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Is this bad advice from my pet shop? (Feeding)

H

Hunders

New member
I have had my snake for a month or two now, he is about 16" long. When I first got him a pinkie would leave quite a noticeable lump but now he has grown the lump is far less prominent.

The pet shop guy told me that as the snake grows I should start to feed more pinkies in one feeding. He said that the snake should be eating 5 pinkies in one feeding before I move up to fuzzies as they are that much bigger than pinkies. This sounds a bit crazy to me. I should have asked to see a fuzzie while I was there to see how big they are but I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't ask.

How big are fuzzies when compared to pinkies?

How do I know when to feed more than one pinkie in a feeding and how big should the snake be when I do so?

Is feeding 5 pinkies before moving to fuzzies utter BS?

Thanks!
 
Do you live in Somerset? :grin01: My pet shop gave me the same advice...I didn't listen, and am feeding 2 pinkies every 5 days untill I wear the pinkies out, then moving up. mine's about the same length as yours.
 
I went pinky med. size pinky large pinky 2 small pinky's 2 large pinky's 1 small fuzzy 1 med fuzzy 1 large fuzzy 2 small fuzzy 1 large fuzzy 1 very small hopper and she's on about a regular, maybe smaller hoppers now





Thats how I went 5 is an outrage he just wants more money :grin01:




I'd go by that, not saying that's perfect but a very good way to feed.



change every month depending on how fast your snake grows




I hoped this helped
 
The part about eating 5 pinkies before going up to a fuzzy IS....BS. If you did that, you corn would be ready for hoppers by the time it could handle 5 pinkies. Just give it 1 pinky until there's only a small lump, then 2 for a little while, until there's just a small lump, then move to fuzzies. Or you could forget about feeding 2 pinkies altogether and just jump to larger pinkies, or what are called "peach fuzzies" because they have a little bit of hair on them, like a peach does.
 
Hunders said:
Is feeding 5 pinkies before moving to fuzzies utter BS?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

Personally, I don't go the two pinky route with my snakes any more. I find that small fuzzies are not much bigger than large pinkies, and none of them have had trouble making the jump so far. In fact, the only snake I've ever had to regurge started when I fed her two pinkies.
 
I use two if I have two small pinkies, or I'm trying to use up a bunch, but I'm like Becky, I just pick a size that looks appropriate and feed it.
 
Food Size Guideline?

Is there a formula based on weight or length to determine when to move up in food size for young snakes? The baby (they are called hatchlings until.. when exactly? lol) we have is tiny, probably 4 inches if that and the pinky the pet store sent home with her just looks HUGE compared to her head. Is it ok to split them? She's not eaten yet at home of course, too much moving and stress but I want to try again in a day or so and want to be sure she can handle it.

Also, if you use F/T how long is it safe to leave the pinky in the cage? I want to give her plenty of time to eat it but don't want to leave it until it goes bad and risk making her sick :eek1:

Gosh, talk about rank beginner... ask me something about horses and I can talk all day and I really feel like a complete newb at this whole snake thing :dunce: I know what we did with our other, but I just want to be sure things are done correctly this time around.. :shrugs:
 
food: quantity and size

what your feeding your snake should be about 1.5x the thickness of the thickest part of your snake.

My LPS Owner told me that when 1 pinky was not enough he would feed every 4-5 days instead of every 7-8 then when the pinkies seem to hardly make a bump in the snake to move up to fuzzies.
 
I feed all mine every 4-5 days while they are on pinkies. Once they move up to fuzzies, it's every 7. If there is no lump or the lump is gone within one day you can move up to the next size. If you have a bunch of pinkies left over you can feed 2 at a time. F/T pinkies can be safely left in overnight.
 
Thanks ;) Is it ok to split them if they are bit big? I honestly wonder if this one was too big for her but hard to tell as she was nervous and in a new place too?
 
Sure you can. Split it while it's still frozen and it's less messy that way. You'd be surprised at what they can down though. They can eat more than we think.
 
You could split a pinky lengthwise or cut a head of while it's still frozen, then see how big a lump it makes?
 
splitting

With F/T I hear a lot of people talking about Splitting or Cutting. Does this need to be done? What is the benefit of it?
 
Cutting is where you make several cuts in the skin, and maybe even pierce right into the body cavity. It allows the digestive enzymes to get into the animal faster and digest easier. It's been proven that cutting gives a higher average growth rate. As for Splitting, it's usually reserved for when you just don't have a food item the right size for the snake, or when the snake is a fussy eater and needs the stimulation of the added scent to eat.
 
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