best food for baby burm

[start2finish01]

I posted before about the baby burm who would not eat . Well he is about 24 inches and I was just wondering what would be the best to start him off on. Mouse pinkie, rat pinkie, etc...? I want to give him some rest time and try again, but want to know what he would like best and feel comfortable eating, thanks.

[Reticsrule]

i would try giving him a pinky or weanling rat. most people say to start baby burms on rats because they can take them and then you wont have to worry about having any problems switching him from mice to rats. good luck

[start2finish01]

I will do that, thanks for your help. I wish my camera was working so I can post a picture of this little guy.

[kevyn]

There's a few things you can try. You could try either a live mouse or a live weenling rat. I would go with the rat personally. I find that stubbourn hatchling burms usually go for live.

[start2finish01]

for the stubborn burms should I leave the baby rat in there if he is not eating it, or take it out and try again?

[Rikki]

Pinkie rat, or a fuzzie mouse.

[headdown]

I would suggest adult mouse or adult mouse size rat, don't bother with pinkies it's not a corn snake!! My baby boas all start on small adult mice and at five months are allready on to small rats. Just my opinion

[sc00t]

I agree with head mine was eating full grown mouse when it was just under 2 feet, you can try freshly killed prey that sometimes work

[kevyn]

There really isn't any need to start burms on mice. They are quite large enough that they can take small rats. It can be a bit of a pain switching them to rats if started on mice. It will save alot of hassel, and burms seem to develope quicker on rats in my experience. For my money though, pinkie rabbits are the way to go.

[SCReptiles]

For deciding on prey size, girth of the snake is far more important then the length. You want to offer something just large enough to show a slight bulge in the snake. You do not want to feed exclusively rat pinks. The snake’s body is able to digest virtually all of a rat pink, leaving very little to pass thru the digestive track. Snake dung is mostly comprised of hair and processed bone. Rat pinks have no hair and the skeletal system is so soft the snake can process most of it. Rat pinks are very healthy for the snake, but they should be stacked back to back with mice of the same size, up until the snake can feed on 80 to 90 gram rats. From that point there will be enough hair and excess bone to keep the digestive track moving regularly. Offer food every 4 days for the first year, then every 7 after that till adulthood. From there, large rabbits every 14 days during feeding season will be fine. Always keep prey just large enough to show the bulge. If prey is too small and no bulge can be seen, will need to offer two prey items at a feeding. Hope this helps.

[start2finish01]

That makes sense because when this baby burm ate a pinkie I didn't notice any feces at all in the cage even after several days. He must have processed most of it due to the lack of hair. Also I agree on choosing the right feeder size according to girth of snake, Thanks.

[SCReptiles]

for the stubborn burms should I leave the baby rat in there if he is not eating it, or take it out and try again?

Yes, put it in and take it back out of not eaten with ½ hour of so. Get one of those heavy plate things they put on the bottom of potted plants and grind out a hole in one side of it big enough for the snake to crawl thru. Put it in his cage upside down. Give him a heavy hide that he can feel against his back. That will make him feel more secure and will help to trigger a feeding response.

[pollywog]

My burm would only eat live hopper mice at the start, and then only if she couldn't see me. She was very shy and I agree that a good dark hide box is a MUST! Put a live hopper mouse or rat pinky in the tank at sunset and don't sit there and watch, the snake can sense if you are there and won't eat. You actually have to leave the room for a while, then periodically check to see if the prey is gone, this is easier if the tank is not too cluttered with ornaments and such, keep it simple, a water dish, a hide box, a few large rocks and some artificial vines.

[Linds]

Originally Posted by start2finish01

That makes sense because when this baby burm ate a pinkie I didn't notice any feces at all in the cage even after several days.

Regardless of what your snake eats, you will not see the resulting feces in a couple days. Snakes are not people, they have much slower metabolisms.

On a different note, I have to disagree with snakes not raised well on pinks. I have raised many snakes up on pinkies... boas, pythons, and colubrids... some of which were very slow growing species and were on pinks and fuzzies for years. While there isn't as great an amount of roughage, it certainly does not mean they cannot be soley fed to babies. All of my snakes had proper growth rates, and defecated as regularily as snakes that were fed more mature items. The only notable difference is that the stools are a bit looser than the ones bound up with hair. That being said, there is no reason to start a burm on anything as small as a rat pink, so that isn't even a concern.

[SCReptiles]

On a different note, I have to disagree with snakes not raised well on pinks. I have raised many snakes up on pinkies... boas, pythons, and colubrids... some of which were very slow growing species and were on pinks and fuzzies for years.

there is a difference in what will work and what is optimal. 20 years ago, all the books told us to feed them chicken. I raised burms on nothing but chicken and they grew and seemed to be fine. We have better technology now and know chicken wasn’t the best idea. Can you raise one on consistent pinks? Well of course. Is it optimum for the animal? My opinion is no. The snake is question is designed to consume animals with a developed skeletal structure and hair. I don’t think we can improve on nature.