Pinky to Fuzzy for Fussy

Long time snake lover, first time corn owner. I have a question about feeding my Amel named Comet. He or she is about 8 to 10 months old and was a father's day present to me in early June of this year. Last I measured about 4-6 weeks ago Comet was 19 inches and 23 grams (mixing English and metric, I know ).

I decided to buy 50 fuzzies and try them in late June. I have tried a fuzzy twice over the past two month, to no avail. Definitely shows interest, and sizes up and down, but eventually turns down. Each time seemingly had no problems going back to pinkies.

However I did have a potential problem for about a month, Comet was refusing pinkies. One week I noticed the skin a bit duller than normal so thought it was getting ready to shed, and stopped offering food that week (after not eating or three weeks). Eventually went blue, and eyes cleared up and it shed, and gobbled up three pinkies last week, then I gave it another three pinkies today, no problems.

All in all from reading some stories I think I have a mildly picky eater on my hands. My question is- should I: 1. go ahead and invest in say 50 frozen pinkies, or 2. keep buying them a la carte at the pet shop monthly and try the fuzzy every month or so?

I am afraid to keep offering fuzzies with the fear of completely screwing up Comet's eating habits (worst case Comet refusing to eat anything).

I guess having said all of that, my question is should I continue to feed pinkies for the next 3-4 months? Then I could try fuzzies again. Any advice? I feed Comet once per week (Sunday), does anybody feed their snake 4 pinkies per week? Any thoughts would be appreciated on how to continue and ramp up from here.

Sometimes they get weird about switching to furred mice. How big are the fuzzies in comparison to the snake's diameter? If a snake thinks a meal is too big, or not right or whatever, it's generally best to believe them. Many times when a snake has initially refused, and I have taken measures like reheating, slitting, leaving the snake with the food a long time- I end up with a regurge. You're VERY close, though, to him definitely being big enough to eat fuzzies- but they vary from 5-9 grams, so I'd start with the smallest peach fuzzies you can find, and as long as you are POSITIVE they aren't too big, make them more appealing by slitting the back and skull in several places, and serving really hot.

Are you able to buy smaller peach fuzzies at the pet store, just to get him started?

I don't even know if this would help, but a small rat pink is the same size as a fuzzy and has no fur. Maybe try one to see if fur is the issue? I know most on this forum don't recommend rats, but mine ate them for quite a long time and they're healthy. (I have switched to mice for about a year now)

I'd be a not recommender. They can get hooked on rat pinks and be difficult to get off rats.

Originally Posted by Nanci

Sometimes they get weird about switching to furred mice. How big are the fuzzies in comparison to the snake's diameter? If a snake thinks a meal is too big, or not right or whatever, it's generally best to believe them. Many times when a snake has initially refused, and I have taken measures like reheating, slitting, leaving the snake with the food a long time- I end up with a regurge. You're VERY close, though, to him definitely being big enough to eat fuzzies- but they vary from 5-9 grams, so I'd start with the smallest peach fuzzies you can find, and as long as you are POSITIVE they aren't too big, make them more appealing by slitting the back and skull in several places, and serving really hot.

Are you able to buy smaller peach fuzzies at the pet store, just to get him started?

I would say fuzzy is 50% thicker than Comet.

Originally Posted by hoovajr

I would say fuzzy is 50% thicker than Comet.

That is exactly the size you want it to be. See if you can get a few peach fuzzies to start out with, and choose the smallest of the furrier ones.