Feeding size!

Hey guys

I have a quick one, when do you guys know when to up your snakes meal? I wanna go from adult mouse to baby rat I guess if there is a such thing. My ball weighs 165 grams maybe more so I was wondering what you guys suggest.

Thanks :)

An adult mouse and a rat pup are the same size. Can you consistently get rat pups in your area every week? One medium adult mouse or a fuzzy rat would be fine for your snake(something around 15-20g).

Well I did it! I went and got him a rat pup and I didn't think he was gonna be able to put it away and with a little time he had that rat in him!

I am a little worried though!

When I thawed out the rat I thought I did a good job it read like 110 degrees!
When i fed it to my snake it quickly dropped to 82 and felt kinda cold to the touch still. This has never happened to me. Should I worry about it harming my guy?
I know next time I will keep it longer on a thaw cycle.
So please relax my worried mind and let me know that everything will be alright!!:confused:

What thaw cycle? :confused:
I defrost my rats by the snake racks and cages all day long and then zap them on the head and belly with a blow dryer for about a minute.
You always want to feel a nice and smooshy-thawed rat tummy and abdomen area...

well that is what I call it. I was told when I got my snake that all I had to do was use hot water for like 10 minutes (not boiling) and he should be nice and thawed. In the past for adult mice this was no problem but for this rat pup it seemed to have stayed cold and that was weird. neways is that bad for my snake? I didn't mean to give it a cold rat I mean it wasn't frozen but it was cold it read 82 degrees all over its body while my guy was taking it in.

I thaw mine in hot water till there soft and squishy in the middle, and there heads are warm-ish. Works for me.I also feed bigger prey when they beg for more!

A partially thawed rat COULD lead to regurg.
I have found that the best way to thaw is slowly and throughout the day.... Never had an exploding rodent or one that was cold.... Works well for pre-scenting also!!
Woops, you have a wee one so thawing won't take all day!!!!!

Well how will I know if he regurgitates his rat? Will this be like right away or will it take days for him to regurg?

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Originally Posted by thedigi1

Well how will I know if he regurgitates his rat? Will this be like right away or will it take days for him to regurg?

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It'll be in the day or two after feeding usually. And how will you know?? I'm told the stench will drive you from the room :O

wow that sucks!

Well it wasn't frozen it was just cold after I have thawed him out he was like 82 degrees!

Put your temps to 94 and maybe that will help...

one step ahead of you i cranked the heat up and hoping that will keep his belly warm

Good job! :gj:

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A partially thawed rat COULD lead to regurg.

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Or worse.

It is VERY important when feeding F/T to thaw the prey item properly!

what is worse? now i'm worried what can happen?

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Originally Posted by thedigi1

what is worse? now i'm worried what can happen?

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Not meant to worry you, he will probably be ok however make sure to thaw the prey properly in the future!

Feeding a partially frozen prey can lead to death!

:(
holy crap!!!!

damn what do I do? now Im really really worried

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Originally Posted by thedigi1

:(
holy crap!!!!

damn what do I do? now Im really really worried

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Like I said he will probably be fine but now you know that when feeding F/T it is VERY important to thaw the prey properly.

i know now thanks:(

Yeah, I didn't really want to go there Deb until he/she was over this part....and then post the giant danger of a repeat error like this :( Maybe I wrong to withhold that....

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Originally Posted by starmom

I defrost my rats by the snake racks and cages all day long and then zap them on the head and belly with a blow dryer for about a minute.

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Thats exactly how I do it... and the blow dryer blows the rat smell around and gets your snakes very ready to eat :gj:

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Originally Posted by starmom

It'll be in the day or two after feeding usually. And how will you know?? I'm told the stench will drive you from the room :O

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The smell is horrible, especially if you don't find it for a day or two after the rodent was regurgitated. It is one of those smells that you will never forget.

I agree with that! One of my corn girls is notorious for regurging anything she feels is 'too big'...problem is, it's hard to tell just how big 'too big' is! Just the other day, I found the...back end only regurged 4 days after feeding! Now she's on the 10 day rest and already looking around for food. Sigh. But that smell is unmistakable!

I like to feed multiple mice to my snakes that still seems hungry. I have some very aggresive feeders and they have no problem downing 2-3 mice....

Well I don't know if what I fed was too much :(
I do know cause I have his heat on high he moves around even in the day. He is always been a good eater even while in shed. This is my first time giving him a rat pup. But he has been on adult mice for a while so I figured it would be okay to go a tad larger.

I was looking at him this morning and he seems okay other than moving around cause it might be to warm in his hide.

I will pick him up tomorrow and see how he reacts to that

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thedigi1

Well I don't know if what I fed was too much :(
I do know cause I have his heat on high he moves around even in the day. He is always been a good eater even while in shed. This is my first time giving him a rat pup. But he has been on adult mice for a while so I figured it would be okay to go a tad larger.

I was looking at him this morning and he seems okay other than moving around cause it might be to warm in his hide.

I will pick him up tomorrow and see how he reacts to that

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Are you using a digital thermometer or temp gun to measure your temps?

What are your temps?

his temps are 88 and 65 on humidity

hi everyone,
I just wanted to say thanks to all those that replied to my thread.

I have put up a video so those of you that know what size my guy should be eating can tell me if I am feeding him to large..

www.youtube.com/thedigi1