| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Verhus |
Posted - 13/12/2013 : 02:09:52
I fed 'Cornflake' 2 small mice using tongs last Wed. which he loved. Yesterday I fed him 3 but dropped the last one and was too chicken to retrieve it - but he ended up eating it anyway, as if to say "Fine! I'll get it myself then, shall I?". Is it better to use the tongs or not? I do like to see him strike (when using tongs) but don't know what's better for him.
MOD NOTE. moved to appropriate section |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Razee |
Posted - 15/12/2013 : 09:16:25
Their stomach is quite long (well ,all the organs are elongated :-). It's roughly just in front of the middle of the snake, and a bit before that. When you watch the snake push the bigger mouse down, you'll se where it stops :-).
The mice weights may wary slightly, according to who's the supplier, and some have extra sizes, like hoppers, and Jumbo ex breeder. |
| Verhus |
Posted - 15/12/2013 : 00:32:59
Thanks Razzee, it does, I'll take a note of these mice-weights and keep an eye on him at feeding times to see what happens after he's swallowed. I'll need to find that thing I read before to check where his stomach is though! I found his lungs before and it was sweet watching him breathing  |
| Razee |
Posted - 14/12/2013 : 09:14:26
Don't worry too much, they are fine to feed in any way... Regarding the mouse size, one s and one m is perfectly fine, and food wise, it will be much more, gram for gram, than one large mouse. But is is safer to up the food gradually, so that his stomach gets used to larger items.
If he managed 3 small mice, (each 12-14 g ), that's a whopping 36+ g , the equivalent of a massive, ex breeder mouse, so certainly a lot of food for him. Medium and small will be 12-14 g and 15 -20 g , so around 27 -34 g, the equivalent of XL mouse, again, more than enough of food for him. L mice are 20 -25 g, sometimes 20 - 30 g.
Re food leaving a bump, it's not so much when it's going down, it's if there's a bump left, when the food settles down in the stomach - and that's more with babies and growing snakes. Generally, you wait until the food has moved all the way to the stomach, and if there's no bump left, next time, you offer food 1 size up. But with a more or less grown up snake, you offer food, that' s about the same thickness, or up to 1.5 the thickness, of the thickest part of the snakes body.
It might not leave a bump - my 3 year old female is on XL mice, they don't leave a bump, but I'm certainly NOT giving her more food, as she's starting to look rather chubby. I started alternating L and XL and feed her every 12-14 days.
Yours is almost fully grown, so you'll have to watch him, that he doesn't start putting on too much weight with proper feeding :-) The large mice will be a healthier option for him, as they also have more calcium in them, than younger and smaller mice.
Hope this essay helped :-) |
| Verhus |
Posted - 13/12/2013 : 19:10:07
Thanks everyone, I just wasn't sure if I was doing it right. I feed him in a seperate plastic box which has nothing at all in it (?) so no substrate to worry about.
I'm getting medium mice on Mon. and I'll feed him one of those and one small on Wednesday (and for a few feeds after that) before I think of moving him up another size. Does this sound too much in one feed? On the small mice he shows no 'bump' going down at all as he's a good bit thicker than they are, so I'm hoping to see some sign of a 'bump' with the mediums - I'm assuming that'll be a sign that he'll feel full (?). |
| Drahcir9 |
Posted - 13/12/2013 : 12:29:04
I use tongs and often drop the mouse as well.. I started using egg box lids as a 'dinner-tray'.. Perfect size, disposable and have a good edge on them in case she starts to push her food around. |
| smart bunny |
Posted - 13/12/2013 : 12:12:55
No she means smalls. Long story, (see other posts - adult which was previously on smalls which should be on larger, it's OK, Verhus is moving him up to larger food shortly). It doesn't matter whether you use tongs or not Verhus, but what does matter is if the mouse is wet (depends how you defrosted them) and gets substrate stuck to it which could possibly cause impaction. I'm sure it was fine, but if you are worried then in future you could pop a plate/plastic lid etc under where you are going to be holding the tongs, that way if it drops it cannot get substrate on it :) I'd move up to a medium plus a small next feed though - better not to feed 3 items at once :) |
| serena_08 |
Posted - 13/12/2013 : 08:21:38
What do you mean you fed him 3 small mice? Pinkies? It seems an awful lot, maybe think about moving to the next size up... And it makes no odds whether you use tongs or not, whichever you feel better about |
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