Making pinkies more nutritious...

[Pareeeee]

I've been giving Jolinar (my new yearling Corn) two pinkies at one feeding, every five days. I believe she is still too little to eat anything larger than pinkies - she's only a little thicker than a pencil at the widest part of her body. (Seems small to me for a yearling, but I don't know corns very well yet)

I understand that pinkies have very little calcium.
How do you make them more nutritious? Will a snake take prey dusted in calcium powder? I don't want to make a special trip to the store if there's a better, tried and true method. I know some people cut fuzzies lengthwise...but that sounds very messy (ew).

I've never had a snake small enough to eat pinkies so I have no experience with this.

Thanks!

[Starbuck]

In the wild they aren't getting dusted pinks. It is very easy to iversupplement a young small animal, especially with a powder designed to stick to dry insects and not a moist mouse pink. I would not dust.
if you cut fuzziness in half when they are still frozen they are not at all messy, however I would then let them thaw in air, not water. You could always contact a mouse breeder/live supplier and ask them to euthanize a few in between pink and fuzzy sizes for you...

I think your snake might surprise you though and have no problem with a fuzzy! :-)

[drumcrush]

My albino garter is almost a year old and is downing a fuzzie. I would up to a fuzzy. I don't think additional nutrition is really needed as it grows and begins to eat older mice. My king grew just fine without additional nutrition.

[Pareeeee]

Okidoke. Wanted to make sure, because I hear conflicting information on the topic. I guess I'll just use up what few pinkies I have left and then try her on a fuzzy and see how she does. I won't bother wasting my money on calcium.

She goes 'rabid' at feeding time. I find it adorable, her little, excited face following my every move. I'm sure she would've struck my hand (after she had already eaten two pinkies!) if I'd been closer. :P

[drumcrush]

Lol mine are pretty feisty eaters too :p

[infernalis]

I have raised up dozens of colubrid snakes including my corn, garters, milks and a racer all on pinks without dusting anything. for the most part those supplements are just a way to get into your pocket and get your money.

[CosmicOwl]

In the wild they aren't getting dusted pinks. It is very easy to iversupplement a young small animal, especially with a powder designed to stick to dry insects and not a moist mouse pink. I would not dust.
if you cut fuzziness in half when they are still frozen they are not at all messy, however I would then let them thaw in air, not water. You could always contact a mouse breeder/live supplier and ask them to euthanize a few in between pink and fuzzy sizes for you...

I think your snake might surprise you though and have no problem with a fuzzy! :-)

They probably aren't eating pinkies at all. When they are small, corns naturally prey on small lizards and amphibians. Both of which have more calcium than pinkies. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a particularly effective way to imitate that diet in captivity.

[formica]

you can make a paste with water and calcium powder, which can then be injected into the pinkies - i think moving to larger prey is better tho (and as Starbuck says, your snake may surprise you!), natural minerals and vitamins are far more nutritious than synthetic ones, despite being the same roughly the chemicals, the tiny differences for eg between the orientation of the atoms within the molecules, do actually have quite a big influence of how they are metabolized

(if you fancy reading up on it, lots of references are provided here: truth about vitamin suppliments (http://www.doctorsresearch.com/articles4.html) )

They probably aren't eating pinkies at all. When they are small, corns naturally prey on small lizards and amphibians. Both of which have more calcium than pinkies. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a particularly effective way to imitate that diet in captivity.

this exactly /\ captive diets are far from ideal, and is why its important to move off pinkies as soon as possible, or supplement when that is not appropriate

[CosmicOwl]

you can make a paste with water and calcium powder, which can then be injected into the pinkies - i think moving to larger prey is better tho (and as Starbuck says, your snake may surprise you!), natural minerals and vitamins are far more nutritious than synthetic ones, despite being the same roughly the chemicals, the tiny differences for eg between the orientation of the atoms within the molecules, do actually have quite a big influence of how they are metabolized

(if you fancy reading up on it, lots of references are provided here: truth about vitamin suppliments (http://www.doctorsresearch.com/articles4.html) )



this exactly /\ captive diets are far from ideal, and is why its important to move off pinkies as soon as possible, or supplement when that is not appropriate

Has anybody ever tried feeding a diet of wild caught reptiles and amphibians? It seems that in a healthy, properly maintained animal, a small parasite load wouldn't be a problem.

[formica]

Has anybody ever tried feeding a diet of wild caught reptiles and amphibians? It seems that in a healthy, properly maintained animal, a small parasite load wouldn't be a problem.

a parasite which encounters a novel host (ie one from a different part of the world) has the potential to do significant damage if the host hasn't evolved a defense against it.

not all parasites require more than one different type of host to reproduce, some worms can multiply very quickly in a host which has no defense against it, and protozoans can also cause big problems, both can cause immune system failures which lead to infections - freezing the prey may help, but some parasites can survive freezing, it is probably safer with sub/tropical prey (i cannot confirm that, but they haven't evolved to deal with freezing temps, so its not an unreasonable assumption - i'm not convinced its worth the risk tho)

[CosmicOwl]

a parasite which encounters a novel host (ie one from a different part of the world) has the potential to do significant damage if the host hasn't evolved a defense against it.

not all parasites require more than one different type of host to reproduce, some worms can multiply very quickly in a host which has no defense against it, and protozoans can also cause big problems, both can cause immune system failures which lead to infections - freezing the prey may help, but some parasites can survive freezing, it is probably safer with sub/tropical prey (i cannot confirm that, but they haven't evolved to deal with freezing temps, so its not an unreasonable assumption - i'm not convinced its worth the risk tho)

That's true, but I'm assuming you'd be feeding the snake prey that it would have naturally encountered. It's definitely a risk, though.

[IW17]

I have a young corn probably about 16-18" and he downs mouse hoppers no problem.

[Pirarucu]

You would be amazed what he may be capable of. I have seen young corns take down mice that are almost hopper-sized... Definitely move him up to fuzzies.

[Sharlynn93]

My itty bitty corn I just got looked too small for newborn mice....he pounds down decent sized pinks no problem...my older ones look like they couldn't go past hoppers but eat adult mice...and are always on the hunt within a few days...corns are big eaters....

[EL Ziggy]

I would think a yearling corn could handle larger meals also. I'd at least try giving him a fuzzy or hopper. My yearling colubrids, two king snakes and a bull snake, are all eating 2 small-medium mice every 6-7 days.

[Will0W783]

There's nothing wrong with feeding pinkies to a young snake until it is old enough to eat larger prey items. In the wild, these animals eat prey with no additional supplementation. Captive farmed rats are fed a high-quality, filling diet and are generally pretty full of nutrients that a young snake needs to eat.

In the wild, they would be getting a greater variety of food items (frogs, lizards, etc), but I've never had a problem getting a young snake raised up on pinkies, then moving on when it was ready.

[Pareeeee]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Like I said, I think I'll just use what pinks I have left, (eating two at a time that won't take long!) then switch to larger prey.

It's amazing to think she could eat anything larger, since she's such a skinny little thing, so it will be interesting to watch.

She's going into shed at the moment...