Tips for catching up in growth
Hi y'all,
I have a female that I just got who is almost 2yrs old but weighing in at 378g. The first feed since I got her seemed fine, she ate a furry rat pup & as soon as she realized it was food she grabbed it. Seller told me she was a good eater, but they practice bi-weekly feeding so she should have been hungry and was. I watched and compared to others, she took 5mins to kill this baby that could barely open its eyes, then it took her another couple minutes to figure out where the head was to eat it. Thankfully she dropped it before I had to intervene as she initially tried to eat it from the tail end. Not sure if these are signs of her having feeding issues or just a matter of happenstance. Now my main question, with all this background info, is there a plan of action other than regular feedings to try to get her up to size? I would love a great healthy method for her if there is one, if not I just hope she starts to grow well with weekly feedings.
Thanks for the time reading this & I appreciate any and all replies!
Re: Tips for catching up in growth
Thank you Bogertophis! I greatly appreciate the reassurance that this was a good feed, & yes the last thing I wanted to do was intervene so I'm glad I didn't. Mainly like you said, bottom line, she did eat!
I guess it is basically what I asked about, but I do not want to "power feed", as you stated...being patient & feed at normal healthy intervals, & only giving normal sized meals" is best way. I just figure that even if I have an idea of something ridiculous I won't have an answer without asking, could have been a healthy regimen that aids underfed/underweight/malnourished snakes in getting to where they should be.
Anyway, I do have a new question if anyone cares to weigh in. & yes as an engineer I am well versed in mathematical probabilities & the variability of genetics, but how long based on personal experiences would anyone think it might take my girl to get to a good weight? I won't be upset if it's off mark at all, just a hopeful outcome that I can be happy if reached or be understanding if not. Thank y'all kindly!
Re: Tips for catching up in growth
She does have more loose skin than my other snakes & I just measured her up before feeding. She is 4.5 inches in circumference & about 20 inches long. She is a great eater actually, fed her a fuzzy rat pup last week and had to give her a mouse today as local shop was out of rat pups. I didn't try frozen yet since I took her out for measurements but have good size frozen stocked up. I'm still new so I haven't learned how to post pics, once I figure it out I will post. I greatly appreciate the feedback!