Dilemma

[wizbit13]

Hi folks. I am having a bit of a dilemma when it comes to feeding my yellow rat snake. He has been eating rat pinky's for quite some time now and growing very slowly, but he swallows a rat pink down in seconds so I started feeding him 2. After some time he was still looking hungry after feeding him 2 so I gave him 3 and they went down no problems at all. I fed him a very small rat fuzzy last night which lasted him quite a while, and I dont think he could have managed an 'average' size rat fuzzy. So do I keep feeding him multiple rat pinks or try to move him up to fuzzies?? Also, what sort of size should an 18 month old yellow rat snake be?? Pictures anyone?? I am starting to think that he is way to small, compared to what he should be. I presume he is a male because he is very small (I THINK)

Cheers

Adam

[gonesnakee]

General rule of thumb in reguards to prey size is prey should be the same girth or slightly larger as the thickest part of the snake & 2-3 items weekly of that size prey. Ratsnakes are usually big eaters & can take quite large prey. Sex & size are irrelevant in reguards to your ratsnake (more of a boid thing). I myself prefer the few smaller prey items over one or 2 larger ones. Easier/faster for the snake to eat/digest & they do seem to grow better too IMO, Mark
P.S. I'd say it should be on hopper/weanling mice or small fuzzy rats, but as stated the general rule of thumb above for prey size.

[wizbit13]

Ok, well next time I feed him, I will try him on a Rat fuzzy and see how he gets on with it. Does anyone have any pics or size/weight specs of an 18 month old yellow??

Cheers

Adam

[Tervics]

Feed fuzzies. Or peach fuzzies if that's still to big. There far more nutricius then pinks. Then adult mice are more nutricious then rat fuzzies.