Need to vent....

[Sunnieskys]

First and foremost I want to say this is not about new snake owners coming in here. Not at all. Onto my vent...

i am seeing so many new snake owners posting their snakes were on pinkies, fuzzies or even hoppers from the breeder before they were shipped. Why on earth are they on food so small. And quite frankly I'm tired of reading it. Again...this is not against the new snake parent. You guys have no idea the food is too small until we point it out. It seems like every new post is my snake was fed (insert to small of prey here) before being sent to me.

How can someone breeding and selling snakes not have the common knowledge as to what to feed their snakes. Drives me crazy and well I don't know what to do about it.

[bcr229]

There are some breeders who maintenance feed their babies to save $$$, so they will feed pinky and fuzzy rats to hatchling BP's. They babies grow, but not fast, and can be kept in smaller tubs for a longer period of time.

I don't agree with the practice.

[zina10]

In all fairness, most of the times when I read about these issues, the snakes were purchased from pet store chains. Oftentimes the sales associates are there "to do their job/make money" and have only the slightest of clue of how any of the animals they sell are to be taken care off, esp. the animals that aren't as common as puppies or kittens.

As to breeders selling snakes that aren't fed correctly. Well, just about "anyone" can become a breeder. So I would differentiate between Billy Bob breeding and selling a few snakes that he got into, and a reputable breeder. Reputable doesn't always mean "for profit" or "big scale". It simply means someone that makes the animals a priority. Trying to own/breed and sell quality animals. Someone that does this "right".

When we are talking about pinks and fuzzies for Ball Python hatchlings, it makes a difference whether they are rats or mice. Rat pinks could very well be a appropriate size for some BP hatchlings. So are rat fuzzies. Some hatchlings are smaller, some bigger.

A reputable breeder would feed the correct sized rodent and tell the seller what he was feeding. They should probably also mention WHEN to go up in rodent size. But then again...most might just assume a buyer knows that very basic fact.

I guess there are good breeders and bad. Prepared buyers and not so prepared. New owners that research before and during getting a new animals, and others that take what knowledge were shared at the sale and leave it at that.

All you can do, is share knowledge with the ones that seek it. Every newbie that is being helped, is one more animal that is better off then it was before.

[CALM Pythons]

I walk away from a lot of posts before i snap. Some of the things just blow me away. I wouldn't give some of these clowns a Ant Farm let alone some of the breeders online. I made a thread like this a last year in the "Off Topic Cafe " so i could vent about all this kinda bologna.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sunnieskys]

Ya, I left out box stores because well..ya. And you're right back farm breeders and reputable breeders are different. It just seems like there are two to three new posts a day about snakes being fed the wrong size and they are coming from people not box stores. This is why I am adamant at work about proper size education. I want to hunt these breeders down and smack them in the face with an adult mouse! Gah!

[Godzilla78]

Feed 'em giant rats, they will love you.

[Ericballardo]

Just curious what do you guys start on? Hoppers, adult mice, rat pups? And what's your guys take on multiple small items for the myth for faster digestion.

[Sunnieskys]

BP babies right out of the egg eat hoppers for 3-5 meals then go right into adult mice. Why don't people know this. And by people, I mean breeders.

[CALM Pythons]

Just curious what do you guys start on? Hoppers, adult mice, rat pups? And what's your guys take on multiple small items for the myth for faster digestion.

I breed Rats so if i have to many and need to downsize I give my big girl 3-4 weaned each week instead of a bigger one.. Nothing wrong with that at all.. Every couple months I do that for a couple week to keep the population down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cchardwick]

When I started with ball pythons I was feeding small meals, to a beginner its hard to believe that a snake with such a small head could eat such a large rodent, it almost is too amazing to believe. I think that's where the new keeper gets confused, they feed based on the size of the head of the snake instead of the size of the girth at the widest part of the body. Until you actually see a snake eat a large rat for the first time you probably wouldn't believe it.