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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
 Posted - 18/07/2012 : 21:32:59
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Wow, great discussion. Let me toss my two cents in. I used to live in Michigan, so one of them may even be Canadian -- eh Todd?. ;-)
I feel Todd has an excellent point that boids and colubrids are different, and owners tend to feed all snakes like colubrids. I agree that one larger meal is better than multiple small ones (though I’m not sure I’d push it so far as double their girth -- rainbows in particular are said to be subject to obesity in captivity, so I’m cautious in prey size) and that stretching out meals is a good practice. Incurable had a good point, however, that snakes don’t really analyze what they attack -- if a small mouse wanders in front of my Brazilian, that rodent just become Item #1 on the night’s buffet. (One mouse with very poor judgment proved that the other day, when he decided to stand on Picasso’s head.)
In more specific advice:
quote:
Originally posted by Welly
Lately though i have pushed all my snakes out to a few weeks between meals and up'd the size of prey. None of them are overweight but i do get a better feeding response by pushing the frequency up.
I think you made a good choice, Welly. Expanding on the above, snakes need time to turn those calories into muscle, and if you feed an animal every week it will spend 100% of its time digesting and then eating again. Kind of like people with TVs and potato chips. ;-) I’ve seen wiser keepers than I point out the immense benefits of slowing down feeding frequency and even size. Research on small rodents has proven that lower caloric intake increases longevity, and the zoo that set a longevity record for snakes fed them one (admittedly) large meal…every two months. Other keepers point out that snakes only start “exercising” when they get hungry enough to enter hunting mode. Toward the end of a feeding window, I personally see my hungrier animals out and about more, as opposed to just wallowing in their hides building more fat. It’s healthy for them to get that exercise. And then there are the side benefits, such as a stronger feeding response (less chance of a refusal), more handling time due to the empty belly, and less poop to clean. I see all of this as good.
quote:
Originally posted by Welly
He is a March 2010 currently weighing in at 850g+ he is a good length and has good lines. He has been munching small rat weiners ( upto 40g sometimes two at a time) which he was taking weekly. Now pushed him up to 50g every 2 weeks.
At 850 grams, he should be able to handle small rats – and those typically weigh 65 grams or so. I switch mine over around 500 grams, and offer smaller-sized smalls at first, until their growth allows the regular-sized ones. You might try a smaller small and see if he will take it, and then give him three weeks to digest instead of two. Repeat. If he can do it twice, move him to smalls every other week. |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
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Food sizes and wieght
