Too large prey item?

[sarcare]

I honestly tried to search this question first--but "too large" is too general of a search term and I wasn't sure what other terms would be used. So if anyone can direct me to a thread that would be super.

Anyway, today I fed my amel her first fuzzie, and I think it was too big for her. She was slurping down two pinkies before in less then five min, and at 25~ grams she seemed ready. But it took a good 15 min to eat the fuzzy, with a long time with the mouse half out of the mouth. She flung herself around and contorted herself into different positions trying to get it down.

Here she is after she finally got it down:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/sarcare/firstfuzzy006.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/sarcare/firstfuzzy028.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/sarcare/firstfuzzy029.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/sarcare/firstfuzzy037.jpg

I put her back in the viv directly, without handling her, and I haven't seen her, which is pretty typical.
How can I tell if it was too big?
And what can I do now to make sure she isn't adversely impacted by this last meal?

[Susielea]

The general rule of thumb, is to feed a prey item 1 to 1 and a half times the girth of the snake at it's widest point (around the midsection). I think you will probably be ok with the fuzzy that she's eaten, although a little distended, I wouldn't say that was too big :)

Here's a link to a good feeding guide, written by one of our members, that may help you in future :)

http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50106

Hope that helps,

[sarcare]

Thanks, I think I just needed to hear that she doesn't look like she is going to POP! I've read the munson plan, and had thought to move her up to fuzzies at her weight. The fuzzy was in this plastic bag and I defrosted it before I got a good look, since I didn't want to get the mouse smell everywhere. Once it got out I thought it was too big, but thought to giver her a chance.

[Susielea]

What I do when bumping up sizes, especially if I think it may be a little big, is to alternate double pinks one feed and a small fuzzy the next for a few feeds, before sticking with the small fuzzy, so you may want to try this :)

Of course if she still has a large bump after a few days, it may be a little soon to switch her and you could wait a few more feeds before trying again :)

Best wishes,

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

looks ok to me. Generally If one eats two pinks regularly, it is ready to move up to the next size, Susielea also already said it should be size apropriate to girth. :licklips:

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

P.S., pretty snake!

[sarcare]

Thanks--I was intellectually ready for the move, but the fuzzy looked so big once it was next to the snake, who could not figure how to get her mouth around it. Since she was eating pinks it wasn't hard for her to munch from most angles, but this only would go down any other way then the right way.

[Nanci]

I guess I'd sort through the bag and find the very smallest fuzzies, and feed them first! And make sure I was making nice deep slits.

[sarcare]

I was supposed to be slitting them? Ok, How do I do that so it is least gross with the most benefit?

[Nanci]

I use a tiny scissors and make about four snips on the back after thawing. It's not gross at all. Cutting a fuzzy in half is gross.