A few feeding questions

[Hikari]

Right, so. I managed to get Lily to eat her first offered meal tonight, since it was a week today I brought her home. Waited late since that's usually when she comes out to cruise the viv. Tried to do things as best I could following the instructions I've been reading here. Didn't happen QUITE as smoothly as I'd hoped, but she ate.

Here's what went down:
- Prepared scale and critter carrier for weighing, as well as small thawed fuzzy (Nanci's sticky suggested small meal first time after bringing home, and made sense to me, so I picked the smallest-looking fuzzy I had).
- Picked up snake out of viv. She was not amused. Got hissed at but not bitten. Looked her over best I could, just to check for any potential issues. None found, scales looked nice and bright, so that's good.
- Managed to wrangle an uncooperative snake into critter keeper for weighing, got 37g
- Attempted to feed 3g fuzzy by wiggling with tongs. She wasn't having any of it.
- Accidentally dropped fuzzy in Critter Keeper at some point (dexterity fail). Shut lid tight and left the room to see if she'd eat it on her own. Nope.
- Decided to just leave it there, put critter keeper in tank sideways and opened the top. The shift sideways also caused the fuzzy to fall squarely on her head. She noticed she was back in her viv, noticed the fuzzy, and started having at it, so I just shut the viv top, and left the room, turning off the light.
- Came back to find fuzzy gone, snake still in critter keeper, but when I turned the light on, it was almost like she went "Oh, there's the door", exited, and left for nearest hide. Took the opportunity to remove critter keeper. It's been a few minutes and she's currently in her warm side hide, so that's good. Been leaving her alone, lights out.

So yeah, feeding definitely was an "easier said than done" kinda thing, lol. Basically, I tried doing the "feed out of viv" thing most everyone suggested, and ended up having to feed in viv to get her to eat. Still, the way I did it made sure she didn't ingest any substrate, so I suppose all's well that ends's well. I could technically keep doing that, and I have a big shallow tub I could just set in there instead of fiddling with the critter keeper.

Still, do you think with some conditioning to handling I could get her to eat outside the viv? She's a yearling but never been held outside of the bare minimum for care, so I know I probably have my work cut out for me, but I'd like to at least weigh her on a regular basis. I know part of her being reluctant to eat at first might just be the whole "being in a new place with a strange new human" thing, so I'm hoping with some handling conditioning, she'll get used to me, and being picked up, so she won't be so stressed when I try and feed her. I plan to start to handle her for a few minutes a day in 2-3 days once she's done digesting.

Also, 3 grams seems AWFULLY small for a fuzzy (and actually, the scale kept flickering between 2-3 a bit so it might have been halfway between the two). I know it was the smallest one, and this time it was okay since I wanted small, but I read on the Munson plan thing that fuzzies should be like...5-7 grams for normal ones (which is probably what I should be feeding her, given her weight). I barely noticed any bump when I fed her too, like, if I didn't know she'd been munching on something, I probably wouldn't have realized she'd even eaten. Some of the other fuzzies I bought were on the smallish side too. You think it would be okay to feed 2 as long as they equal out to the 5-7 grams? How noticeable of a food bump is a snake supposed to have?
Also, is 37g a good weight for a 15 month old? I have no idea what the average weight at that age is (she's approximately 20 in. as well, if that helps)

Anyways, lemme know how I did for a first-timer, and what I can improve on as far as making this a less stressful experience for Lily (last thing I want is a regurge), as well as making sure she gets proper nutrition. There's SO much to learn, and so much to potentially screw up. It can be a bit nerve-wracking.

 

[Dragonling]

Give yourself time to get used to handling her and finding a feeding routine that works for both of you. When I first started working at my job, it felt like the babies all hated me and were just going to hiss and bite all day. Turned out my lack of confidence was making them nervous. Now it's very rare that they bite (except the Texas rats...mean lil jerks), and even the ones that might don't even realize it til they're back in their cage...then they start striking at the side. :roflmao:

As for feeding, my fire is somewhat hesitant to take food from my hand (and for now he wants nothing to do with tongs). He's used to finding it on the ground, but if he is calm and not trying to escape he'll happily eat from my hand, so long as his conditions are met...whatever those are! I'm still learning too.

3g does seem small for a fuzzy. I imagine if you weigh out two and they come to ~5-7g total, you could feed both and be just fine.

 

[Nanci]

Was the mouse super-hot? I wonder why she didn't eat right away. Maybe just too much excitement. I thaw in water as hot as my tap water will go, dry briefly, and then just put the prey in the container, zero it, add the snake, get the weight, and leave the snake to eat. The Critter Keeper might just be too spacious, also. A snake that is eating fuzzies could feed in a deli cup- think small margarine container size, or at the most the rectangular deep Gladware container. A smaller container keeps the prey right next to the snake. It's amazing how they can "lose" it.

 

[Hikari]

@ Dragonling - LOL, some of the stories I hear of other snakes makes me so happy I picked a corn. Most I got was an indignant hiss when I scooped her up. Got her from the middle, so she kinda turned her front half around like "WTF are you doing?! *hiss*". Far as food goes, I thought 3g seemed small. I'll see about maybe combining sizes to get the right food weight for her. She is currently the nice "bread-loaf" shape, and I'd like to keep her that way. The shop I bought her frozen mice at actually let you hand-pick the ones you want, so I'll go for some bigger-looking ones next time. Will also try ditching the tongs and just toss it in with her, see if that helps. In hindsight, she might have been afraid of the tongs.

@ Nanci - The mouse was warm, not hot (about what I remember live mice to feel like, since I owned some before the snake, ironically), although by the time I wrangled the snake into the keeper, it might have cooled a little bit.
The critter keeper I have is a small (I was expecting to get a hatchling when I bought it), so I was almost wondering if it was TOO small, but I guess that's not the case. It's actually a pretty decent size for her...slightly cramped, but not as cramped as the deli cup I bought her in (she couldn't move much in it). Might have been the excitement too, since she was literally slithering over her meal looking for a way out til I put it in her viv. I'll try it one more time next week, since it really is nice with the lid and all, but if it still seems too big, I'll try and find something else.