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Rats asap for larger species.
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
My Diamond has been cooled every year, my others will be cooled every year after their first year, obviosly no eating during cooling.
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
I would like to do both for variety, but will stick with adult prey when possible.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Yes, always, in the bucket.
In answer to the questions:
How much do you feed your snakes at each feed and how often do you feed them?
The babies get a large meal every one-two weeks, the yearlings get a large meal every two-three weeks.
What would you class as power feeding?
Feeding a big meal 20%, every week.
Do you prefer rats or mice for young snakes?
Rats asap for larger species.
Do you feed your young snakes through their first couple of winters?
My Diamond has been cooled every year, my others will be cooled every year after their first year, obviosly no eating during cooling.
Do you prefer to feed adults one large prey item or several smaller items?
I would like to do both for variety, but will stick with adult prey when possible.
Do you feed your snakes outside the cage?
Yes, always, in the bucket.
Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
Gregory said:
Intelligent pythons???
Pity about the owner then :lol: :lol: :lol:
Cheers Hawkeye
Pinkie
Well-Known Member
I learned that hibernation is a form of torpor. A lot of animals go into torpor for energy conservation purposes for many different reasons, from examples like sugar gliders to snails to snakes to bears. Torpor can refer to long periods of dormancy such as as bear over the winter months, or for a sugar glider can be as short as 3 hours or so. With regard to snakes, many people refer to their torpor as hibernation, but its not hibernation in a true sense. You're right Nicole, it isn't as extreme as hibernation, just torpor to a lesser extent.
shaun
Active Member
Can you get snake sausages in Australia and if you can, would the reptile barn in St Marys sell them?
Shaun crooke
Shaun crooke
wattso
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