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adrian.coles
Snake Mite
23 Posts |
 Posted - 26/09/2013 : 19:53:00
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How do you know when you should feed more to your snake?
I feed phoenix one pinkie a week.
He strikes at it happily, and swallows it down within seconds.
However, I don't know if it is part of the swallowing process that I've only just noticed, but he seemed to be looking at me last night waiting for another.
He's too small for a fluff/fuzzy, but should I try him with 2 pinkies a week?
Will a snake over eat?
Is he at risk of regurgitating if I over feed him?
Don't want him going hungry, he might try and eat my finger next time I get him out... lol |
1.0.0 Common corn - Phoenix (very long tail so believe he's a he)
1.0.0 Long haired cat - Villeneuve
0.1.0 Lutino budgie - Luna
0.1.0 Syrian hamster - Toffee |
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SilverWings
Yearling
United Kingdom
740 Posts |
Posted - 26/09/2013 : 20:05:31
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| Most snakes will eat anything you offer, as they are opportunistic feeders. Is this your yearling? Not sure how big he is, but our 10 month king is on smalls now. Do the pinkies leave a lump when he has swallowed them? If not, it's time to think about upping the size. Feed 2 pinks for a while, then up to fuzzies. If they do still leave a lump then your snake must be tiny o.O Some of my 2 month hatchies are almost big enough to think about fuzzies now. Of course, every snake is different ad they grow at different rates so maybe yours is a late bloomer :p |
2.2.3 Corn snakes; Red, Rosie, Liana, Checkers, Luna, Diego, Snowman
1.0 Taiwanese Beauty Snake; Aleron
1.0 Green Anoles; Doug
1.0 Greyhound; Lee |
Edited by - SilverWings on 26/09/2013 20:05:54 |
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adrian.coles
Snake Mite
23 Posts |
Posted - 26/09/2013 : 21:10:56
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Hi, yes, Phoenix is about a year old and about 40cm long.
When he eats it does leave a lump as it goes down, but about half an hour later I can't see a lump anymore.
Maybe it's time for 3 pinkies at a time until they are used up and then on to fuzzies.
Will he still try to eat a fuzzy even if it is too big for him?
(Can you tell I'm a noob by the way?) |
1.0.0 Common corn - Phoenix (very long tail so believe he's a he)
1.0.0 Long haired cat - Villeneuve
0.1.0 Lutino budgie - Luna
0.1.0 Syrian hamster - Toffee |
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SilverWings
Yearling
United Kingdom
740 Posts |
Posted - 26/09/2013 : 21:17:25
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| The general rule is they can take anything up to 1.5 times their width, however Luna can take chicks that are easily twice her width and Boots takes smalls, again almost twice her width. When my babies hatched the pinkies seemed HUGE, I thought there was no way they'd get it down, but sure enough they did. I can see the lump in my lot for at least 2 days afterwards. The problem with keeping him on pinkies is that they lack the nutritional values of larger prey, up him to fuzzies and you'll be surprised at how fast he'll suddenly grow. I would definitely put him on double pinks for the next couple of feeds then fuzzies (although I never bothered with double pinks for Boots, since there wasn't much size different between pinks and fuzzies). Don't bulk buy fuzzies though, once he's started growing properly you'll probably find he won't be on them for long and before you know it he'll need smalls. |
2.2.3 Corn snakes; Red, Rosie, Liana, Checkers, Luna, Diego, Snowman
1.0 Taiwanese Beauty Snake; Aleron
1.0 Green Anoles; Doug
1.0 Greyhound; Lee |
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Coal
Hatchling
449 Posts |
Posted - 27/09/2013 : 09:32:10
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It definitely sounds to me like it's time to up the meal size. My boy is also a year old, is ~80cm long and weighs in the region of 90g, and he's taking smalls no problem. When he first went on them they left a lump that lasted a good 48 hours, now it's more like 36. As SilverWings said, it's important to move them up as they get older as there's not enough nutrients, especially calcium in pinks and even fluzzies, when compared to older mice. I personally prefer not to feed multiple items, and instead would go for a large pinkie and then a smallish fuzzy, working up that way, but I'm unusual in that regard so if you'd rather feed double/triple pinks it's probably a fine idea, just so long as you realise that a meal of three pinks is probably larger by mass than one fuzzy. In any case, as Silver said, he'll probably have a growth spurt when he's moved onto fuzzies and be on smalls very soon :)
By the way, how often are you feeding him? |
'Lovecraft' - CB12 male amel
'Sarnath' - CB13 male KSB (anery, het. albino) |
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sonia666
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - 27/09/2013 : 17:07:00
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| After reading this i am going to put loki up to a fuzzy, iv only had him a month and hes is 9 month old but been on 2 pinkies for about 5 months so he is really small and only looks about 4 months old. |
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adrian.coles
Snake Mite
23 Posts |
Posted - 27/09/2013 : 18:19:04
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Thanks for the advice everyone.
I actually meant 2 pinkies a week until used up in my last post, not 3.
I feed him every Wednesday evening, (works out nice as I can then handle him anytime over the weekend when I am around more).
What is the general consensus though? I have quite a few pinkies left and would rather not waste them.
Should I give him 2 pinkies at time to use them up, throw the pinkies and go straight to fuzzies, or maybe start feeding him 1 pinkie and 1 fuzzy a week?
Really don't want to over feed him, but would love to see him growing. |
1.0.0 Common corn - Phoenix (very long tail so believe he's a he)
1.0.0 Long haired cat - Villeneuve
0.1.0 Lutino budgie - Luna
0.1.0 Syrian hamster - Toffee |
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SilverWings
Yearling
United Kingdom
740 Posts |
Posted - 27/09/2013 : 18:27:45
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| Might as well use the pinkies up, he's been on them this long, few more weeks isn't going to matter too much. You could always get some vitamin supplements, my babies get vitamin water drops. |
2.2.3 Corn snakes; Red, Rosie, Liana, Checkers, Luna, Diego, Snowman
1.0 Taiwanese Beauty Snake; Aleron
1.0 Green Anoles; Doug
1.0 Greyhound; Lee |
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Coal
Hatchling
449 Posts |
Posted - 27/09/2013 : 19:53:35
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Yeah, might as well use the pinkies up. You could feed double for a while, which would be fine, or you could do what I did when I was moving my boy up to smalls and alternate for a while, i.e. feed Pheonix a fuzzy one week, then a pink, then a fuzzy and so on 'til all the pinks are gone. This means he gets the nutritional benefit of the more calcium-rich fuzzy but only gets a large, 'stressful' meal every other week. I'm actually sort of still doing this; my boy is currently on a repeating pattern of small, small, fuzzy, but there's only one fuzzy left in the freezer so he'll be on all smalls soon enough :)
Anyway, like I said, if you don't enjoy faffing around with mice as much as I do, feeding two pinks for a while would be absolutely fine ;) |
'Lovecraft' - CB12 male amel
'Sarnath' - CB13 male KSB (anery, het. albino) |
Edited by - Coal on 27/09/2013 19:54:44 |
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adrian.coles
Snake Mite
23 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2013 : 18:12:22
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I measured Phoenix the other day and he is 19".
I just gave him his first fuzzie. When he struck it, I realised how big it was compared to a pinkie. I had doubts that he could swallow it, but left him alone for a few minutes. He managed it and now has a fat belly like his Daddy. Will be interesting to see how much he moves in the next day. After a meal like that I reckon he'll be in a food coma for a while. |
1.0.0 Common corn - Phoenix (very long tail so believe he's a he)
1.0.0 Long haired cat - Villeneuve
0.1.0 Lutino budgie - Luna
0.1.0 Syrian hamster - Toffee |
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Feeding
