Am I Feeding My Rescue Enough?

[LadyByrd]

The snake that I rescued, Phred, came to us on 2/7/14 weighing 60g. He now weighs 76g and is eating 1 fuzzy every week. Is that enough? Should I feed him more? I know he's gained 16 grams in 2 weeks, but I don't know if that is normal or not. Also, my "big" girl that I rescued is 361g and is eating a large mouse each week. So, is she eating enough? I am brand new at this and want to make sure that I am doing everything right for them.

Thanks!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

You you feed fuzzy mice then the answer is no you are not feeding enough.

Hatchlings are started on mice hopper or rat crawlers.

[Slim]

The quicker you get them on rats, the quicker you'll see growth.

[LadyByrd]

Thanks everybody. Guess I will feed the rest of the mice I have and then we will switch up to rats.

[Raven01]

Is Phred a BP?
Species makes a difference in what your situation is.
Photo's help a ton too although I have to say if Phred is a BP I have seen some come out of the egg at over 60 grams so, would be very inclined to gently increase the feeding amount and frequency at least until this animal has some reserves to fall back on.

[LadyByrd]

Is Phred a BP?
Species makes a difference in what your situation is.
Photo's help a ton too although I have to say if Phred is a BP I have seen some come out of the egg at over 60 grams so, would be very inclined to gently increase the feeding amount and frequency at least until this animal has some reserves to fall back on.

Yes, Phred is a bp that we rescued after being abandoned in a box, outside of a vets office. He's very tiny, so not very old. He was pretty wrinkly at first, but has began to fill out quite a bit. This is one of my more current pictures of him.

[Raven01]

Wow, that snake does look under ideal weight but, I have seen other rescues in worse shape make really good recoveries.
The rats switch is a great suggestion for this case. The slightly higher fat content of the nursing rats may be the extra nudge you need.
You may want to consider bumping up feeding frequency if the snake is willing to eat sooner.

[Shera]

Wow Phred is really small. While you are feeding off the mice fuzzies, try feeding every other day instead, mouse fuzzies are tiny, and aren't typically fed to BPs at all, not even hatchlings. The smaller the prey, the more often you feed. When I got my Pewter she was around that weight and I started her on rat fuzzies every 4 days, but she moved up to pups really fast.

[LadyByrd]

Wow Phred is really small. While you are feeding off the mice fuzzies, try feeding every other day instead, mouse fuzzies are tiny, and aren't typically fed to BPs at all, not even hatchlings. The smaller the prey, the more often you feed. When I got my Pewter she was around that weight and I started her on rat fuzzies every 4 days, but she moved up to pups really fast.

Just got our order of rat fuzzies in today for Phred. My gosh they look big! LOL, I guess if that is what I should have been feeding him that I am definitely not feeding enough! I also followed some advice for Matilda (my 360g BP that hasn't gained any weight since I started weighing her 3 weeks ago) and went from large mice to weaned rats. Those look enormous! LOL. So, now I just have to hope that they will both actually eat rats....

[LadyByrd]

So far so good! I fed Phred a rat tonight because I noticed his belly is super pink and I didn't want him going fully into shed without a good meal in his belly. The fuzzy rat was a great fit (actually saw a lump in his belly for the first time ever) but it took him FOREVER to eat because he ate it backwards. We are feeding Matilda tonight too because apparently she can smell his rat (even though it is in the cage next to hers) and is actively searching her container. Having to give it a few hours to thaw, but should be ready in about 20-30 more minutes. We'll see how she does with a rat. Thank you to everyone who helped with advice on this!