Feeding too large?

Vengeance · 03-11-04, 07:54 PM

I think I may have fed my Cali King a too large of a prey item. This is his second feeding with me, first was pinkies which barely made a dent in him and he had them down in less then a minute.

I'm trying a fuzzie as we speak but it appears like he is having some trouble, he has it about too the shoulders but he seems like he is having a tough time, I'm worried it may be to big, if he can get it down will there be any problems later on? I'm affraid to try and take it away from him because 1) I'm not sure it's a good idea to take it out while he already has half down and 2) I would hate to sour his outlook on feeding.

mykee · 03-11-04, 07:58 PM

I would wait; if he takes it, then all is well. If he regurges it, then try smaller, but wait a week or so. It may take time, I fed a 300g rat to a 1500g snake, and it took her 45 mins. to take it. Whatever you do, let the snkae decide if he wants it, don't take it away until he spits it out and ignores it. Let me know how it turns out.

Vengeance · 03-11-04, 08:08 PM

Thanks I'll keep you posted, he is still trying to get it down, made it past the sholders. This is another case of diffrent feeding styles. My Ball python when he was 200 Grams was takin 50 - 75 Gram rats no problem. Couldn't even weigh the fuzzy it was so light and I made sure to pick the smallest I could find, and he is having a problem. He is only about 2 - 3 months old according to PCPC, but those pinkies just seemed like nothing when I gave them to him.

BurmGuy87 · 03-11-04, 08:08 PM

Too big? Bigger then this prey item?

Still has it down

Its been 3 days.

Vengeance · 03-11-04, 08:13 PM

Nope not bigger then that :P

One thing I allways notice when I get a new snake is I get very paranoid in the first month

*edit* he just tore the mouse in half so i'm sure he'll be fine now.

Joe · 03-11-04, 08:36 PM

tore the mouse in half? either you have a rather odd snake that chews, or your rodent was completly rotten! I can't even think of the amount of times I have fed snakes over the years and i never heard of that! wierd!

Vengeance · 03-11-04, 08:41 PM

The mouse looked fine, but I saw exactly what he was doing, while swallowing it, it split one of the sides, he kept coiling around, holding it and pulling it in till it ripped the back end off. I wouldn't say it's half, there are no inards in the end ripped off, just a tail, legs and possibly hips.

*edit* I got pics of it so I'll post them later.

AshleyL · 03-11-04, 09:08 PM

my boyfriend's boa did that once when he first got it and that rat was F/T. i doubt the mouse was rotten, the little guy was probably just fighting to get the thing down and didnt realize his own strength! lol

BurmGuy87 · 03-11-04, 09:27 PM

OR it was wet.....

Vengeance · 03-11-04, 10:28 PM

Here is the pic's, it wasn't wet, and also if an Admin would like to move this over to the Colubrid forums that's fine I was reading the Breeding forum when I posted it, didn't realize it ended up here.

You can see the mess he made

daver676 · 03-11-04, 10:32 PM

Damn! That looks like a crime scene! LOL!

Vengeance · 03-11-04, 10:55 PM

makes me glad I fed outside of the cage

marisa · 03-11-04, 11:49 PM

That mouse was probably thawed too much. The rodents often split at the belly if you warm them too fast or too hot.

In any case, I have noticed my kingsnakes take FAR longer to eat than my corns even if the king is larger and taking larger prey, etc. I have also noticed they take just a smidge longer to move up the prey size ladder than corns. This may be my personal experience and limited to just my snakes but an observation either way.

Looks like that prey size was just fine though. I'd try thawing them a little slower or cooler next time.

Marisa

Jeff_Favelle · 03-12-04, 02:34 AM

Looks fine.

Why is this in the "breeding/incubation forum"?

Vengeance · 03-12-04, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeff_Favelle
Looks fine.

Why is this in the "breeding/incubation forum"?

Yea I made a mistake when posting it, I was reading the breeding forum when I posted it, I mentioned it in the post with the pic's but if a Mod wants to move this over to the colubrid forum that be fine.