feeding question

[Gurgie]

Well, Nag ate today after a couple weeks. I bought a live mousie today at the pet shop and he took no time at all to strike and coil. I hadnt seen him do that yet, and I really wanted to see if he would, after eating f/t since birth.

Anyway, I stood there and watched in case the mousie was going to hurt Nag. Nothing bad happened.

My question, I suppose, is this, Is it OK to feed Nag a live mousie every so often, or it is better to stick with f/t since thats mostly what he had been eating up till now?

(no, this one didnt go in the microwave *grin*)

[elevatethis]

With more experience, you will find that consistency goes such a long way in snake keeping.

Stick to a set routine. Feed either live, f/t, pk, whatever, just choose one that works for you and the snake and stick to it. If you feed once a week, feed the same day. If you feed at night, feed around the same time. Sometimes it helps to scent the room by just placing the prey item in a holding box near the snake's enclosure. This will give them a heads up on what time it is. After doing this routine for a while, you'll find that your snake will just "know whats up". That will make for a more comfortable snake, a better feeder, and an overall more positive experience.

[sweety314]

Soooooo true, unless U end up w/one like my P Snake who I FINALLY got switched to FT rat pups. He then went on a hunger strike (little turd!) but now happily every time eats live again . PTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTH Just when I had gotten rid of all the live stuff and have a freezer just chock full of frozen food for him! AAAAaack! Luckily everybody ELSE is MOOOORE than eager to eat the FTs. Yuuuuuum!

Oh well. At least he's eating. With the others all growing, I'll eventually feed up all the mice, rat pups, small rats and fuzzies that I have iced in the freezer.

[frankykeno]

Switching around is likely going to confuse the snake a bit or he'll just decide he wants live and then you are stuck trying to get him back to F/T. As has been said so well, stick with what works and develop routines....your snake will be happiest that way.

[bigballs]

if your snakes eat f/t without any problems then just keep doing what your doing. i feed mine f/t all the time but if they ever decide to go on a hunger strike, i'll feed a live one just to get them eating again. this works for me anyways.

[Gurgie]

Thanks folks.

He hadnt eaten since I took him to the kids school, (hadnt eaten for about 3 weeks) which I now feel could have been a mistake. Basically, I'll be honest and tell you i bought the live mousie for 2 reasons : 1. I was hoping he would feed finally (which he did) and 2. *cringe* I wanted to finally see him strike at somehting and coil like he remembered what he was supposed to do with live prey.

Perhaps the second reason will get me a tongue-lashing, but I mainly wanted to see if I could coax him into eating, which he did. I had no real intention in buying live prey in the future, in fact i bought his f/t mousies at the same time, but I couldnt resist seeing him strike and coil, which he doesnt do on f/t.

But I do thank you all for your advice. It really seems like I dont know as much about keeping BP's as what I thought I did. I guess what I'm seeing is something like a kid with ADHD..,.consistency in scheduling. I happen to have a child with ADD, so I was thinking if I apply some of the same scheduling issues with Nag, it would work. Any opinions of this thought?

Anywho, I truely apreciate all the help I've gotten in here.

One last question for right now. I see some of you feed your snakes twice a week. If he takes it, is that a good thing, or does that mean he just needs larger prey? I did buy hoppers this time because he wasnt showing a bump when he ate fuzzies. But I'm not sure if I should try and let him eat twice a week, or even something like every 5 days or so? Or do I in fact just increase the size of the prey and only feed once a week?

Thanks again for any advice.

P.S. How do you post pictures on here?

[rabernet]

First, there's no reason to cringe for feeding live, many of us feed only live, myself included. We just encourage you to learn how to do it safely - that includes "priming" the room with the scent of mouse by having it in the same room for about 30 minutes. Leaving the live prey in about 30 minutes and removing it if it is not consumed, keeping routines, etc.


As for feeding more than once a week - once a week is really enough, but if you want to feed two mice at a feeding, and he's big enough to take it, then that's when you feed multiple.

Smaller regular meals is really what's commonly accepted around here to help prevent those dreaded fasts.

[kavmon]

the feeding method is up to you. done properly either method is fine. i would choose one method and stick to that, switching back and forth may cause some feeding issues. temps/setup/husbandry are main areas to keep up with to get steady eating bp's. i personally only feed once a week, i think it is important to give them time to digest and time in between digesting.



vaughn

[sweety314]

Tagging a bit late but here's another thought......

If you're feeding more than once a week, that cuts down on the handling time too! For every time you feed, you should wait 36-48 hours to give him a chance to digest. Feeding once a week allows you to feed, wait two days and then have another 3-4 days for handling before it's time to feed again.