Piece of cake . . . er, um, should I say mouse?

I got to thinking about it and thought that since Monty was brought home from a pet store he is probably less traumatized than a snake that was shipped. So, I decided I'd get him out and see how he was. If he seemed stressed I'd put him up til Sunday (1 week since we got him), and if he seemed okay I'd see if he'd eat a tiny pinky. So, at first when I moved his hide he seemed annoyed, however I picked him right up and he slithered all over me. I tried to take a pic but my camera batteries were dead! :uhoh:

I actually think he likes being handled, he seems to anyway. So I put him in with the pinky and ate it right away. I don't even think it took him a minute to devour that thing. We were quite amazed, even though it was the smallest one I had it was bigger than his head. At first I was actually worried if he could eat it!!! :laugh: So less than a minute after he ate it you could see the bulge was already about 1/4 of the way down him, and the bulge was barely noticeable. Should I give him 2 next week?

So now we just have to wait 2 days to make sure he doesn't lose his lunch?

While I didn't get a pic :crying: cause of my batteries, I did note that he is about as long as my arm (elbow to fingertip) and about as big around as my pinky at his widest. That puts him 1 1/2 to 2 inches around and 15" long. Is that a good size for a 5 to 6 month old? Just wondering.

Thanks for all the great advice. Even if I didn't follow it I felt like I made an informed decision about Monty's care.

Sounds like a normal size for his age, maybe a little on the small side, but still normal. You can definitely try 2 pinkies next feeding and then if he takes that and all is well for a few feedings, up him to a fuzzy, or a "peach" fuzzy (a little smaller). Definitely wait the 48 hrs before handling to avoid a regurge. Congrats!

Can you get a pic of the bump? Steal some batteries out of your remote or something. LOL It should be noticable but not TOO big.

Sounds like he's ready for 2 pinks but you really shouldn't risk it if you're not sure. If you do feed two though, give him two small ones (if you can).

try giving him 2 pinks a week, but at different times. Like sunday and thursday. If he can handle meals that close together, he'll be able to handle 2 pinks within about 2 weeks. This will also help him gain some size in the meantime.

Define to big....

Spirit you said the bulge should be noticible but not too big, what's too big? I feed Achilles 2 pinks(1 larger one and one smaller one) and he has always been a good feeder and I have never had any problems with him but his bulge is always quite noticable, I am probably being paranoid but just want to make sure.

LOL my camera uses different batteries than anything else in the house!! I got rechargables but I've been having some trouble with those. So still no pic . . . However, I do think the pinky was too small for regular consumption purposes and I am going to slowly move him up. Actually I like the idea of giving 2 a few days apart and see how he does with that.

Achilles'_Mom said:

Spirit you said the bulge should be noticible but not too big, what's too big? I feed Achilles 2 pinks(1 larger one and one smaller one) and he has always been a good feeder and I have never had any problems with him but his bulge is always quite noticable, I am probably being paranoid but just want to make sure.

Click to expand...

here's a couple of "bulge" pics. Both of these snakes are capable of handling larger prey and I would say you don't want a bulge larger than these

mbdorfer said:

here's a couple of "bulge" pics. Both of these snakes are capable of handling larger prey and I would say you don't want a bulge larger than these

Click to expand...

Yep..they look like the bulges in my snakes after I feed them.

Wow, the top snake looks almost just like Monty!!! He definately did not have a bulge like that, you could barely see it after he ate. I think he may have already poo'd too, there is brownish/yellowish stuff just outside the paper towel tube that he is in. He may have gone in there, but I'm not going to bother him yet to see. Tonight will be 48 hours since he ate, so I will bug him then.

Thanks guys, I am really lucky that I haven't had any problems with Achilles and Samson. I guess if it was too much Achilles would regurge, I tried to compare those to my bulge pics after Achilles' last feeding but I zoomed in with my camera so I am not sure, but he has been fine and hasn't shown any signs of stress, i gues i am just over cautious...they are my babies!

your top pic looks like my samus! the bulge does seem a bit bigger than i'd expect, but that's no worry, 'cause all corns are different. i'm sure she'll grow up to be fit and healthy!

Yeah, that girl in the top pic is a WC. She was hammering 2 pinkies and looking for more! So I bumped her up to fuzzies. She is a pig.

mbdorfer said:

here's a couple of "bulge" pics. Both of these snakes are capable of handling larger prey and I would say you don't want a bulge larger than these

Click to expand...

EXCELLENT example pics.

That first pic is about as big as you'd want the bump to be. The second pic is still a nice sized bump, but from the looks it that snake is about half way there to the next sized meal (another month or two... depending on the snake).

It could be just the angle, but...

Top pic = Holiday turkey dinner (with all the trimmings)
Middle pic = I had a nice big meal today.

Spirit said:

EXCELLENT example pics.

That first pic is about as big as you'd want the bump to be. The second pic is still a nice sized bump, but from the looks it that snake is about half way there to the next sized meal (another month or two... depending on the snake).

It could be just the angle, but...

Top pic = Holiday turkey dinner (with all the trimmings)
Middle pic = I had a nice big meal today.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Actually the second pic is my 03 female after a small adult mouse.She has eaten bigger ones before. It amazes me as to the size of prey she can devour. She's kinda small for her age.

Mike B

overfeeding....

Now that i compare I think Achilles' bulge may be bigger... here are some pics

If anything that bulge looks long, not thick (but it is a nice big bump). If you're not experiencing any regurges, I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks just wanted to make sure, that was two pinks. He shed 5 days later so that is why he is so dull. Just one more question, he shed on the 19th of january and then again on the 9th of Feb is this normal, or is it because I increased his meal size

That's a little bit soon, but not uncommon... could he be going through a growth spurt, perhaps? Regarding the larger meals btw, just be sure not to overfeed (and feed too often). That's a good bump for 1 meal every 7 days. Or you could always switch to a smaller meal every 5, depending on the size of your snake...

He's really pretty.

This is the "biggest" i will feed an adul snake, pictured is my adult female, who wont eat mice at all (never taken 1 in over 12 monthes now, and i've had her 3 monthes)


Here is the bulge as she is swallowing (sorry no stomac bulge the batteries died on me).