The guys talked about how they don't do a maintenance diet and instead get some weight on their snakes this week on the show. They said it is a good selling point and I agree. I was wondering what you guys/gals do. I ask this because a month or so ago I got a male motley butter and a normal stripe het butter. They are both 07 snakes. I asked how big they were and he said 25 to 30 inches. I thought good deal, however I never asked weight. Well I was pretty unhappy when I saw them. The male weighed 48 grams and the female 50. I see quite a few people selling snakes similar to these and I just don't get it. I will have to pound the food to them now and won't be able to cool them down. They probably won't breed this spring but I have my fingers crossed. They will be 3 yrs old in the spring and I might not get anything from this pair until their 4th year. So what does everyone here do?

I feed my hatchling and yearling Corns weekly.
My adults sometimes go 2 weeks.
My Balls I don't even offer them for sale tell there 200 grams or more

Last time I had hatcling corns I fed them twice a week, and I feed my adults once a week.

I feed weekly as a general rule, some of the adult bloods and boas may go a couple of weeks without food but everything gets fed more then enough.

im feeding weekly on the corns... but I dont throw the food to them. Im not gonna power feed just so I can get weight on them so I can breed faster.... if it takes them 4 years before they reach my mark... then so be it.

Thats just me though.

I feed weekly as a general rule, some of the adult bloods and boas may go a couple of weeks without food but everything gets fed more then enough.

Same here as well :yessir:

Problem with the term maintenance fed means so much to different people, I take it as what I see from some large breeders or show people who only look to sell the offspring and they feed on a monthly schedule at best....while some species can benefit from that not all can and IMO will mess up the proper growth of an animal...

I have some animals here that come from large stock animals be it general size and large clutch layers that seem to have a super metabolism compared to even some examples of the same species so the feeding requirements are going to be different....I tend to follow the animal these days and try to accommodate them...of course this is all just speculation and I could be way off in my thinking but I figure you can't go wrong learning the animals....

The guys talked about how they don't do a maintenance diet and instead get some weight on their snakes this week on the show. They said it is a good selling point and I agree. I was wondering what you guys/gals do. I ask this because a month or so ago I got a male motley butter and a normal stripe het butter. They are both 07 snakes. I asked how big they were and he said 25 to 30 inches. I thought good deal, however I never asked weight. Well I was pretty unhappy when I saw them. The male weighed 48 grams and the female 50. I see quite a few people selling snakes similar to these and I just don't get it. I will have to pound the food to them now and won't be able to cool them down. They probably won't breed this spring but I have my fingers crossed. They will be 3 yrs old in the spring and I might not get anything from this pair until their 4th year. So what does everyone here do?

each critter is totally different.
maintenance for one might be growth for another, even if they are the same species, and start out at the same size. chan's right about reading the animal and feeding accordingly. that's always your best bet.
good luck,
ck

I guess people would have different opinions as to what a maintenance diet is. What I was thinking when I typed it was just enough food to keep the snake going. The two snakes I was talking about at the beginning where and still are actually unhealthy weight wise. I guess for example the snake size wise should be feeding on adult mice but are only given fuzzies, or they are getting adults but every two weeks instead of weekly. (these are just examples) Basically they are feeding just enough to maintain but are not getting enough to grow at a proper rate. I hope my explanation makes sense as to what I was trying to say.

an 07 corn only weighing 48 grams is, to me, animal abuse. A 2 year old corn should weigh at least 200 grams or better. Hell I have 09 hatchlings that weigh over 20 grams and they are fed weekly!

I can and have in the past been able to get female corns up to 250+ grams in less than a year, doesn't mean anything since it still can't breed or doesn't want to due to immaturity but a 2 year old corn fed even the most basic diet and raised rodent sizes appropriately as needed should weigh well over 100 grams....sounds more like they were feeding it like a king snake.

I feed them as much as they will take and as large of a meal as they will possibly take. My big breeder corns pound medium sized Rodentpro rats weekly.

Gotta FEED those snakes!!

I don't do corns, so no help there. I feed what I have when they're hungry, so it varies even with a particular snake. I guess that boils down to being able to read your snakes.

When I feed them, I feed them very well. Especially during the first 2 years. I agree, you have to feed them. There are exceptions, as with all species. This is where you have to "know" your snake. I feed the corns and kings pinks about every 5 to 6 days. Sometimes I may stretch my adults 6 to 9 days, especially when the babies consume so much time.