Food size question

jovamabob · 12-08-12, 08:04 PM

My boy is a rescue so has always been small/underweight for his age and a fussy feeder. I was given a lot of bad advise which meant i kept my guy on too small food for a little too long. I felt terrible so immediately upped him to small mice and they seemed to be a good size. My local reptile pet shop told me that if i were to buy similar sized peach rat fuzzies, they contain more fat and would help me bulk him out a bit. Boy were they right! He shot up from 26" and 80g to 28" and 102g in just 5 weeks - he's just shed and it is huge compared to his last few

Now i just wanna check i am feeding him the right sized food.
I moved him to regular sized rat fuzzies today and he went crazy for it! He's always been fussy and strike feeds sporadically but today he constricted it, dragged it around and all sorts

The photos are all of him feeding on the substrate because of this, but the feed was dry before it went in and i kept an eye on him. He wont feed outta the viv so i usually clear half the substrate to one side and he feeds there. He seemed to struggle at the head, and took a lot longer than usual, but he took it all down quite well.

The rat fuzzy is curled up here so looks smaller than it is

Does this seem to be the right size? Also normally he's fed every 7 days - should i leave him longer with it being bigger?

Thanks!

rmfsnakes32 · 12-08-12, 08:13 PM

Corns have a faster metabolism I feed mine every 7 days

cossiecraig · 12-08-12, 08:33 PM

I'm not the best person regarding corns ,but if you are concernend regarding him swallowing substrate whilst feeding at any time ,i feed mine on a lid ,i place it in prior and once he's done and moved off to rest ( normally hot house ) i then remove the lid

i'm sure someone will chime in "oh in the wild the don't eat on lids " but i've seen many keepers do this for piece of mind ,and no doubt someone here will inform you of prey size ,again i don't no much about corns ,he looks good though .

jovamabob · 12-08-12, 08:38 PM

Ah normally i clear an area and he feeds there - he just occasionally goes nuts and i figure, he's on shredded kitchen roll and its highly unlikely i won't see him swallow some. His feeds are always air-defrosted and rubbed down with a paper towel to make sure they're dry just before i feed them :3 The lid idea is good for the larger viv im gonna move him into though

cossiecraig · 12-08-12, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovamabob

Ah normally i clear an area and he feeds there - he just occasionally goes nuts and i figure, he's on shredded kitchen roll and its highly unlikely i won't see him swallow some. His feeds are always air-defrosted and rubbed down with a paper towel to make sure they're dry just before i feed them :3 The lid idea is good for the larger viv im gonna move him into though

Lol yes they can go nuts and the "lid" doesn't always work ,only once has mine dragged it off but normally when he strikes i still have it held in the tongs and place him and the rat on the lid and hope

Lankyrob · 12-09-12, 07:58 AM

Looking at the separation on the scales as he is eatingg i would say you can go slightly bigger prey every seven days.

I tend to feed every seven days for the first year them feed every 14/21 days after that. Each feed is an item 2-2.5 times the girth of the snake.

jovamabob · 12-09-12, 08:01 AM

Ah excellent

I have a disability that means i can't perceive distance well so i struggle to tell if im feeding big enough prey or not - i appreciate the help

I'll pick the slightly larger rat fuzzies the next shop