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RE: Feeding Problems
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by 23bms on August 29, 2008
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"collected as a neonates" should read, "collected as neonates."
These things really bother me. Bad fingers! Bad! Bad!
Why can't we edit our posts on this site??
jrb
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Jahon on August 29, 2008
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He he I stuff my snakes like crazy. I am in fact trying to get them to a large size, I like larger snakes. I feed my rattlers the max they can eat every week. They are not obese, but I do tend to stuff them.
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Jahon on August 29, 2008
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And another thing is most of the southern pacifics I have gotten have been EXTREMELY calm. Except for one which was half insane but a beautiful specimen that I still have. But almost every southern pacific I have caught has had a more placid attitude than the red diamonds I've seen. All the female red diamonds I've seen were worse than western diamondbacks.
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Cro on August 30, 2008
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"He he I stuff my snakes like crazy. I am in fact trying to get them to a large size, I like larger snakes. I feed my rattlers the max they can eat every week. They are not obese, but I do tend to stuff them."
You are also going to GREATLY shorten the lifespan of the snakes by doing that. When they die in a few years, perhaps it will not be so funny.
You were given great advise by jrb, when he told you to not feed the snakes so often.
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Jahon on August 30, 2008
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How often do you recommend I should feed them. I feed my red diamondback, which is about three and a half feet, one medium rat a week. My 2 foot southern pacific 2 mice a week. My 2 1/2- 3 foot southern pacific 2 small rats a week. My 2 1/2 foot mohave 2 mice a week and the neonates are taking one fuzzy each a week.
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Jahon on August 30, 2008
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In other words how often do you think I should feed them and how much? I want them to grow but I don't want to make them unhealthy.
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Cro on August 30, 2008
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Jahon, at the very least, cut the amount you are feeding in half. A third of what you are feeding would be even better.
The snakes will still get big, it will just take a bit longer. But it will greatly increase the life spans and health over the long term.
Almost all snakes that have been "pushed" to large size do not live very long. Take your time and let your snakes live long, healthy lives.
Not only that, but rattlesnakes that have been "pushed" wind up with tiny heads and very large bodies, which looks very strange. The skull bones do not grow as rapidly as the body does, that is why that happens.
Take a look at the Canebrake on the SHHS logo. A snake with that large of a body should not have a head that small. I do not know who designed the logo, but I bet it was based on a Canebrake that was pushed to a large size in a short time. It is not a normal profile for that snake.
I have a Timber Rattlesnakes that has been in captivity for 35 years, and was captured as an adult of at least 10 years of age. That snake might get fed once every 3 to 5 weeks at most, for a total of maybee 8 times a year.
I also have many other rattlesnake longivity records, that are better than the Zoos and Museums have done. That is because I keep my snakes on the cool side, and do not feed them too much.
Calorie restriction produces much longer lived snakes.
Pushing snakes will grow them up fast, and kill them fast.
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Jahon on August 30, 2008
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I get what your saying but my snakes don't look fat. They are nothing like the logo you see on this site. They are not really obese. But yeah I'll go ahead and take your advice. It will save me a bunch of $ too. I'm spending upwards of $13 a week on my snakes.
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by Cro on August 31, 2008
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Jahon, it is not about making the snakes fat.
Forcing rapid growth, wether the snakes get fat, or remain normal weight for their size, has been prooven time and time again to shorten the lifespan.
It probably has something to do with the number of times that cells can devide, and degeneration of the telomeres with each cell division. In other words, the snake is using up a pre-programed life expectancy in a much shorter time.
Like you said, cutting back on food will also save you a lot of money. Don`t worry though, the snake will make it to large size soon enough with normal feeding.
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Feeding Problems
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by FSB on August 31, 2008
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Jahon, Cro is giving you some really good advice. There is a huge tendency on the part of many people to overfeed snakes, which can cause lots of problems, not just obesity. In the wild, timber rattlesnakes need only eat their own weight each year to survive... that might be minimal, but they can do it. Avoid the "Jewish mother" approach with snakes, it will only stress them out. I know, because I never ate much as a kid - only when I was hungry - but my friends' mothers were always getting worried and trying to force me to eat more, and it really stressed ME out!
As for your current dilemma, the non-feeding neonate, the best thing you can do right now is set him up in his own cage. I'll bet he's stopped feeding because of the stress of competing with a cage-mate. Young snakes are particularly susceptible to this.
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