Boa feeding.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-16-11, 08:43 PM

Recently, when I've been feeding my red-tailed boa, it eats the pinky from the side. It looks really funny, but should I be worried? Sometimes it just crawls around with it hanging out, but it gets it down fairly easily.

SnakeyJay · 09-17-11, 02:16 AM

Wouldnt worry... quite a few snakes try this. Itll find the head eventually. Try just heating the head, gives the snake a good target to aim at. My corn likes going feet first sometimes

SSSSnakes · 09-17-11, 04:15 AM

A baby Red Tail should be eating at least a fuzzie if not a hopper. A pinkie is to small.

UwabamiReptiles · 09-17-11, 06:51 AM

My big carpet female use to eat mice from the side when that was all I had. I think it was because it was too small. Is it a rat pinkie or a mouse pinkie?

N1T24M · 09-17-11, 09:37 AM

i agree, pinks are way small for boas. even smaller island boas like corn island or hog island boas start off on fuzzies. usually my insular colombian boas start on hopper mice.
nothing wrong with snakes eating sideways.

sassy_snake_lady · 09-17-11, 09:39 AM

Some of my boas eat their rats sideways and literally fold the rat in half!

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-26-11, 12:40 PM

Yes, the first batch I gave it was pinkie mice. But after one of my rats gave birth, it got rat pinkies. The pinkies the female had were bigger around than my thumb and was bigger around than she was. (So she got the larger ones the second time around, first one only to hold her off.)

SSSSnakes · 09-26-11, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Yes, the first batch I gave it was pinkie mice. But after one of my rats gave birth, it got rat pinkies. The pinkies the female had were bigger around than my thumb and was bigger around than she was. (So she got the larger ones the second time around, first one only to hold her off.)

I do not mean to offend you, but mice new borns are called pinkies. Rat new borns are called pups. It lessens the confusion when you talk about what you are feeding your snake.

**millertime89** · 09-26-11, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSSSnakes

I do not mean to offend you, but mice new borns are called pinkies. Rat new borns are called pups. It lessens the confusion when you talk about what you are feeding your snake.

although I agree with the naming differences I have seen numerous places call them rat pinkies. PetCo does this as well.

Gungirl · 09-26-11, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millertime89

although I agree with the naming differences I have seen numerous places call them rat pinkies. PetCo does this as well.

Common sense isn't that common...

**millertime89** · 09-26-11, 02:03 PM

per facebook...
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**lady_bug87** · 09-27-11, 10:44 AM

My husband brought home the rat pups instead of fuzzies to feed my colombian, so I feed her 2 she eats them all funny ways she swallowed it sideways yesterday, it happens I would have bought fuzzies instead but nothing else in my house can eat the rat pups,

mistakes happen

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-28-11, 05:55 AM

lol millertime. But yes, I know the difference between rat pups and mice pinkies. I was just in a hurry and wasn't thinking. I figured you'd know what I was talking about anyways.

exwizard · 09-28-11, 06:34 AM

Ok I know Im new to this forum but we've been breeding both rats and mice for a while now.

While poeople are free to call rats and mice anything they want at various stages of development, I will tell you what I understand is meant by the terms. Btw, when we started this we got these terms from the rodentpro website and our size chart reflects that as well.

Both rats and mice are called pinkies when they are newborn. After a few days when they start to develop a little fuzz theyre called fuzzies. The difference in terms happens when they develop full fur but before they are weaned. Mice are hoppers and rats are pups. After that they are both weaners. After that as they get bigger, the rats are classified as smalls, mediums, large, X large XX, and XXX depending on their size while I consider mice to just be adults once theyve gotten past the weaner stage. This how we've classified them when we sell them.