Weight Gain and Strange Behavior

Hi
i have had my little one for just over 3 weeks and went from 104 grams the first day to 140 grams today.
We have had 3 weekly meals of 2 small mice and these average 7.6 grams per mouse.

After the feeding Wednesday the snake was in the hide with the head poking out and seemed to keep following my movements each time I walked by.

Any ideas on if the food is not enough?
With 3 super easy feedings I feel ready to transition to Rats

Quote:

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Originally Posted by giltyler

Hi
i have had my little one for just over 3 weeks and went from 104 grams the first day to 140 grams today.
We have had 3 weekly meals of 2 small mice and these average 7.6 grams per mouse.

After the feeding Wednesday the snake was in the hide with the head poking out and seemed to keep following my movements each time I walked by.

Any ideas on if the food is not enough?
With 3 super easy feedings I feel ready to transition to Rats

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If the weights aren't taken when the snake is "empty" that weight could change pretty quickly after the snake goes to the bathroom.

And yes, the snake is probably hungry, those are pretty small meals for a growing BP. Try to shoot for prey items to be between 10-15% of the snake's body weight until the snake reaches sub-adult or adult size.

The only concern I would have before trying to offer too much more is if the baby has pooped. You wouldn't want to fill them up too much and run the risk of a regurge if there's a bit too much going on there.

However, those mice sound very tiny! Fuzzy sized even. Which yes, would be too small for a baby of your snake's size. While the two of them do add up to about the 15 grams of meal, I would personally try a single small adult mouse of 14-17 or so grams for a meal or two before trying the switch to rat fuzzies. Again, trying to avoid regurge is the main concern. And sometimes you get a fussy baby who can be picky about the smell of rats. I have one that way right now. took a couple of mouse scented rats before she got the idea that she could eat them.

Hopefully you'll get a few other opinions on this post soon tho!

can you define "three weeky" for me? :oops:

Is it three ( i.e six mice ) per week or two mice once every three weeks?

There have been 4 poops so far and usually 3-4 days after eating and seems to be one poop per mouse.
Most have been in the corner of the cool side behind the hide.

Food choice can be bought local of any size from a breeding facility in quantity of 25
i am open to suggestions on what to get or I can get small quantities from the chain store

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

can you define "three weeky" for me? :oops:

Is it three ( i.e six mice ) per week or two mice once every three weeks?

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I am feeding 2 small mice every Wednesday in the evening for the past 3 weeks.
The brand is Arctic from Petsmart and is one size larger than the store was feeding the animal.

Maybe post a photo of the snake next to a can of Pepsi or something to give an idea of size and girth .

That will help people with suggestions


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Weigh in before eating. Empty. If not then the weight is unreliable.
If you have to feed 2 rodents in one sitting then its time to move up in size. Medium mice up to large mice. I don't see your little one downing a small rat without trouble unless its really small. Small Frozen rats are pretty small so that might be an option
Mice have less protein than rats. Rats less than African Soft Furred. Though ASF are hard to come by most places and max out at the size of a small rat.