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Moving onto fuzzies and other issues

Tangoman

Tangoman

New member
Hi

My snake is now about 22 inches long but still a small snake in terms of girth and weight. His shedding is now once every five weeks or so and he is healthy and feeds on two pinkies.

I have tried a couple of times to give him fuzzies which are small and within the rule of thumb I read on here - no bigger than one and a half times the thickest part of the snake's body. Anyway, no interest whatsoever! I am not bothered as he eats his pinkies when offered but I am of the view that he is a little small for a male normal of his age (about nine and a half months old?) - well from what I have read and seen on here he seems small anyway.
Any advice on this?

The other thing is a more general question. When I open his viv and go to pick him up he immediately goes into the strike position. After a minute or two he slowly moves away, giving me the chance to pick him up. Sometimes he is calmer than others when that happens but after a minute he is happy to slither through my fingers. He has only ever struck at me once when much younger. So I was wondering, when he is a fully grown snake and I open the viv and he goes into the strike position, what is the best tactic for picking him up without getting a tag? Will he stop this behavour altogether or will I have to be patient and wait for him to move away? What if he does not move away an dstays in that position?
 
If he's been taking two pinks for a while I'd move him up to fuzzies. Just give him a bit longer to see if the bigger food is ok to eat ;). For his size - corns grow at different rates just like people. Some may grow faster while others grow slower. As for him getting into strike pose...I'd just reach in and grab him. Sometimes my snakes do that to me and I just grab them. They aren't any worse for the wear and they weren't actually going to strike anyway, it's all a bluffing game. I've had one of my adults rattle her tail and get in strike pose when I reach in to get her but she's perfectly happy once she's out of the cage.

~Katie
 
At 22 inches he should be on at least fuzzies IMO. Sounds like he's not comfortable. How long have you had him? I would pick him up right away even if in the strike position, better to do it now than when he's an adult.
How often do you handle him?
 
I have had him since August.
I handle him most days. I do just pick him up but I dont want to frea him so let him relax out of the pose and then pick him up. He is not aggressive at all. I was told that you never approach a snake head on/over it's head. So am following that. No problems in the hand at all.

As for the fuzzies. Well he won't eat them! I can only leave them with him for so long. I will keep trying and see what happens. Cheers
 
Have you tried braining them? Just cut a slit in the fuzzies head exposing his brain, then put them both in a big tupperware container lined with newspaper over night.
 
Do you give him pinks if he refuses the fuzzy? If so you're training him to think "if I don't get what I want at first, then just wait it out and I'll get it". In all honesty, if you know he'll eat pinks but for some reason won't take fuzzies, offer him a fuzzy and if he refuses wait a few days without giving him pinks. If he's an August baby he should probably be on fuzzies like mbdorfer said. All of my 2004s will be on fuzzies this week except the newest (don't want a regurge - got him Sunday!). It might seem mean not to feed him for a week but he'll get the idea. Braining the fuzzy might help a little as well or cutting slits int he back of the mouse to help with digestion. First try leaving the fuzzy in there overnight. It won't hurt anything if you do that and he doesn't eat it. It's all in what you think you should do though...remember, it's just my .02

~Katie
 
Hmm, brains and slits! Lovely.Not sure I fancy it really :eek1:
I have left one in with him overnight - longer in fact. I was just wasting fuzzies!
Still I will let him go really hungry for a few days and then stick him in with one and see if the little bugger eats it! It's not as if he tries to eat it. he just leaves it alone completely. But sorry, no brains and no slits!
 
Have you tried dangling the fuzzy infront of him, maybe that'll work. Could be worth a shot if he doesn't take it next time.
 
If they won' eat, sometimes it's better to wait until the next feeding cycle instead of offering every few days.
 
Yep, done the dangling thing - he smells it, shows an interest, holds the strike pose for a bit, moves closer slowly, then jsut slides past it and moves away! Very frustrating. His feeding response varies too. Sometimes just takes one sniff of the food and wham! Other times he just sniffs, looks at it, then leaves it in which cas eI leave him in the feeding tank until he does eat it. Sometimes he will nto go near it in the tank and I have to take him out and put him back in his viv. If this happens Iput him in his house and cover his house. Then I put the pinkies in his viv on paper (do not want him to see me putting them in for obvious reasons). Invariably, when I return later he has eaten them.
Look this is not a big deal, the snake is healthy and eating..I will let him get really hungry and try a fuzzy again. But I do think he is a little small and perhaps needs the extra nutrition a fuzzy will offer him.
Out of interest MegF , how old is that snake in your avatar?
 
She's a July '04 hatchling, about 9 months old. She's a looker isn't she? She's the nicest of my 3 Okeetee's that I got from Mike Heinrich. They are out of wildcaught locality Okeetee's from the original Hunt Club.
 
Well Meg that is the point I was making at the start of this thread - Tango, a normal, is much smaller in "bulk" than yours and he is the same age. Which is why I am concerned about getting him onto more nutritious food. He seems very small to me indeed.
 
You can't judge by that. I have two sub adults that are completely different sizes, but are only a couple of months apart in age. They eat the same, yet one is almost 4 ft. and one is only 3 ft. My amel is up to small rats, and the aztec is still on large mice at this point. Every snake is different, and grows differently. My three hatchlings eat exactly the same, but the one in the avatar is more robust I guess you could say. The male is just slightly longer, but less thick, and the other female is probably an inch smaller than the other two. There's no accounting for growth.
 
OK, I say let him go a week with no food and then offer him a fuzzy. I'll assume that after a week he'll be hungry and he should go for it. If he doesn't, offer him a fuzzy again 5 days later and no sooner. You can't let him think that food will be offered every day or he'll get picky....like little kids...let them graze all day and then you offer them something you want them to eat and they'll say no because they know they can snack on what they want later on.

My 2004's range from 50g to 164g, so don't be too worried about yor individual snakes growth.
 
OK all, thanks. I take the point re growth and size. Size doesn't matter anyway does it :sidestep:

He has been left a week now so I have just put a nice juicy fuzzy in his viv. I'll keep you posted.
 
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