bigger feeders?

[m0esgirl]

hey i was just wondering....i got ten bps about a month ago, and only one of them has eaten consistently. the rest have been to the vet for a checkup cuz they were looking a little on the skinny side. they all got a clean bill of health. i weigh every snake on monday (feeding day) to see if they've lost any weight, and if so, how much. well kiha, the only consistent eater (she's bomb, i love her) ate once this past monday, then yesterday, ate TWO MORE f/t large pinkie rats. should i start trying to feed her rat pups, say weaned size? i have some but i thought they might be too big for her, but i dont know, since i saw her eat so much last night. *sigh* if only all my others were like that. i had to forcefeed four last night because even though they werent sick, they weren't eating, and they had some pretty significant weight loss. i mean, backbone showing, triangular shape...super skinny neck compared to head size... all that. but i digress. should i start feeding kiha bigger prey? what do you think?

[Somed00d]

Can you post the weights?

I wouldn't recommend force feeding the snakes considering you have only had them a month.

[tideguyinva]

of course she could always do assisted feeding but i would still wait on that too

[m0esgirl]

well what's the diff between force feeding and assisted? all i did was hold htem, use the pinks nose to get them to open their mouths, and the put the head their throat a little, and that seemed to get them to start swallowing, and they all finished the food. here are the weights, from when i got them til now. ff means i fed them assisted last night

1.65, 68, 61, 62
2. 56, 55, 63 (she is the one who ate two pinks last night and one on monday)
3. 45, 39, 38, 38 (ff)
4. 65, 63, 75
5. 49, 44, 42, 42
6. 50, 47, 57
7. 54, 49, 46, 48 (ff)
8. 44, 40, 39, 37 (ff)
9. 55, 57, 53
10. 50, 46, 44, 42 (ff)

i know there are alot of fluctuations, but each was weighed twice every time to make sure the weight was right. and yes i remembered to tare the scale haha

[SatanicIntention]

How are they housed, what are their temps/humidity, what type of hides do they all have, are they in a quiet(NO traffic) room?

Try live mouse hoppers left in overnight. Babies tend to start easier on mouse hoppers than on rat pinks. More movement and more smell.

[m0esgirl]

they're in 15 qt tubs, hides on warm and cool sides, temps are 81-82 ambient, 92.3 basking temp, humidity at 56% right now, quiet room, low traffic...i will try the hoppers though and i think maybe next monday i will try a bigger rat with kiha, see if she likes it. thanks for all the advice so far!!

[SatanicIntention]

6qt tubs.. 15qts are much too big to start 50g babies in. They need tiny spaces to be able to thrive and get confident enough to eat.

Get them moved, wait a week or more without ANY handling or weighing, and then try a hopper mouse left in overnight.

I wouldn't try a rat pup with your good feeder. Too big of a meal could easily put her off of her feed or cause her to regurgitate. Stick with either fuzzy rats or small adult mice for awhile.

[m0esgirl]

well the reason they're in 15 qt is cuz a hide on both ends (even though they're pretty dang small) plus water bowl equals almost no room to move in. i was actually thinking of getting slightly bigger tubs cuz they're always always (at night) trying to escape, even though their temps are normal. yeah the good feeder ate two large pinks last night, and i was thinking of moving to fuzzies, but how old are fuzzies? just as soon as they start growing...well fuzz..then they qualify as fuzzies? and are they normal weights, i mean not underweight or anything? cuz i thought they looked fine, then i saw some pics of actually healthy balls and freaked a little haha

[SatanicIntention]

Have you ever started non-feeding babies before? If not, PLEASE read what I am saying.

Smaller tubs, dark place, one hide on warm end and water bowl on other end. LEAVE THEM ALONE for a week and a half or 2 weeks, THEN try to feed each a HOPPER MOUSE overnight. If they do not eat, try again the next week.

I state again, it is DIFFICULT at best to get non-feeding babies started on rats, especially rat pinks that don't move alot and don't smell like prey.

6 QT Tubs
4" Terra Cotta or Plastic planter saucers(hides)
2-3" diameter bowls
newspaper/paper towels
Dark, quiet area for tubs
NO handling or weighing
HOPPER mice, not pink rats, not fuzzy rats, not fuzzy mice, not pink mice. HOPPERS.

I had a clutch last year of granites. 2 of the babies were smaller and hadn't eaten. I held out on them for EIGHT weeks before I even attempted to assist feed. These were 45g babies.

Baby tub:






You can use the 15qt tubs after they reach about 450-500g. NOT until then.