Is his food too big?

Hello again! :banana:

So in response to my last post I went out and got the frozen arctic “medium mice” for my 7th month(approx) old BP. His old food was the Arctic fuzzies. He was very quick to strike but it seemed like he was having some issues positioning it to swallow it. He then dropped it, grabbed it again and then put it in his hide with him. My husband and I were planning on checking it tomorrow to see if he ate or not.

I will Also post this in the picture forum by the same title for a size reference. What do you guys think? Also, if he doesn’t eat it should I clean his cage after? How long should I wait before I take the mouse out if he doesn’t eat it? Thanks in advance for your help! :D

https://m.facebook.com/rachel.michel...dp=1&mdf=1

This should help you https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...55b73d9ce5.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The link didn't work for me, but it should be fine, as long as it fits the aforementioned guidelines :) I think snake feeding looks like a real struggle to us even though it's just all in a day's work for them. They can be derps sometimes too--last time I fed mine he tried to eat it tail first for 20 mins and also had to let go of it a few times before he got it facing the right way.

I think it's good that he struck right away and is eager to eat. Hopefully the mouse will be gone tomorrow! It's fine to leave (frozen/thawed) mice overnight with the snake but if it's still there in the morning definitely discard it. As for cleaning I don't usually clean after a feeding unless it makes a mess, especially since I don't want to disturb my BP right after feeding. As long as the cage is spot-cleaned regularly and deep-cleaned every so often there should be no problems.

Why would you feed a baby breeder more often than a pet?

Phoenix Rising, that chart shows that way because breeders need adult sized snakes to breed so a breeders feed schedule can be more often to get the animal to grow faster.

Personally I don't believe in feeding more than once a week, for any of my snakes regardless on whether they're going to be breeders or not. And it seems as though most of the community here agrees as well, this chart is otherwise a good guideline to food sizes for a snake as it grows.

[QUOTE=RatchelMatchel;2674226]Hello again! :banana:

So in response to my last post I went out and got the frozen arctic “medium mice” for my 7th month(approx) old BP. His old food was the Arctic fuzzies. He was very quick to strike but it seemed like he was having some issues positioning it to swallow it. He then dropped it, grabbed it again and then put it in his hide with him. My husband and I were planning on checking it tomorrow to see if he ate or not.

I will Also post this in the picture forum by the same title for a size reference. What do you guys think? Also, if he doesn’t eat it should I clean his cage after? How long should I wait before I take the mouse out if he doesn’t eat it? Thanks in advance for your help! :D [QUOTE]

​

If I had to wager I would say that mouse is long gone to the belly of the beast. Especially since it pulled it into his hide, which is where they often like to eat it.
You could get a cheap food scale from Walmart which measures in gram units ( and ounces, etc ) and compare the weight of the snake to the feed chart. Telling us the age doesn't always tell us how much the snake weighs or how thick it is or what feeder it needs at this time.Charts don't go by age since some snakes have been under and over fed.

Or at least until then, pair the size of the feeder to the thickest part of the snake and get about the same thickness and not much more. If you do that part right and (husbandry right) the snake will get his part right (chowing down) ;)