New snake.... Feeding HELP PLEASE....

[NikkiePastel]

I adopted a 09' pastel male about 2 weeks ago from a kid who thought a snake sounded like a "fun" pet... Anyway,,, he had been feeding him 1 f/t med sized mouse every 2 weeks. He way due to eat on the 20th and I saw normal signs of agression from being hungry so I fed him one of his normal meals well he still snapped at everything till I gave him a 2nd mouse...

my question is... He is 151 grams (just had him on the scale), would it be better to feed him one med mouse a week? One med mouse is les than 15% of his weight so it does not seem like enough for him every 10-14 days. But 2 seems like toooo much being 24%. .

am I better off feeding him weekly or bi-weekly?
and how much? How offten? I'm new to having a younger snake. I'm a 800g or better girl..

oh yea he ate on the 20th and it's been almost a week, if I'm going to switch him to weekly feedings should I do so a week from the last feeding or wait till like the 1st at the 10 day mark or somethimg like that?

any feeding advice for this little guy will be gladly taken.

oh yea and he is like 27in long... And 151g is that an ok weight for his size??

[seeya205]

He should weigh alot more than that for a '09! My '09 spider is about 650 grams. I would feed him a large adult mouse or rat pup every 5 days! Once he eats well then try switching to rats so you can give him bigger prey items later down the road! He will gain weight fast with this schedule! It he ate on the 20th then I would feed him now! Good luck!

[PitOnTheProwl]

I would say weekly as well. You have to get some weight on him

[Dwagon]

My suggestion would be to contact a herp vet for the best feeding suggestions. Too often or too large of prey could cause more harm than good. With any species of animal too quickly of gaining of body weight can be bad, especially if that animal is underweight due to malnutrition. Huge amounts of food can cause damage to organs. Again I would talk to a herp vet and if there are none in your area I would give small prey over large prey.

[NikkiePastel]

Thanks guys... The kid who had him had no idea how to care for a snake. He was living in a 12x12 5in tall box at 27 in...

I knew his feeding was way off but was bot sure how to get him on track.. He is beautiful and I can't wait to see how bright he is once his eating, shedding and living cond. Are right how they should be.

it's been 6 days so I'm going to go and feed him a med mouse now... I will keep you all posted on his weight gain over the next few weeks/months...

[spitzu]

Thanks guys... The kid who had him had no idea how to care for a snake. He was living in a 12x12 5in tall box at 27 in...

I knew his feeding was way off but was bot sure how to get him on track.. He is beautiful and I can't wait to see how bright he is once his eating, shedding and living cond. Are right how they should be.

it's been 6 days so I'm going to go and feed him a med mouse now... I will keep you all posted on his weight gain over the next few weeks/months...

Got any pictures? I can't even imagine an '09 male at 150g.

[NikkiePastel]

Got any pictures? I can't even imagine an '09 male at 150g.

He is the one in my avatar.!. He is so damn small for a 09', the only reason I "know" he is a 09" is he still had the box marked and labeled from the reptile expo and the paperwork on him..

I have got to get this little guy where he needs to be for his age.. he is so sweet and now he has a fair shot in life.

[Evenstar]

Vet definitely. But I would start with a med mouse every 5 days. Treat him like a baby. An 09 isn't a baby, but he's too small to be considered anything else. You can always slowly up his prey size to a larger mouse or rat pup as he starts to do well and gains a bit. He's snapping cause he's starving but you don't want to give him too much too soon. Thanks for rescuing him!!!

[dr del]

Hi,

I would stick with one med mouse on a regular 5 or 7 day schedule till you see how he handles it.

If he seems ok then you can move up to 2 med mice after 4 or 5 feeds and monitor him again.

This should let him adapt to a more regular feeding schedule with the least strain on his system.

I'm probably being slightly overcautious but it's better to do that that shovel food into him and having him regurge or anything.


dr del

[angllady2]

I agree with Derek,

Smaller more frequent meals for now, then once he's gaining some size you can go larger with prey.

Poor little lamb, he reminds me of my Mystic.

We "rescued" him from someone who was trying to pass him off as a cinnamon on Craigslist. I could tell from the pics he was no cinny, but the guy was close and hubby wanted a pet. When we got there, they told us he was almost 8 months old and they fed him one pinky mouse a month. And yes, I posted that right, one pinky mouse per MONTH. He was skinnier than my little finger, and had been handled so roughly by those clowns he snapped at everything.

We talked them down to $45 for him, and took him home. That was in July. We started him out on a fuzzy mouse every 5 days because he physically couldn't handle anything bigger. With patience and time, he grew more normally, and this winter he's a healthy 680 + grams. You'd never believe he started out so badly neglected and tiny.

So small frequent meals, patience and care and he should come around just fine.

Gale