feeding help update

the hopper we got is 29 grams. our snake weights 132 grams. is the hopper to big? heres some pix below... THANKS
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...e21/photo3.jpg
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...e21/photo2.jpg
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...e21/photo1.jpg
sharpie is just to show his size. its a jumbo sharpie

DID you watch the video link i posted on your same topic?

Yes, the hopper is a little on the big side for your snake, but it's not something that it wouldn't be able to handle. If I were you I'd go ahead and feed it to the snake, and either find slightly smaller feeders for the next feeding, or do the next feeding in 10-14 days instead of the usual 5-7 because you're feeding slightly larger than average prey items.

As a general rule of thumb.... 10-15% of your snakes weight is what their prey should weigh. If you don't have a scale, prey should be no bigger than the widest part of your bp. You should just see "chubby" where rodent is after a meal. Not unnoticable, not I can make out the whole rat.

It's a little on the big side...I really like that snake

That mouse is fine for your snake. My two week old pastel het clowns are on rats. My female went from a adult mouse now on ween rat. My boy went from adult mouse to small rat (totally proud of him) my boy! And, there both only 140-150 g now maybe 145-150g. But, it's only been two week's since I've had them.

Isn't that the same picture you posted in the other thread where you asked the same question? Did you think you were going to get a different answer in this thread?

My answer is still the same. No, I would personally not feed that rat to that snake.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Isn't that the same picture you posted in the other thread where you asked the same question? Did you think you were going to get a different answer in this thread?

My answer is still the same. No, I would personally not feed that rat to that snake.

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x2 That is NOT a hopper mouse. A hopper is 8-12g. 29g qualifies as a large/extra large adult mouse. Yes, he can technically take it, but I would switch to small rat pups (20g or so) - after letting him digest for 10 days, if you're set on feeding that.

Ahhhh, I just realized that's a mouse not a rat. He threw me off with the whole "hopper" thing. Still, I wouldn't feed that snake anything that large. There's just no up side to it, and there are some possible down sides...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slim

Ahhhh, I just realized that's a mouse not a rat. He threw me off with the whole "hopper" thing. Still, I wouldn't feed that snake anything that large. There's just no up side to it, and there are some possible down sides...

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I totally agree with you here Slim. Nothing good can come from feeding to large of a prey item. Can it be done, yes. Should it, no.

Pictures can be deceiving, so your the one that can see it best. There's no need to get too technical about it with percentages. Look at the snake and look at the mouse if it's the same size or just a little bigger then then fattest part of your snake your good to go. If its bigger get the snake the appropriate sized prey item.

Thanks guys! We ended up just feeding him a pinky because we were just a little worried it may have been too big. We are trying to get rat pups but it seems there isn't much of a market for feeder rats and mice here in Jacksonville Florida. I guess I'll have to try mice direct.

One of the largest producers of feeder rodents is located about 2.5 hours south west of you:

http://www.gourmetrodent.com/

Shipping would be fast and the rats would get there in fine shape, even in the summer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

x2 That is NOT a hopper mouse. A hopper is 8-12g. 29g qualifies as a large/extra large adult mouse. Yes, he can technically take it, but I would switch to small rat pups (20g or so) - after letting him digest for 10 days, if you're set on feeding that.

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Thanks for the correction. The local shop here called it a hopper. And now one in jax sells rat pups. We only have 4 local shops and one feed and seed store. Most of the time they are all out of stock on everything, frozen or live. We ended up saving the mouse for a later date and are going to order from online from now on. Thanks again

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slim

Isn't that the same picture you posted in the other thread where you asked the same question? Did you think you were going to get a different answer in this thread?

My answer is still the same. No, I would personally not feed that rat to that snake.

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No I did not think I would get a different answer. I uploaded that post from my new app and it froze. I made a new thread and added two different pix. Sorry for the confusion.

It's hard to say since the mouse isn't next to your snake or the Sharpie for comparison. You need a rodent that is as thick, or slightly thicker than your snake. You want to be able to see the bump in your snake without picking it up and examining it closely.