power feeding

[magnum]

I'm new to snake forums and fairly new at keeping snakes i now have two 05s a 04 and a 03 , i keep reading reference to power feeding how do i power feed my 05s and when do you stop

 

[BeckyG]

how do i power feed my 05s and when do you stop

You don't. And you don't stop because you shouldn't start. Power feeding is a technique used by breeders to get their snakes to reproducing size quicker. It is basically stuffing your snake with food to make him grow faster, but it leads to some pretty serious health problems. It can even shorten the life span of your snake.

 

[diamondlil]

You don't. And you don't stop because you shouldn't start. Power feeding is a technique used by breeders to get their snakes to reproducing size quicker. It is basically stuffing your snake with food to make him grow faster, but it leads to some pretty serious health problems. It can even shorten the life span of your snake.

A search on feeding regimes shows 'power feeding' = feeding more often than another owner + raging arguments! About the only working definition I found so far is forcing another food item into the snake while the first is on it's way in.
Snakes all seem to grow at their own pace, but if the optimum husbandry results in faster growth, I'd like to see a comparison of lifespan and health problems between faster growing and slower growing snakes. Any links anyone?

 

[DaemoNox]

These days power feeding is based more on intent then action. To me theres a difference between feeding to make the snake grow super fast to breed earlier and feeding to reach the optimum amount of growth and health, and to give the young snake a nice start in life. I'm against people who stuff their nskaes full of food just to get a big snake fast to breed in two years, I'm not against people who feed their hatchlings more often so that the hatchlings can use the added nutrition; even if they both are on the same feeding sheduales. Basicly it should be done responsibly, not out of greed or impatience, but for the snake; and the person doing it should have experiance enough to what the snake can handle and when its too much as each snake has a different metabolism.

 

[magnum]

thanks for the replys guys i wasnt sure what it meant just seen reference to it i will stick by my current feeding schedule for my 05s , thought maybe i was doing something wrong but since i'm not in any hurry my babies are safe from this technique.

 

[BeckyG]

Snakes all seem to grow at their own pace, but if the optimum husbandry results in faster growth, I'd like to see a comparison of lifespan and health problems between faster growing and slower growing snakes. Any links anyone?

This is not what power feeding is. Power feeding is feeding MORE than what is considered optimal husbandry. It is, like DaomoNox said, seriously overfeeding in order to get a snake up to breeding size as soon as possible. They don't want to wait until the female reaches breeding size naturally, so they power feed to get them there at a very young age. I've even heard of some being power fed to be able to breed at less than two years old. Responsible breeders, and the average pet owner, have no need or desire to do this.

 

[diamondlil]

thanks, Becky, I have no intention of making my snakes grow too fast, if Lil ate at all on her own I'd be doing the hapy dance for weeks.
But I would like to know if the link to shortened life-span has any base rather than general agreement, out of curiosity.