First snake/Tiamat update

[Danger noodles]

I got my two at the same time and same age, one was 87 the other 93 grams and I fed them a live adult mouse every week. I’d pick out the smaller ones for the first few weeks. Then asked for the biggest ones for a few more weeks then started giving them frozen rats. I feed once every week and it’s been right at two years and they have never skipped a meal.

[OkamiFlautist]

I’m not sure I’d feed an adult mouse ( around 30g+) to a 12 week old Royal weighing 85g tbh but I’ve very little experience with baby Royals


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yowsers! I definitely wasn't thinking anywhere near 30 grams. Maybe they're defined a bit differently here in the States as opposed to the UK?

I was thinking small adult in the 12-18 gram range, aiming closer to 12 and working up.

I’ve fed adolescent mice to hatchling royals, and it’s a good fit. Full grown breeding mice, might be a bit too large for a hatchling, but I would never feed any mouse smaller than a small adult/adolescent mouse. Pinkies and fuzzies are just too small. I tend to feed whatever diameter the juvenile ball python belly is, I feed a rodent of the same diameter belly, indeed that big or even little larger, since rodents are furry and appear thicker than they really are sometimes.

It still amazes me how large a prey pythons can kill and swallow whole.


Kaos Balls

I was going off of this chart:

I'll measure one of Tia's hoppers in the morning, but right now her prey would be in the 8-11 gram range. According to this guide an Adult Mouse is 18-32 grams, which does seem like a mega step up! I did read that rats are superior to mice nutrition wise, so I was thinking of switching to rats in that regard. The plan was to get some Rat Fuzzies (10-19 grams) but if this is too small I could always go up a bit more. I'll measure her girth once she is done digesting this meal!
I know it can be challenging making the switch from mice to rats, but it doesn't seem like she's a picky eater at this point so I have my fingers crossed. I also have a handful of hoppers left that I could rub on the rats to transfer their scent if needed.

[OkamiFlautist]

Tiamat update: she's officially had her first shed with me! I have to say, I'm a proud noodle mom right now. I was super worried I would mess up on her husbandry and her shed wouldn't go well. I think it went almost as perfectly as it could go. Also, both eye caps are attached... That is so interesting looking! I've never seen a snake skin like this before.

As for her food; I tried and failed at giving her a f/t rat fuzzy last week, heated with a mouse hopper beside it transfer the smell. I think it was because she was going into shed (two days after trying to feed her she had the blue/blind eyes phase). Yesterday she was in full hunting mode and I ended up giving her two mouse hoppers. Both of those very quickly disappeared!

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[oropher101]

Woohoo!

[OkamiFlautist]

December 21 update: She took a rat fuzzy with no scent transfer! She struck it within 30 seconds of me doing the zombie dance with it, and she also went from strike to completely eaten in only 11 minutes. Her first feeding with me took an hour.

She is also up to 108 grams now!