Time to bump up Snickers' prey size or not?

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Originally Posted by Egapal

Stories like yours make me sad. You realize that those frozen mice were alive at one point right. Also the mice you released a few blocks away probably made it right back into your friends house. If not that particular mouse then its offspring.

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What's your deal? Did you reply just to pick a off-topic argument with me? OF COURSE I realize the frozen/thawed mice that Snickers were alive at one point!

So what makes you "sad"? The fact that I tried to rescue mice from a cat that has a bowl of perfectly good cat food to eat from?

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Originally Posted by Egapal

Translation you love all cute animals. Makes me sad.

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Your "translation" is incorrect.

I stated: "I love all animals except for insects and arachnids(YUCK!)" and that is indeed the case....There is plenty of animals that are not cute I have no problem with.

The reason I don't like bugs is not because of the cuteness factor but it is because I have an ingrained phobia of them.

If you want to pick little off-topic arguments with me in the future please don't put words in my mouth with your little "translations" just so you can feel so ":(" that I don't like bugs.

THANKS!

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Originally Posted by Egapal

If I were you I would still be a bit concerned. It sounds like you are underfeeding. At that size I would be offering 10% to 15% of your snakes weight every 5 days. If you don't know what your snake weighs you should go out and get a scale. For the record if you are going to breed a male BP you wouldn't fatten them up. You would want them lean. If your parents are complaining about money you need to get a source of income. When I was a kid I was a paper boy. It sucked but it was a source of income.

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It's not that I'm not concerned, it's that I'm not AS concerned because it turned out to not be as bad as I had first thought. The next time I get food, they'll be more appropriately sized. When I'm old enough to have an actual job, I will. Until then, I do what work I can for my mom.

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Originally Posted by SpencerShanks

It's not that I'm not concerned, it's that I'm not AS concerned because it turned out to not be as bad as I had first thought. The next time I get food, they'll be more appropriately sized. When I'm old enough to have an actual job, I will. Until then, I do what work I can for my mom.

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It doesn't appear bad at all Spencer, don't worry and don't let people make you worry needlessly. Your snake looks to be well proportioned and healthy. Snakes are not an exact science, should not be treated as such, and there are dozens of variables pertaining to each individual concerning feeding, prey size, growth rate, etc... You happen to have a small snake...big deal, it's fine.

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

It doesn't appear bad at all Spencer, don't worry and don't let people make you worry needlessly. Your snake looks to be well proportioned and healthy. Snakes are not an exact science, should not be treated as such, and there are dozens of variables pertaining to each individual concerning feeding, prey size, growth rate, etc... You happen to have a small snake...big deal, it's fine.

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Thanks for that. One of those things that even when you know it's okay there's that little hint of doubt that I'm doing something wrong but just don't know it :L I'll probably always be like that, haha.
I'm obviously not super experienced, so I try to get as many views as I can on my questions. There's not always one correct answer, but in this case I'm going to go with him just being smaller than most snakes. He's a pet, no breeding plans for the near future, so his size isn't super important as long as he's healthy.

I did not intend to insult you or angllady2. This is a forum and when you speak in a forum you are speaking to everyone in that forum who cares to listen. My comments are not a personal attack they are a comment on the issue as a whole.

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Originally Posted by Superpop

What's your deal? Did you reply just to pick a off-topic argument with me? OF COURSE I realize the frozen/thawed mice that Snickers were alive at one point!

So what makes you "sad"? The fact that I tried to rescue mice from a cat that has a bowl of perfectly good cat food to eat from?

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What makes me sad is that you show a huge disconnect between feeding live and F/T on behalf of the mouse. This type of disconnect is part of a huge problem that we have as a culture that comes from a smaller and smaller portion of our population being involved in producing the food we eat. This disconnect drives the growth of industrial farms that are bad for the animals being consumed and the animals consuming. I don't know anything about your personal situation. Your rodents could be raised in better conditions than mine and then frozen for you. The disconnect makes me sad. As for the cat. You went into another persons house and stopped their cat from killing a mouse in a house with a mouse problem. Wild mice carry disease and an infestation is a health risk. I would have taken the mouse away from the cat too. I would never let my cat eat a disease ridden mouse. I would then humanly kill the mouse as the cat probably caused it pretty severe internal injuries in catching it and like I said its a pest not a pet.

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Originally Posted by Superpop

Your "translation" is incorrect.

I stated: "I love all animals except for insects and arachnids(YUCK!)" and that is indeed the case....There is plenty of animals that are not cute I have no problem with.

The reason I don't like bugs is not because of the cuteness factor but it is because I have an ingrained phobia of them.

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You are entirely correct I assumed and in doing so made an inflammatory comment that I know regret. I apologize. That being said I am now sad for a different reason. Phobia's are sad. I wish you luck in overcoming yours.

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Originally Posted by Superpop

If you want to pick little off-topic arguments with me in the future please don't put words in my mouth with your little "translations" just so you can feel so ":(" that I don't like bugs.

THANKS!

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Again I was not picking a fight with your. This is a forum. I am unclear is this a phobia or a matter of not liking. You make a point that you like all animals then specifically point out that you don't like bugs. I again assumed that you did so to make a point. Otherwise I am not sure why you mentioned it. If you are afraid of bugs I hope you are able to overcome that fear. If you just don't like them then I really just don't get it. They are a very important part of our planet. We wouldn't be here without them. Bees for instance are key to pollinating many of the foods we eat. Insects clean up the world around us. I hope you can learn to like them someday.

Okay so my boyfriend picked up the smallest F/T rat he could find at the petstore we shop at but it looked far too large to me.(it's not a full grown rat or anything but it looked far too large to me...it has all it's fur as well)

Anyway we went back to the pet store and purchased full-grown F/T mice again tonight because I was scared the rat was too big for Snickers.

Snickers ate 2 mice tonight. She ate one and then went in one of her hides for 20 minutes and then came out and ate the other.

As for the friend who I thought had a "gram" scale....It only measures pounds and ounces.

We still have the rat in the freezer but I'm scared of giving it to Snickers down the road because I don't know if snakes will try to swallow prey that they can't swallow or not!

Will a snake try to swallow bigger prey than their bodies can handle or not? I'd totally offer Snickers this rat in the future and would be fine if she refused it because it was too large but I don't want her to die trying to swallow too large of prey either.

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Originally Posted by Superpop

Snickers has a girth of roughly 4.25 - 4.50 inches at her widest(it's difficult to tell with a fabric tape measure) Snickers is eating full grown mice once a week and there is no "bulge" anymore and that is when she/he started tearing up the tank again.

Time to move to "baby rats" or?

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The prey should be as big around as the widest part of the snake. If the snake is looking thin, then it should be, of course, a bit bigger than that.
Once a snake is eating adult mice, it's a good time to switch them over to crawler rats, or hoppers, depending on their size, of course. If the snake refuses to switch, then start offering 2 mice each feeding.

Don't use jumbo (retired breeder) mice--they are high in fat, and don't provide good nutrition.

Look at the girth of the rat you got, and then look at the girth of your snake. Do they match? It's the simplest rule to use.
Snickers may refuse the rat simply because he's never eaten a rat before, and rats smell different. It may take time and tricks to swich him, but it's worth doing in the long run. Feeding one rat is better and less expensive than feeding 4 or 5 mice!

Snakes rarely swallow prey that is too large for them. Instead, they may begin to eat it, and then spit it back out. Rarely, they will get it down, and then regurgitate it...but I've personally never had one do that.
I have had a few females decide that a rat was too big, and leave it with a spit covered head for me, lol. (They were big 3500 gram girls, and the rats were smaller former breeders...it was worth a try).