powerfeeding question

[DeviledDiablo]

ok i heard that powerfeeding was bad for ur snake.. so i DONT want to be doin it.. but wut is considered "powerfeeding"? i hope im not powerfeedin my snake by mistake.... ive been feeding him a rat every 5 days now ( use to be 6-7 ) hes a lil under 1 yrs and about 2 1/2 feet. the food item i feed him is about the size of the biggest part of his body.. from wut ive read b4... powerfeeding was when u fed ur snake another food item while its tryin to finish the one it alrdy took. is that rite?
thanx in advance
peace

[LdyDrgn]

It can be feeding too many prey items or feeding too often. Keep your boa on a 7 day schedule until it reaches 3-4 feet then go to every 14 days, 1 appropriately sized prey item per feeding.

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

DEVILEDDIABLO:

POWERFEEDING.....its a touchy subject to all keepers in this hobby. Just discussing snakes some people think they don' t do it others think they do. We at my facility most likey are considered not power feeders because our schedule is on a weekly basis, and a few species are on bi-weekly.

A good sized prey item that leaves a slight lump in the belly of the snake is more than enough food per session. If all your snakes requirements are met with heat and humidity they should easily digest their food within a week or less. Since we are taking about your boa this should work.

In the past and even currently people do push the envelope on this subject from increasing the heat to digest faster - adding more food per feeding. This process has had a few cases where the animal' s health became the issue in the end. We feel we try to match nature the best we can and try and raise our animals as well for breeding purposes. Though our schedule is slow we also feel in the wild these animals do not eat regular either. Easily they can go without food for weeks to months and then score a huge meal in repeat circumstances.

But like I said its a touchy subject some may say we under feed others can say we over feed, but if you feed a decent sized prey item that leaves a slight lump in belly every week - 10 days you will have a healthy boa no matter what as long as other husbandry practices are perfect as well and this boa was healthy.

Cya...

Tony

[Invictus]

If you're following the "equal to the largest part of the body" guideline, then 5 days is quite appropriate. I personally prefer 1.5 to 2x their girth, but every 10-14 days. Both methods work.

[MarcB]

Tony hit it on the nail here ;

''we also feel in the wild these animals do not eat regular either.''

Our captives tend to be overfed in a rush to raise them to breeder size, some might say, BUT they are not in the wild! Good point BUT, they have not evolved over millions of years to be fed that often either.

Powerfed boas might get to breeder size faster BUT this will ultematly lead to breeding problems and shorten the subjets life span.

I beleive young boas can be fed the appropriate size meal every 5-7 days for the first 24 months and then be on a 14-21 day schedule. Boas are not Burmese pythons and their digestive metabolism are not designed for heavy feeding schedules.

My two pence worth...

[Invictus]

Yes, but wild boas are often sickly, hungry, and scarred from having to eat prey several times bigger than they are. Captivity is NOT a natural state! If they COULD eat in the wild every 5 days, bet your bottom dollar that they would.

[DeviledDiablo]

thanx for ur replies.. lol im still not sure if wut im doin is ok.. like.. IS feedin every 5 days alrite? ( he seems to take it and eat it wit no problem, and even seems to want more after ) and ya im feedin him a food item thats about the size of his larges part.. when he has it down.. the rat is barely noticeable in his stomach..

[BOA68]

Usually i go by how long it takes the snake to pass its previous meal. I feed my snakes the day after they go to the bathroom. This is usually every 7-8 days. This way you are not over loading their digestive system. I feed one food item per feeding that is approximatly the same size as the snake thickest part sometimes slightly larger.
What you are doing is not power feeding. It seems fine to me. As long as the prey items aren't to large.

[RepTylE]

Originally posted by Invictus
Yes, but wild boas are often sickly, hungry, and scarred from having to eat prey several times bigger than they are. Captivity is NOT a natural state! If they COULD eat in the wild every 5 days, bet your bottom dollar that they would.

And the captive raised prey animals are alot more filled out than a stringy animal caught in the wild as well. You don't give too many rats to your snakes that are not much more than skin and bones do you?
Snakes in the wild would feed much more often but they are adapted to survive for long periods between feedings. Nature doesn't provide sustanence on a regular basis but we do.

[Linds]

Originally posted by Invictus
Captivity is NOT a natural state! If they COULD eat in the wild every 5 days, bet your bottom dollar that they would.

They would without a doubt, but that is only because, as mentioned by RepTylE, food isn't readily available in the wild as it is in captivity, and as a result snakes are hardwired to be somewhat opportunistic. They eat what they can get in the wild, but when they are provided with an unnatural amount of food, they have a propensity to overeat.

Originally posted by BOA68
I feed my snakes the day after they go to the bathroom. This is usually every 7-8 days.

Boas will often go much more than 7-8 days without defecating, as well as it likely isn't the previous meal you are feeding after, but one or two before it. Some snakes only poop every couple months, and would likely be underfed if put on that schedule.

[Matt_K]

Originally posted by Linds
Some snakes only poop every couple months, and would likely be underfed if put on that schedule.

LOL, I want those snakes!! All of mine go atleast once a week, I think only the Blood doesn't.. Needless to say, im constantly cleaning cause they're not even helpfull and all go at the same time, it's like one everyday..

[Linds]

Really? My B.c's usually go every 2-3 weeks, stp's every few months, ball python... well he doesn't count anymore since sometimes he will go as much as a year without food , rosy boas probably go more around the weekly point, and the jamaicans poop like the colubrids do :toilet:

[Jeff_Favelle]

They are also parasitized in the wild to keep the weight down. Saying that they WOULD do it in nature is NOT a valid arguement simply because they have evolved to exploit a niche where that isn't really allowed. I betcha wolves would eat boatloads of chocolate if you put it out in the "wild". Does that mean its good for them?

[BOA68]

With proper heating and properly sized food items it should take no longer than 10 days for your boa to pass its previous meal.

I know that my boa is passing it previous meal because when i got her she didn't eat for a month and was totally empty. She went to the bathroom three times in the first week after i got her. So i know she was empty. She is now on a schedule where she eats every 8 days and passes her meals every 7 to 8 days. You should not feed to the point where there is more than two meals in your snake at a time.(the one u just fed her and one previous) Its not good for the snake.

[MouseKilla]

Wolves like chocolate? lol!

I think that most snakes are pretty good at surviving at both extremes, they can sustain themselves on very little and are equally capable of packing away huge meals. They can be lean and mean or fat and happy and be just as healthy, depending on how you would define "healthy".

Health could be measured with different things: growth rate, longevity, reproductive success... probably several other things too. I think what each of us sees as being ideally healthy in our animals is heavily influenced by our motivation for keeping them.