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Need Feeding Advice, Please!!!

Ares2010

Ares2010

Ex Snakephobian
Ok, you guys know I am very new to snakes. Ares is my first ever snake. So I have a question about his feeding because I want to make sure I am not going to overfeed him and/or end up constipating him.

I weighed him before his last feeding (after all his poops) and he weighed 20 grams.. so according to the feeding chart on here..http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50106&highlight=munson+feeding+plan I gave him two pinkies.. one after the other and he took them down just fine.

It took him five days to completely digest BOTH pinkies.. the chart says, according to his 20 gram weight, to feed him two pinkies every 5 to 6 days.

I gave him the two pinkies last Monday (Nov 22) and it took him five days to digest it all.

Now, he's had two big poops the past couple of days and when I hold him to the light, I don't see any dark patches indicating that he still has some to digest or that he needs another poop.

So my question is... do I feed him again tonight (two pinkies) when he only just finished digesting the other two pinkies, two days ago.

He is five months old now. I am just concerned about feeding him too soon and too much too soon.

What do you guys advise? I know that each snake has to be somewhat different just like we are.

I don't want to overfeed him and risk getting him constipated or too fat etc.

I would appreciate anyone's advice about this.

Thank you.
 
My babies pretty much poop the day after, or two days after feeding. Pinkies vary a _lot_ in size. You might want to try 1.5 pinks once or twice to see how fast they go through. Twice, I guess, because you'll have two halves. You just cut the pink in half while it is frozen, and then thaw it in water as usual. Give the snake the whole and the half at the same time. Obviously in a feeding container- it's a little messy. If the snake gets juice all over it, rinse it gently under cool running water. They hate it the first time, then don't care/aren't afraid. Rinse the feeding container.

Or- if you have a bunch of pinks to select from, pick smaller ones.
 
They digest their food within the 48 hrs, then they normally poop a couple days after that.

Just b/c they haven't pooped until 5 days later doesn't mean their still digesting. Is that what you are thinking of or....do you see a noticeable bulge in their belly where the food is still there?

After 24-48 hrs if you don't see a bump in their belly, they digested their food. Always wait 48 hrs to hold them though.
 
Nanci said:
My babies pretty much poop the day after, or two days after feeding. Pinkies vary a _lot_ in size. You might want to try 1.5 pinks once or twice to see how fast they go through. Twice, I guess, because you'll have two halves. You just cut the pink in half while it is frozen, and then thaw it in water as usual. Give the snake the whole and the half at the same time. Obviously in a feeding container- it's a little messy. If the snake gets juice all over it, rinse it gently under cool running water. They hate it the first time, then don't care/aren't afraid. Rinse the feeding container.

Or- if you have a bunch of pinks to select from, pick smaller ones.
Click to expand...

I get the newborn pinkies so they are pretty small. I will try the one and a half and see how he goes with that.

So, is it ok to feed him again tonight?
 
Sarah1228 said:
They digest their food within the 48 hrs, then they normally poop a couple days after that.

Just b/c they haven't pooped until 5 days later doesn't mean their still digesting. Is that what you are thinking of or....do you see a noticeable bulge in their belly where the food is still there?

After 24-48 hrs if you don't see a bump in their belly, they digested their food. Always wait 48 hrs to hold them though.
Click to expand...

Sorry, perhaps I should have clarified what I meant.

What I was trying to say was he took five days to completely digest the two pinkies.. he had a noticeable bump the first four days and then fifth day it was gone.

I was concerned about feeding him too soon after he just finished digesting the two pinkies only two days ago.

I guess I am also asking if I should let a few days pass before feeding him again.

I will try what Nanci suggested with feeding him one and a half pinkie and see how he gets on with that.
 
Yeah if the food is cut or slit it helps them digest a lot faster, so try Nanci's suggestion. Some are slower with digesting, others digest super quick (all snakes are different).

Are the temps ok on the warm side (85-88 degrees)?
 
Sarah1228 said:
Yeah if the food is cut or slit it helps them digest a lot faster, so try Nanci's suggestion. Some are slower with digesting, others digest super quick (all snakes are different).

Are the temps ok on the warm side (85-88 degrees)?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have it 87 degrees on his warm side.. and I never let my house get below 70 in the winter time. So I am confident he is warm enough.

I will definitely do what Nanci suggests and give him one and a half tonight.
 
Also the Munson Plan is just a guideline to help owners out, you can tweak it a little bit if you want to better suit you and your snake. It doesn't have to be followed exactly the way its set up. JUST an FYI :)
 
See how it goes with 1.5, and if he still has a visible lump after four days, I'd go to a 6 day feeding schedule. Something else that happens is if the snake is going blue, they won't poop until they shed, which will delay pooping and appear as a bigger than usual weight gain.
 
Nanci said:
See how it goes with 1.5, and if he still has a visible lump after four days, I'd go to a 6 day feeding schedule. Something else that happens is if the snake is going blue, they won't poop until they shed, which will delay pooping and appear as a bigger than usual weight gain.
Click to expand...

Ok, will do.

Thanks for telling me about the shedding thing. He has had one shed (all one piece) so far but I didn't know that about not pooping until they shed.
 
Ok, I gave Ares one and a half pinkies last night and he took them down well even though one pinkie was chopped in half... ewwwww I shuddered doing that one.. lol

So let's see how he gets on.

Thanks guys for your advice and input.
 
And by the way.. I held the pinkie with tongs and moved it around just slightly.. and he struck it, taking the pinkie by his head. It kind of startled me.. I didn't expect that. lol
 
Also...in regards to the Munson plan being a guideline...I follow it for the most part, but I don't use the two pinkie method. Mine go straight from pinks (xs when the hatch, then regulars, then xl pinks) to peach fuzzies and then on to fuzzies. I've actually found that two pinkies is a larger meal than a peach fuzzy, so I prefer feeding one appropriately sized item instead of two. This isn't always feasible for everyone, depending on how you buy your prey items. I buy mine in bulk, so having some of every size isn't a problem. Are you buying from a local pet store or a Petco/Petsmart type store where prey is prepackaged? If you're buying from a local pet store, see if you can hand pick your prey items to be the appropriate size. When I was buying for just a few snakes, that's what I did so that everyone could have a 'custom' meal size. Just a thought for you.

Hopefully the 1 1/2 pinks goes better than the double pinks. And just wait until Ares is older, they can do lots of things that startle you...I have some corns that come flying out of their tubs, mouths open at their mice and then coil around them to 'kill it' (and then stay like that for 10 or 15 minutes to make sure it's really 'dead'). Of course, I do have a few that are 'Here mom, I'll open my mouth and you just can drop my dinner in' kind of snakes. Silly critters.
 
Hallie said:
Also...in regards to the Munson plan being a guideline...I follow it for the most part, but I don't use the two pinkie method. Mine go straight from pinks (xs when the hatch, then regulars, then xl pinks) to peach fuzzies and then on to fuzzies. I've actually found that two pinkies is a larger meal than a peach fuzzy, so I prefer feeding one appropriately sized item instead of two. This isn't always feasible for everyone, depending on how you buy your prey items. I buy mine in bulk, so having some of every size isn't a problem. Are you buying from a local pet store or a Petco/Petsmart type store where prey is prepackaged? If you're buying from a local pet store, see if you can hand pick your prey items to be the appropriate size. When I was buying for just a few snakes, that's what I did so that everyone could have a 'custom' meal size. Just a thought for you.

Hopefully the 1 1/2 pinks goes better than the double pinks. And just wait until Ares is older, they can do lots of things that startle you...I have some corns that come flying out of their tubs, mouths open at their mice and then coil around them to 'kill it' (and then stay like that for 10 or 15 minutes to make sure it's really 'dead'). Of course, I do have a few that are 'Here mom, I'll open my mouth and you just can drop my dinner in' kind of snakes. Silly critters.
Click to expand...

Yes, I get my pinkies from the pet store.. but I didn't ever think to ask to pick them out myself.. don't know if they will let me, but I can certainly ask.

Yeah, he startled me because he just suddenly jerked forward to strike lol. I will be more prepared next time.

Thanks for the advice about sizes etc.
 
It certainly can't hurt to ask at the pet store. Our local pet store has pre-boxed frozen feeders, but if the sizes are a little off (when we first got our hatchlings, the pre-boxed ones tended to be on the large size, and the manager said to just ask the staff for some from their stock in back...they brought out a huge bag and hand-picked the smaller ones for me :)
 
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