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36 hour digestion?

Genlisae

Genlisae

New member
Wednesday was feeding #2 with us and I am pleased to say two pinkies were eaten with gusto and I believe he was searching around his feeding tank for third. I felt two were plenty especially since we are new to this and he is still getting used to us. After his first feeding of only one pinkie he spent a full two days nestled in the substrate with a visible, albeit shrinking, bump and didn't venture out until day three. He was fed at 7:50pm Wednesday evening, By 8 am this morning he was hanging out in his new favourite chilling spot along the top ridge of his viv under the screen top with no sign of a recent meal bump at all. Should I be concerned? If yes, what do I watch for? If not, should I have gone with the snake's instincts instead of mine and fed him the third pinkie?

Temps have remained relatively stable, warm side fluctuates between 28.4 and 29.4 (83.1 - 84.9), cool side is running a little warmer during the day this past week going from 25.4 to 28.1 (77.7 - 82.5) during the warmest part of the day which is a little warmer than I would like to see it. This is our daytime ambient temperature for this time of year unfortunately and I believe why he has developed a fondness for the top of his viv.Either that or he is hanging out up there studying the best way to get past the screen clips and plotting his escape ... From all I have read I would not be surprised :p

Thanks,

Kate
 
I would not feed him three pinkies. My snakes almost always continue 'hunting' after I feed them. If he was big enough for three, then he would be big enough for fuzzies.

Your warm temps are a little bit cool, but I think they're warm enough for digestion. Just give him at least 2 days of being left alone.
 
Have you weighed him? A recent weight may help with more specific advice. I made the jump from double pinks to small fuzzies not too long ago, and I recall that 'still hungry' searching behavior. I read somewhere that the searching behavior can be instinctual. A snake may instinctively understand that where there are two pinkies (in the wild), there are probably more nearby from the same litter, and searching might prove fruitful in delivering a bigger meal. From your description of how quickly digestion seems to have taken place, however, it sounds like it's time to bump up to small fuzzies (5 to 6.99 grams). I too would advise against feeding 3 pinks...there's better nutrition to be had in bumping up prey size.

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hypnoctopus, I was wondering if it was time to bump him up a food size, though I am not entirely comfortable doing so yet. Going by the 1-1.5 times as round as the snake I don't think we are there yet. Nearly, but not quite. I think, especially given we are only 2 weeks into caring for a snake, I am going proceed slowly, unless it will harm him to eat smaller meals for a few more feedings? It has been my understanding it won't harm him, but it is entirely possible I have misunderstood.

Phruit Dish said:
Have you weighed him? A recent weight may help with more specific advice. I made the jump from double pinks to small fuzzies not too long ago, and I recall that 'still hungry' searching behavior. I read somewhere that the searching behavior can be instinctual. A snake may instinctively understand that where there are two pinkies (in the wild), there are probably more nearby from the same litter, and searching might prove fruitful in delivering a bigger meal. From your description of how quickly digestion seems to have taken place, however, it sounds like it's time to bump up to small fuzzies (5 to 6.99 grams). I too would advise against feeding 3 pinks...there's better nutrition to be had in bumping up prey size.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no, we haven't weighed him. The scales have been ordered they just haven't arrived yet. I wish they had, I would feel much more confident we were doing things right if they had. Again, as long as there will be no harm done, I would rather wait one or two more feedings to move him up a food size. Partly because we are still learning and partly because of where he came from (large chain pet store) where they admitted to having feeding issues.

That being said, if the quick digestion is a sign to move up, I am willing to give it a try for his next feeding. Is there anything special I should do to make the transition easier for him? Perhaps wait for the scales to arrive so we have a clearer understanding of where he is at? My own nerves about it will not settle one way or the other until we have made the switch. lol

Thanks,

Kate
 
I completely understand the nerves! I still go through it myself. Given the history of prior feeding issues, I think I need to step back and defer advisement to more senior members. I think you'll feel better once you have the scale in-hand and a weight measurement to help you moving forward, so I hope you won't have to wait long! As for ways to aid digestion, I've read that you can place slits in the mouse's skin; this seems to be a very good, very common method. It can be done with a knife -- do a forum search for slitting to read more about this technique. There are other methods as well, but I'd recommend slitting as a good aid.

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I don't think the warm side is too cool. Or the cool side too warm. It seems perfect. I'd like to know what he weighs.

A snake will eat as many food items as it can physically hold- a whole litter of mice, for example, or a whole nest of eggs or birds. This isn't necessarily how much it can digest- however- most likely not. You CANNOT rely on a snake to stop eating when it is full and has eaten the proper amount- instinct tells it to eat everything.

Babies digest pretty fast, and that's a good thing. If your baby is in the 18-22 gram range, or so, two pinks is safe. Not two huge pinks! He would normally be out the second day after feeding, maybe the third, maybe the end of the first. It's good to digest fast. You don't have to, and should not, feed him as soon as he comes out looking for food Let him be hungry for a couple days. You want to feed a baby every 5-6 days.

It's fine and recommended to NOT feed the baby when he goes blue. You will know because you won't see him out after digesting, when normally he would be. If you take him out to feed, and weigh him, and he has gained much more than you expect (especially with a larger snake) he hasn't pooped, and is most likely blue. Just skip feeding(s) until he sheds.

Many babies love the little ledge up at the top of the viv. He would probably appreciate some leafy vines hung on the sides to hide in.
 
Thank you Nanci. We are feeding him every 5 days and leaving him alone for a full 48 hours, at the least, after he is fed whether he is out of hiding or not. Erring on the side of caution.

Still waiting on the scales, though you bring up a new question. How much should we expect him to gain? I seem to recall reading 5g as a general guideline though I expect this is different for every snake and dependent on the relative size of the meal compared to the size of the snake. Probably something we will learn as time goes on once the scales finally arrive and we have gone through a few feeding/weighing cycles.

Thank you all for the advice. I know I am asking a lot of questions and I appreciate your patience and willingness to help.

Kate
 
It's better to feed too little than too much :)
That being said, I doubt it was too little! Snakes can be sneaky like that and make it seem like they need more when they don't ;)
 
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