A question or two about healthy eating

Okay, I got Pakul(My male Normal) 2/1/11. I was really worried for some time because the little guy just didnt want to eat. I had him in a tub that I used only when attempting to feed, but for the first 3 months I had him the little guy just wouldnt take a meal. He just kept on trying to escape from his tub XD. Eventually we just set him on the floor and tried again and he took the mouse immediately. I know its not a typical feeding method but it seems to be the only way he'll eat. Is this frowned upon?

Number two, I'll say it little pakul isnt very good at being a snake yet. All pinkies because he has had so much trouble learning to manuver the mouse into a position that he can swallow easily. (The first few meals his bit the mouse exactly at its midpoint giving him a hard time) He's made a lot of progress, as far as biting where hes supposed to and manuvering effectively, but im still feeding him pinkies when he should be eating fuzzies simply because im worried he wont be able to get a bigger one down easily and Im afraid he'll give up. Should I continue on pinkies until he gets better at eating and just feed him more frequently? or do I give him some fuzzies and hope for the best?

Number three. Because he's been eating pinkies ive been trying to feed him more often. He's been taking one meal a week, occasionally two if he'll take it. But I am worried about over feeding. Granted to Would love for him to grow quickly, I just dont want to over do it you know? And If I graduate to fozzies would I still feed him at the same frequency or should I chill out a little?

He's way too old to be eating pinkies. How much does he weigh? My guy is around the same age and he's 500 grams now, and eats small adult rats. Depending on his size (which Im assuming he's a little small - I would by-pass the fuzzie stage and get him on rat pups ASAP. At his age you couldn't over feed him with pinkies.

Sometimes BP just are not very good at getting headshots, and swallowing their food isn't a fast and easy process. It can take my guy in excess of ten minutes to swallow his rat but as long as your feeding him around the thickness of his belly or 10 - 15% of his body weight, he'll get it in. Its what snakes do.

As for feeding location, feed where he'll take. I feed right in his enclosure. I know some people are against it for various reasons but I have never had a problem and he's never refused a meal that was inside his terrarium, and he always refuses when we try the feed box.

In conclusion, feed him bigger meals. He will eat it - you just have to leave him alone for a bit and he will swallow it. At his age he should be at least 450grams.

Dear god I didnt realize how far behind he was.. Granted he is probably a little small, but I still cant believe He grown as much as he has with how little he's eaten grand total. Im afraid I dont have a scale (Something I regrettably didnt think to buy @_@) But Ill get one as soon as I can and make sure he's at least close to his goal weight. Im not sure How well you'll be able to gauge just on a picture, but maybe this will help you get an idea.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...66411213_n.jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...66040070_n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...01800836_n.jpg

I agree with Decensored. Mouse pinkies are way too small. I would at least bump him up to mouse hoppers or rat fuzzies. The only way he is going to learn how to position and swallow larger prey is for you to feed him larger prey. I would also advise to start feeding him in his enclosure. You definitely don't want a mouse or rat getting away from you and making a run for freedom in your house...

You mean Live feed him? Ive always heard that was really dangerous. He's taken to frozen mice fairy well though. I mean hes at least consistently feeding that is. Ill look into live feed, but im not inclined simply because im afraid he'll get hurt..

hey,

yeah he's kinda skinny. Not as bad as I expected but I would have him on rat pups for sure. he's getting pretty long though which is a good sign! Don't feel too bad - I rescued a 2 year old a few months ago that was about his size and he did really well once he was being offered proper meals. He appears healthy in the photos, just a little small :).

Here's a photo of our guy who was born around the same time.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file..._1504640_o.jpg

Hope this helps.
Cheers.

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Originally Posted by Riv

You mean Live feed him? Ive always heard that was really dangerous. He's taken to frozen mice fairy well though. I mean hes at least consistently feeding that is. Ill look into live feed, but im not inclined simply because im afraid he'll get hurt..

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If you have him on F/T don't switch! When all is said there are more pros for F/T than cons. I feed live but the only reason I do that is because they won't take to F/T LOL - Live is only dangerous if the owner doesn't watch with feeding tongs at the ready. I have never had a BP get seriously injured by a live rodent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Riv

You mean Live feed him? Ive always heard that was really dangerous. He's taken to frozen mice fairy well though. I mean hes at least consistently feeding that is. Ill look into live feed, but im not inclined simply because im afraid he'll get hurt..

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If you already have him on F/T, then no, don't switch. Something that you might try is using a blow dryer to heat the prey up right before offering it, and concentrate the heat on the head so that it is where most of the heat signature is. That may help him with positioning...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by decensored

He's way too old to be eating pinkies. How much does he weigh? My guy is around the same age and he's 500 grams now, and eats small adult rats. Depending on his size (which Im assuming he's a little small - I would by-pass the fuzzie stage and get him on rat pups ASAP. At his age you couldn't over feed him with pinkies.

Sometimes BP just are not very good at getting headshots, and swallowing their food isn't a fast and easy process. It can take my guy in excess of ten minutes to swallow his rat but as long as your feeding him around the thickness of his belly or 10 - 15% of his body weight, he'll get it in. Its what snakes do.

As for feeding location, feed where he'll take. I feed right in his enclosure. I know some people are against it for various reasons but I have never had a problem and he's never refused a meal that was inside his terrarium, and he always refuses when we try the feed box.

In conclusion, feed him bigger meals. He will eat it - you just have to leave him alone for a bit and he will swallow it. At his age he should be at least 450grams.

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+10000

I have a male normal who I got around the same time as you and he's 800 grams and eating small rats, which is larger than weaned, larger than pups, larger than fuzzies, much much larger than pinkies.

They don't always get head shots, out of all of mine I get maybe 1 per feeding night that actually hits it perfectly. The rest are all rejects and takes then 20 minutes to find the head after striking.

I'd try feeding right in his enclosure, feeding on the floor might not make a huge difference or maybe it does...but he may feel more comfortable and secure eating in his own home. He may eat better for you if he knows he's not going to get removed, get it dangled in his face on a wide open floor, then picked up and put back. I feed all of mine in their enclosures without any issue.

Wow! I cant believe I didnt think to use a blow dryer before XDD

And im INCREDIBLY happy that he isnt horribly underfed I felt horribly all last night. Im definitely switching to rat pups from now on though. And Im getting a scale asap so I can track his growth. Do you guys have any particular brands in mind? Ps that rescue snake is so fricken cute. youre right, he's a little meatyer than pakul is. But I think he"ll catch up before too long = P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Riv

Wow! I cant believe I didnt think to use a blow dryer before XDD

And im INCREDIBLY happy that he isnt horribly underfed I felt horribly all last night. Im definitely switching to rat pups from now on though. And Im getting a scale asap so I can track his growth. Do you guys have any particular brands in mind? Ps that rescue snake is so fricken cute. youre right, he's a little meatyer than pakul is. But I think he"ll catch up before too long = P

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you can pick up a cheap one at walmart. I bought mine for $15.00 bucks at walmart and it works fine. You'll just have to pick up a melamine bowl to weigh him in - it makes it easier, and you can get them at the dollar store. Just make sure the scale goes to 5kg or 11lbs. most of the walmart ones go to 11lbs, just check the box to make sure.

Cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Riv

Wow! I cant believe I didnt think to use a blow dryer before XDD

And im INCREDIBLY happy that he isnt horribly underfed I felt horribly all last night. Im definitely switching to rat pups from now on though. And Im getting a scale asap so I can track his growth. Do you guys have any particular brands in mind? Ps that rescue snake is so fricken cute. youre right, he's a little meatyer than pakul is. But I think he"ll catch up before too long = P

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Thanks! He is adorable right!? He actually belongs to the wife but he's not the rescue - we actually bought him off of a reptile store. He's about 8 or 9 months now. He's an Orange Ghost (or hypo if you prefer) and is spoiled LOL.

Here's a picture of the rescued guy. He's a 2 year old het. axanthic. It was sad, he was a beautiful dinker normal and was really sweet. He was a great eater, he just never got fed properly by his old owners. In the picture you can see how small he was and he was triple the age of my orange ghost.

I got him up to 400 grams and ended up selling him with another het. axanthic female to a breeder I know, so I know he'll be getting fed and brought up to a healthier weight.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file.../9/8/tiny2.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...1/9/8/tiny.jpg

Daw. Theyre all so cute! Im such a sucker for bal pythons though XD I see those little heads and I just melt. Then when I see them yawn its game over. I need to own them. I just found out pakul is a girl last night XD So apparently im going to need to REALLY start feeding hard core if Im going to get her to a breed-able size in time.

lol Your not gonna get her to breeding size this season - females need to be 3 years old OR at least 1200grams - but the safest way to go is 500 grams per foot of snake, in excess of 1200grams (For females). You don't want to rush breeding because you can lose Pakul in the process.

Cheers/

Very true. I wrote up a feeding chart for her the other night with a goal weight of 1400g by next august. Being my first snake im not sure how realistic that is, But I have a loose schedule and im going to be weighing her before every feeding(I also have on the chart what size meal she should theoretically be eating by that point) No telling at this point whether she"ll be an appropriate weight but its going to be a little while before I get that spider anyhow, and I need to get him to an appropriate age and weight as well. (I heard 10 months and 700g but I need to do some more looking around for info) So more than likely I will wind up going for the season after next. No reason to take unnecessary risks = P

Just food for thought. I personally think trying to speed raise up our girls is not necessarily in their best interest. I prefer to slow grow my females, keep them muscular and lean, rather than to grow them up fat and sluggish.

I mentioned the other day in another thread, that I know someone who lost a snake unexpectedly, got a necropsy, and found it had died of fatty liver disease from being over fed.

If you compare our captive animals to wild ball pythons, ours are much fatter than their wild counterparts. I don't know if that's such a good thing.

With that said, I do agree that your kiddo needs more than pinkies for meals, I don't even START my hatchlings on pinkies.

Ive got some bad news = ( I finally got a scale and some new mice for little pakul. She currently weighs 151 grams. Shes pretty severly underweight. Im going to start offering her small mice every three days until she gets some more meat on her.(Shes still too small for medium mice) But I have increased the size of her meals and she"s taking them as they come so hopefull she"ll be back up to a good weight in no time. I feel so bad for not feeding her correctly..

Wait! Mice Pinkies are too small even for hatchlings!

My pinstripe was born in july and she is on rat pups. And I have no plans of powerfeeding






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Yeah, I found out I shouldnt have been using pinkies because of this thread actually. But she's eating bigger mice now more frequently. I actually just gave her another meal about ten minutes ago. Shes on the road to a proper weight :)