How is my boy growing?

[Freakie_frog]

Ok here's my two cents your animal is eating without fail and just not growing. So this means that he is just not getting the full benefit of the food. I would take a fecal sample and the snake to a vet because I'd be willing to bet it has internal parasites. Most are easy to treat and once they are gone he'll start growing like a weed.

[SecurityStacey]

Not to mention that I feed him F/T and the only place around here to get them is the reptile store and they are crazy expensive ($4.00 for a small rat - 2.50 for a jumbo mouse) and I get lectured everytime that I'm feeding him too much and I should be feeding him a hopper once a month I'm trying to look for somewhere to buy online - but I gotta buy such a small shipment its difficult.

[starmom]

That is what I want to do - He is just such a champ eater - never missed a meal - that I'm scared to change... :-)

I can totally relate!! I have a yearling who has been a bugger with food and nearly starved herself. I've been giving her live mice and she is doing so well now!! She's gained a ton of weight (almost 200g) and while it is more convenient to switch her to f/t rats (which the rest of my snakes eat) I really don't want to set her back. I will try to make the switch at one point, but just not now. I think I'll wait until she's about 500g.

I order from The Mouse Factory as I like them the very best. I have also ordered from Big Cheese whose rodents are not nearly as clean and much smellier You could check out those places, and theere are several others as well.

Ed's suggestion for a fecal float is a very good one!

[SecurityStacey]

Ok here's my two cents your animal is eating without fail and just not growing. So this means that he is just not getting the full benefit of the food. I would take a fecal sample and the snake to a vet because I'd be willing to bet it has internal parasites. Most are easy to treat and once they are gone he'll start growing like a weed.

I'll bring him to the vet (he actually has an appt about 3 weeks from now - but I'll see if I can get him bumped up) but he has grown alot. When I got him he was seriously underweight - they said they were feeding him a hopper mouse once a month and he was a year old. In the last four months hes grown about 1 ft and maybe doubled his weight.

Do I need to do anything prior to him going to the Vets? Like they ask me not to feed my dog for a couple hours before hand and all that... anything like that for BPs?

[Freakie_frog]

Better safe than sorry the other option is that he is just catching up from being starved for the first part of his life.

[frankykeno]

Ok here's my two cents your animal is eating without fail and just not growing. So this means that he is just not getting the full benefit of the food. I would take a fecal sample and the snake to a vet because I'd be willing to bet it has internal parasites. Most are easy to treat and once they are gone he'll start growing like a weed.

I agree with Ed. From what you are posting about the place you got this snake from, I wouldn't trust that he was well cared for or was in fact a recent import that may be carrying internal parasites.

Not to mention that I feed him F/T and the only place around here to get them is the reptile store and they are crazy expensive ($4.00 for a small rat - 2.50 for a jumbo mouse) and I get lectured everytime that I'm feeding him too much and I should be feeding him a hopper once a month I'm trying to look for somewhere to buy online - but I gotta buy such a small shipment its difficult.

Stacey, you can order smaller orders from f/t rodent suppliers. You won't receive the bulk discounts but the prices you are paying are crazy (I know I used to pay that for live....$5.00 buck a rat from a pinky to a jumbo...how stupid is that!). Remember too if you ordered say 100 adult mice and you offered him 2 per week, you've got your whole year covered basically. The savings in cash plus having to run out every week may be well worth it. Properly packaged and kept hard frozen fully furred rodents are good to go for about 1 year from what I was told.

Here's a link to a company I used to order f/t from and I really was impressed with their service and product.

http://www.themousefactory.com/

I'll bring him to the vet (he actually has an appt about 3 weeks from now - but I'll see if I can get him bumped up) but he has grown alot. When I got him he was seriously underweight - they said they were feeding him a hopper mouse once a month and he was a year old. In the last four months hes grown about 1 ft and maybe doubled his weight.

You don't actually have to take him in for the fecal float to be done, Stacey. Just contact your vet clinic and ask for a price quote on a fecal float for a snake (my clinic used to charge me $22.00 a float and they would do it while I waited). Then you just collect the sample, put in a ziploc baggie, mark the date and name of the snake the sample is from and run it over to the clinic as soon as possible (keep refridgerated NOT frozen if you can't go right away). That way if there are internal parasites present your vet can deal with them at your next appointment and set up a treatment plan with you.

[SecurityStacey]

I agree with Ed. From what you are posting about the place you got this snake from, I wouldn't trust that he was well cared for or was in fact a recent import that may be carrying internal parasites.



Stacey, you can order smaller orders from f/t rodent suppliers. You won't receive the bulk discounts but the prices you are paying are crazy (I know I used to pay that for live....$5.00 buck a rat from a pinky to a jumbo...how stupid is that!). Remember too if you ordered say 100 adult mice and you offered him 2 per week, you've got your whole year covered basically. The savings in cash plus having to run out every week may be well worth it. Properly packaged and kept hard frozen fully furred rodents are good to go for about 1 year from what I was told.

Here's a link to a company I used to order f/t from and I really was impressed with their service and product.

http://www.themousefactory.com/



You don't actually have to take him in for the fecal float to be done, Stacey. Just contact your vet clinic and ask for a price quote on a fecal float for a snake (my clinic used to charge me $22.00 a float and they would do it while I waited). Then you just collect the sample, put in a ziploc baggie, mark the date and name of the snake the sample is from and run it over to the clinic as soon as possible (keep refridgerated NOT frozen if you can't go right away). That way if there are internal parasites present your vet can deal with them at your next appointment and set up a treatment plan with you.

Thanks! I'm pretty sure he wasn't imported, I talked to the place where they get thier snakes from (kind of a snake farm) and they sounded legit - but they did house all their BPs together in one tank that they were selling - about 32 snakes separated into 2 tanks.

I'll call the vet and ask them about that - I wish I had brought him sooner but I trusted the reptile store - and they told me not to worry about bringing him to a vet - that if anything went wrong to take him to them and they will look him over... I believed that before I found this website...

As for the mice - I thought they only lasted 6 months... that is generally what I had seen on here... they will last longer than that? How do I have to package them to get them to last that long?

I really appreciate everyones help, I'm kicking myself now for listening to the guys at the reptile store so much when I got Stan - at least the husbandry they set me up was pretty much right.

[starmom]

You can get your rodents to last longer by vacuum sealing them after you've opened the package. I have one of those food saver vacuum sealers and they work very well and allow the product to remain fresh for a year...

Oh yeah- don't kick yourself! You're on the right track now!!!

[bsumpter]

I've heard the myth about being okay to feed them once a month as well. A guy at my local pet shop said they feed a med-large rat to their adult bp's once every two weeks. I'm still new to the whole herp thing but that's what I've been doing. Is this okay or whould I feed him every week?

[SecurityStacey]

You don't actually have to take him in for the fecal float to be done, Stacey. Just contact your vet clinic and ask for a price quote on a fecal float for a snake (my clinic used to charge me $22.00 a float and they would do it while I waited). Then you just collect the sample, put in a ziploc baggie, mark the date and name of the snake the sample is from and run it over to the clinic as soon as possible (keep refridgerated NOT frozen if you can't go right away). That way if there are internal parasites present your vet can deal with them at your next appointment and set up a treatment plan with you.

You were right, of course! I just called them back and they said to bring in a sample anytime - they said that if it is positive I'll have to take him in before they can give him medication because they've never seen him but that I can bring in a sample anytime.

So of course now will probably be the first time he doesn't give me a poo a couple days after he eats. As a plus the technician I talked to was very nice and the advice she gave me as a general info was pretty much what I hear on here - so I have a good feeling about that!