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When should I switch from pinkies to fuzzies?

JaniNaka

JaniNaka

New member
Hi,

I was wondering when I should switch my corn snake from pinkie mice to fuzzy mice. He always seems to be searching around for more food right after I feed him and during the last feeding after I finished feeding him and I moved on to feed my ball python my corn snake could obviously tell there was more food nearby and was trying desperately to get out of the feeding tank. I don't want to be starving the corn snake. Is there some way I can tell when to move up? the body of a pinkie mouse about matches the thickest part of the corn snake. When I sized a fuzzy mouse to him it just looked huge in comparison. I did half to feed half a fuzzy to him instead of a pinkie mouse last feeding because the store ran out of pinkies, he seemed to take the width of the fuzzy fine.
 
We usually go by weight. If the pinks are the same width as the snake, you could try two pinks, starting with the smaller ones.

Snakes usually always act still hungry after being fed, at least for 30-60 minutes. In the wild they would continue to eat until the food ran out. In captivity, overfeeding can cause regurgitation, which is harmful to the snake.
 
You could do a quick search for the munson plan. It tells you what to feed based on the weight of your snake.
 
Joba said:
You could do a quick search for the munson plan. It tells you what to feed based on the weight of your snake.
Click to expand...

Nanci said:
We usually go by weight. If the pinks are the same width as the snake, you could try two pinks, starting with the smaller ones.

Snakes usually always act still hungry after being fed, at least for 30-60 minutes. In the wild they would continue to eat until the food ran out. In captivity, overfeeding can cause regurgitation, which is harmful to the snake.
Click to expand...


Thank you, I'll try that. It should take him 2-3 days to digest right? It's taking him 1-2 usually 1 lately. So I know 2 pinkies will take longer so when the two pinkies don't take long to digest and his width is bigger then move up to the fuzzes?

Also on a side note, do you know by chance if this information applies to ball pythons as well? My ball python is larger than the fuzzies, but I've been tentative to increase the size of prey because I just got the BP back on food, it's a snake that I rescued and it had so many problems when I got it, thankfully i've managed to get it up to almost full health in a few weeks, another week and it should be normal! :)
 
Joba said:
You could do a quick search for the munson plan. It tells you what to feed based on the weight of your snake.
Click to expand...

I've heard of it and looked at it. Don't you need a scale to measure grams of weight? I've heard that gram measuring scales price can run pretty high and I'm on a tight budget. Otherwise I would be totally into it.

I guess I could call the local vet and see if they have a scale that I can run him in and measure him. I don't want to have to do that all the time though because my snakes hate car rides. Who wouldn't when you are in a box and have no idea whats going on :p
 
You can get a gram scale for around 10 dollars from eBay or 15 to 20 from Wal-Mart. I really recommend getting one. It takes the guesswork out of feeding.
 
hypnoctopus said:
You can get a gram scale for around 10 dollars from eBay or 15 to 20 from Wal-Mart. I really recommend getting one. It takes the guesswork out of feeding.
Click to expand...

that's not bad at all. I should have looked it up myself instead of listening to people that told me they were almost $100+. Thanks so much I'll buy one today!
 
There's a sticky down in my personal forum here about scales. They are reasonably priced.
 
Just checked out that munson play my snake weighs 147.1 grams and according to the chart i should be feeding her weanlings.... But her head and neck area appear so small .... Mind u my scale isn't digital
 
Their head and neck will always look small compared to their food. It's more important to pay attention to how thick the snake is at his widest part. You can also weigh the prey because different mouse sources can have slightly different definitions of sizes.
 
hypnoctopus said:
Their head and neck will always look small compared to their food. It's more important to pay attention to how thick the snake is at his widest part. You can also weigh the prey because different mouse sources can have slightly different definitions of sizes.
Click to expand...

Well she shed july 16 and i just watched her shed now :) so i must be going ok with the food area
 
nicole.l.irwin said:
Just checked out that munson play my snake weighs 147.1 grams and according to the chart i should be feeding her weanlings.... But her head and neck area appear so small .... Mind u my scale isn't digital
Click to expand...

When you feed her, watch how much her neck/throat stretches out. Your worries will be gone!

An analog scale is really unreliable, definitely get a digital one, they are pretty inexpensive and more reliable.
 
smigon said:
When you feed her, watch how much her neck/throat stretches out. Your worries will be gone!



An analog scale is really unreliable, definitely get a digital one, they are pretty inexpensive and more reliable.
Click to expand...


Regarding the digital ones i could only find ones that had a max of 11 grams ..... Is this something i should worry about ? Or is 11 grams a good max capacity
 
I've never seen a gram scale that maxed out at eleven grams. That would only be good until your snake was like a month old!
 
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