Power Feeding Anyone?

[Invisible Snake]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone on here has ever power-fed their garter snakes because they wanted their snakes to get up to a certain breeding size or because they had a scrub in a litter that wasn't as big as his/her siblings, please post any experience and/or pro's and con's. Thank you in advance

[EasternGirl]

Well...I did find Seeley sucking down weight gain shakes and shooting steroids once because he was self-conscious about his small size....he even had little tiny barbells in his tank. I removed all of it and gave him a lecture about the dangers of that stuff and loving yourself for who you are. But other than that...no. (Sorry......I know it was a serious question...I just had to do it...).

[guidofatherof5]

No power feeding on the Ranch. Slow growth only.

[EasternGirl]

Yes...seriously, I would be concerned about the consequences of overfeeding...regurgitation, obesity, and as far as I know it could actually cause a snake to become quite ill...with young snakes, I believe it can cause death. I am always very careful to not overfeed my snakes.

[kibakiba]

I've never heard of anyone "power feeding" I think the idea of it is stupid, mainly because overfeeding can kill a garter. The only time I feed them more than I usually do, is if I missed a feeding due to being sick, withdrawaling or being depressed. Once I do that, it's back to normal feeding amounts.

[Eight]

I've heard of people power feeding other species of snake, and apparently their heads stay quite small (no idea if that's true or not)

Personally I just feed them when needed/normally and let nature take its course. I am hoping one eye catches up with domino though as I'm planning and setting up a new enclosure soon for them.

[EasternGirl]

One eye? Did I miss something? Did you get another garter??

[Eight]

One eye? Did I miss something? Did you get another garter??

I did. Its in the general section. He might not be blind in one eye, just waiting for him to shed to find out.

[Selkielass]

The big male albino checkered in this thread might be considered an example of unintentional powerfeeding.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husb...ise-birth.html

He is huge, at only 2 years old, but grew that way withut my intentional action.

Ate a mixed diet, but really went for rodents like crazy.
I just hope the growth doesn't end up significantly shortening his life. Time will tell.

[d_virginiana]

Ate a mixed diet, but really went for rodents like crazy.
I just hope the growth doesn't end up significantly shortening his life. Time will tell.

I think Harley is probably a bit bigger than normal for her age (one year May 15th!) as well. She's a good eater, and definitely prefers pinkies over anything else, but we don't overfeed her. I think it may be because she had a mouth infection early in the winter. She got moved to the frog room to boost her temperatures while that was clearing up and then ended up staying there, so she never really 'slowed down' for the winter like Houdini always has.

But I'm with everyone else on the power-feeding thing. Purposely overfeeding isn't a good idea.