Changing food question.

[ruthupton]

At the moment my snake is on pinkies. How will I know when to try her on something a bit bigger? When I saw her eat for the first time I was amazed by her ability to open her mouth wide enough to get the pinkie in. It looked as though the top of her head was about to fall back completely. LOL

[Tim_Cranwill]

By the looks of it (from you other post), your snake should be able to take down fuzzy mice without a problem. It's kind of tough to tell exactly how big your snake is in those pics but I'd even venture to say it could be eating small hoppers.
:)

[vanderkm]

I offer two pinkies when a single one is not making a noticable bulge in their belly. I keep them on two pinkies for a couple meals and then move up to a single fuzzy per meal until that is not making a bulge that lasts for a couple days. With fuzzies it is usually easy to move from the smallest ones to larger ones until you are feeding hopper sized mice (weaned mice).

Even if she is big enough to take a hopper now - the change from pinky to hopper could be a bit much for her to handle - a gradual increase may be easier on her system especially when she has just had a change in envirnoment.

good luck with her,

mary v.

[ruthupton]

Thanks. The 'width' of her head in the normal position is roughly 8mm, her girth is 1cm across and she is approximately 35cm long. Next time I feed I might try two pinkies and see what happens. BTW she is approx 4 months old.

[Andy_G]

If it will eat two pinkies move it up, no need to wait. Try it! :)

[Tim_Cranwill]

Mary is right. Your snake "looks" big enough for a small hopper but move up one food size at a time. :)

[ruthupton]

She managed to force two pinkies down this afternoon but looking at the job she had with the larger of the two, I really don't think that she is ready for anything larger just yet.

[Andy_G]

She ate the two pinkies, therefore is ready for at least a fuzzie. If you are still leary about moving her up give her a few more meals of two pinkies, but you should move her up when you can because pinkies have VERY little nutritional value.

[Invictus]

When I brought my lavender king snake home, he was getting fuzzies right away. He had had only a few pinkie meals when I took him home. If it's a Cal King, move it up right away. (Sorry, you didn't mention what type of lampro it is.)

[ruthupton]

She's a Cali King - striped desert phase.

Someone over here suggested 'pup rats'. Don't know what you call them in US/Canada.

[Andy_G]

We call them rat pups, they are HUGE compared to even a hopper mouse, a bit too soon for them IMO.

[PaulBar]

General rule of feeding is keep the food width just a little larger than the diameter of the snakes body. You should be feeding one or two small fuzzies at that size, every 4-6 days.

Dip the arse of the fuzzies occasionally in Herp Vitamins to ensure your snake is getting its vitamins, but don't overdo it.

Try feeding the snake live fuzzies once in a while for an extra treat, and watch him use his constrictor skills. I think live food is more nutricious than frozen. When feeding adult mice live though, put them in a paper bag and slam them once into a concrete floor to ensure they don't bite the snake when its feeding. This way they will be stunned, but still fresh and unable to damage the snake.

Paul

[ruthupton]

Sorry, Paul - there is NO way that I could feed live mice to a snake - I keep them as pets, along with a hamster.

I tried her on a fuzzie today but she just could not manage it. Instead she settled for two large pinkies.

I'll try her again in a week or so's time.