feeding while shedding

[shorty]

Like i said, my bp is about to shed and the pet store i buy my mice at said if i wanted to feed my snake twice a week that i could do it twice in one day. Is that true in the first place? And second of all, if a snake is going to shed, will he eat less? Just curious cause i've tried this feeding twice a day thing and he doesn't want anything to do with the second mouse; not even the next day.

[JLC]

You shouldn't feed your snake twice a week. Once a week is more than enough. If he only takes one mouse and seems content with that, then that is plenty for now. When he's bigger, he may start looking for a second mouse to down right after the first one is finished, but that isn't something you need to rush.


As for feeding while in shed...some snakes won't eat at all...some will eat like they always do. It's up to you whether or not you want to try and risk either wasting a f/t mouse or being stuck with a live one.

[cassandra]

Some points since you've got a couple of questions in there. =)

- The general rule of thumb for feeding is 1 or 2 prey the same diameter as the widest diameter of your snake. For example, I am feeding my bp two adult mice per week; one mouse isn't big enough, but the available rats I can buy are too big, so my bp will get two mice until she's big enough to take one small adult rat.

- Yes, if you are going to feed 2 prey, then you need to feed them the same day, one after the other. If you snake doesn't want the second one, then remove it and wait until next week - don't try to feed the next day. Snakes know when they are full (generally) or when they don't want to feed more.

- Feeding day should be the same day every week.

- Go ahead and offer a prey item even if the snake is in shed. S/he may or may not take it. If the snake does not take the prey, remove it and wait until the next feeding day the following week. Snakes will be just fine skipping a week.

[shorty]

Ok so based on all your wonderful advice, i believe that since my snake is still young, i should feed him/her once a week with small mice. And once it gets bigger, i can try twice a day with the same size or try bigger mice once a week. OK i'll try that out. Thank you all.

[rabernet]

In answer to will they eat less during shed - some will, some won't. Today was feeding day, and Pandora, who is in full blue, ate both her mice - no problem. My other girl in shed, Echo, should acually do the physical shed tonight or tomorrow (blue eyes have cleared for a few days) ate both her mice as well.


Except for Kashmire - I've got some pretty good feeding response babies. Pandora arrived March 3rd at 328 grams. When I weighed her last week, she weighed 520 grams - on two small to medium mice a week. She's my little over-achiever!

Now if Kash will just start eating again, I'll be happy. Tired of logging "refused" on his records all the time. He'll be going to the vet in a few weeks if he doesn't start eating just to rule out any other problems. If I didn't have the other growing kids to compare him to, I probably wouldn't worry too much - but he looks so small compared to the rest now. Not skinny, just small.