Am I overfeeding my snake?

[kgrah1]

She's been skinny since I bought her, but otherwise appears healthy. She's 10 months old, 180ish grams, and gets a jumbo mouse every 5-6 days or so. She tends to grow longer rather than fatter. No visible bone, good temperament. She'll put on fat the first two days after a feed, then she'll look skinny again, which I'm guessing is probably just digesting the mouse. I should also mention that she's just come off of her second 2-month feeding strike, but has since been taking her meals like a champ.

She also discovered today that if she puts all her weight on one side of the scale, it tips over and and she needs to be rescued from the salad next to it. She has never been smart.

[bcr229]

I would say no. I have some that age from a clutch last year, they're on small rats once every week and weigh just over 500 grams. None have ever gone on a major food strike though, at most they skip a meal when in shed.

Since she's eating well for you now take advantage and switch over to rats before she gets too stuck on mice.

[Spoons]

180 grams and 10 months old? Mine is about 11 months and about 650 grams... I would definitely say you are not underfeeding! Got any pics of the snake in question?

[anicatgirl]

I would definitely say you are not underfeeding!

I think you mean overfeeding.

I think it's under. Mine has gone on strike twice since November when she was 2 months old and she is still over 300. That sounds not so good.

[Sauzo]

They all grow at different paces but 10 months old and 180g does seem kind of light. Dot is about 9 months and she weighs 1064g empty. She is a bottomless pit though and has a stronger feeding drive than both my BCI boas. Kind of interesting your snake has gone off feed twice in that amount of time. When I got Dot at about 12", I was feeding her every 3-4 days until she hit around 500g. Then I backed her off to once a week on weaned rats and now she is up to small rats although she did take a medium rat which took her half an hour to eat and put her in a food coma in her warm hide for about 2 weeks And like BCR said, switch her to rats now while she is young and eating. I switched Dot over to rats the 2nd time she ate for me. It will make life a lot easier for you when she grows up.

[kgrah1]

I'd like to get her on rats, but she's pretty stubborn about it. Then again, the last time I tried was near the start of a feed strike, and the prey size was too big and it scared her. The ones I have now are only a little bigger than her mice, so maybe she'll take them.

Whenever she's afraid of a mouse, like if it's too big, she won't go for it. But if for some reason I get bit, like if I smell like mouse or vaguely like alcohol, she gets a confidence boost, having attacked what she sees as a much larger predator. Then the big mouse isn't so scary and she'll usually eat it. She's my first snake, so I like to try and figure out how she thinks. I notice she prefers mice if the have tumors.

Any tips on getting her to try rats?

[kgrah1]

http://imgur.com/a/TTzDd

Got a few pics of her, which she wanted no part of. Calculator for scale.

[Albert Clark]

One of the ways to get her to switch over to rats from mice is to scent the rat with a mouse or mouse bedding. Make sure the rat is warm and dry will help also. Use a blow dryer or space heater to warm the rodent. Just continue to offer rats instead of mice.

[kgrah1]

That makes sense. I have a heat lamp that I don't use for her, would that work for warming rodents, or do I need to dig for the hairdryer? Usually I just boil some water and thaw the mice in that, but I suppose that wouldn't work well if I need to keep the mouse scent on the rat.

[Spoons]

I think you mean overfeeding.

I think it's under. Mine has gone on strike twice since November when she was 2 months old and she is still over 300. That sounds not so good.

Yes, I definitely meant overfeeding. Thanks for catching that!