Feeding small hatchlings

[kc261]

One of the '08 hatchlings we picked up at MARS is very small. I knew it was small when we got it, but I was shocked when we put it on the scale and it weighed only 29 grams! It looks bigger than our cornsnake that weighs 35 grams.

I'm not even sure it is big enough to take a hopper mouse. Should I be offering it fuzzies?

I see lots of posts along the lines of "bps can be started on hopper mice unless they are unusually small", but I don't remember seeing anything about what to do with the little ones.

Help please!

[phrack3r]

new borns can take rat hoppers when they are first born after they finish digesting all the yolk. dont under estimate what your bp can eat they can be very surprising.

[kc261]

The point is this is not an average new hatchling. According to rodentpro, rat pups (which is what I assume you mean by a rat hopper) weigh 20-29 grams. For this snake to eat one of those would be a meal of nearly 100% of its body weight. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

[sg1trogdor]

give it a rat pinky if thats still too big then a mouse pinky (a mouse pinky will almost certainly be too small though.

[dr del]

Hi,

I think phrack3r meant a mouse hopper.

I would try and judge it by the thickest part of the snakes body - or possibly try and take a picture with something we can use to judge size.

That said you are the only one looking at the size of the animal so if you think a fuzzy looks to be about the same width as his body I would go with that for the first try and if he manages it with no problems then try a hopper next time.


dr del

[Wh00h0069]

I had two sets of twins this year. They were much smaller then all of the other hatchlings. I started them on rat pinks, but they would have been able to eat mouse fuzzies with no problems.

Hope this helps.

[muddoc]

I have had a couple smaller hatchlings this year (in the 30-40 gram range). I normally try to get them to eat a couple mouse fuzzies first, and then try to get them on rat pinks after about 2 or 3 fuzzy mice. Once they start eating, they can double in weight about every 3 weeks for about 9 weeks. The most important thing with small and/or problem feeders is to get some food in them. With that said, if it means feeding them something much smaller than they could eat, then do what you can to get some food in them.

p.s. I have 2 39 gram Caramel Albinos right now that are killing me. The male finally showed interest this weekend in a very small hopper mouse, but ended up killing it and not eating. That is what the small ones do sometimes when they think they can't swallow it. So, this is where I go back to my "feed very small, but get food in there" comment.

Hope that helps,

[kc261]

I decided to try a mouse fuzzy. The good news is that although this girl may be small, there is nothing wrong with her feeding response. She struck the mouse very quickly and ate it with no problems at all. Good girl!

Going with Tim's line of thought that any food is better than getting a refusal if the snake is intimidated by a large meal, I think I'll give her a fuzzy at least one more time, and go from there.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[scales owner]

new borns can take rat hoppers when they are first born after they finish digesting all the yolk. dont under estimate what your bp can eat they can be very surprising.

no doubt mine will eat a jumbo but I got like to give it that do to safty issues. I am trying to wein it to f/t/ now! for that reason!

[muddoc]

Congrats Casey. I am glad to hear that she ate something. That is always a step in the right direction. Keep us posted.