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Tips and Tricks

Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt

i loev cronsankes
Stuff you wish you'd known before you bought your first snake.


  • sterilite boxes make fine living areas, and are often a tenth of the cost of glass aquaria
  • the hides at the petstore are insanely overpriced and your snake with be perfectly happy with recycled tp rolls and cereal boxes
  • if you order mice a size higher than what your snake is eating you can cut them in half until it reaches that size and avoid leftovers and extra shipping weight
  • watching babies grow is delightful, but adults are proven eaters who aren't as likely to die out of the blue
  • nearly everything you need for your snake can be bought for much cheaper somewhere other than a petstore
 
LOL Lexie! But I do think that cutting a size up of mice could not have the full nuitrients that the snake needs, thats just me.
 
But I would think that instead if the snake getting half and half a mouse over 2 weeks why not just give the snake the normal size it would eat? This confuses me!
 
So you don't have to pay for tons of the smaller size that they'll be moved out of in a month? Anyways Boo grew like crazy when I was giving him Mouse's leftover pink-bodies. They'll digest it better, it's like slitting the backs to the extreme.
 
No, Lexie. Slitting would still have the mouse intact (I do that for my '09s every other week) but I feel like it is much better for the snake if it gets everything in one sitting. It is much more natural and the snake needs certain parts. If the upper body has certain critical protiens, carbs, calories, fats and other vitamins that the second half doesn't have then the snake has to wait a week to get the full supplement.
 
diamondlil said:
Lexie's right, if the mouse is split lengthwise!
Click to expand...

if its split length wise, you still wont get everything in every bite, would you?
im not an expert on mouse anatomy... but in humans the heart is only on one side of the body, i imagine mice have some similarities

with the frequency that snakes are fed in captivity, i would think that they could wait every other feeding to get some of those "essential nutrients"
but im not an expert...
anyone that would like to rip me a new one... feel free, i wont get offended and i just might learn something new...
 
True, but still would the snake be getting the full dietary needs? I would much rather spend the extra money to make sure the snake exactally what it needs and nothing less?
 
gelshark said:
if its split length wise, you still wont get everything in every bite, would you?
im not an expert on mouse anatomy... but in humans the heart is only on one side of the body, i imagine mice have some similarities

with the frequency that snakes are fed in captivity, i would think that they could wait every other feeding to get some of those "essential nutrients"
but im not an expert...
anyone that would like to rip me a new one... feel free, i wont get offended and i just might learn something new...
Click to expand...
You don't need a new one ripped, your question makes sense! I wouldn't give a split pink routinely, but if you have no mice small enough and are waiting for an order to come in it's a good solution IMO
 
Thats fine J9. But if you feed it everyday I feel like malnourishment could follow and no one wants that right?
 
snakemaster24 said:
Thats fine J9. But if you feed it everyday I feel like malnourishment could follow and no one wants that right?
Click to expand...
Have a look at the nutritional analysis of vertebrate prey on the rodentpro site. When Lil was a non-feeder having to have mouse-puree syringed into her I actually used a mixtuure of pinks and fuzzies to blend, simply because making up a batch to freeze of just pinks used up so many.

Prey species n DM Crude Protein% CrudeFat% Ash% Gross energy kcal/g
Mouse, domestic
Mus domesticus 287 19.1 64.2 17.0 9.7 4.87ª Neonatal, <3 g
Mouse, domestic
Mus domesticus 292 18.2 44.2 30.1 8.5 6.65ª Juvenile, 3-10 g
Mouse, domestic
Mus domesticus 108 32.7 55.8 23.6 11.8 5.25ª Adult or >10 g
Here's a link to the article;
http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp
 
diamondlil said:
I wouldn't give a split pink routinely, but if you have no mice small enough and are waiting for an order to come in it's a good solution IMO
Click to expand...

I agree Janine, as a short term solution.. definitely not
for long term.
It's best to order correct size prey items, but in a pinch...
 
If you look at that, only one item doubles so if you split a fuzzie they would only get a small precentage of certain elements. I still think that it would be much better for the well being of the snake, to get a full mouse. I would spend the extra money and give the pinks as snacks every now and again after normal meals or between meals.
 
snakemaster24 said:
If you look at that, only one item doubles so if you split a fuzzie they would only get a small precentage of certain elements. I still think that it would be much better for the well being of the snake, to get a full mouse. I would spend the extra money and give the pinks as snacks every now and again after normal meals or between meals.
Click to expand...
I don't give snacks between meals at all personally. I would give appropriately sized prey at each meal. But if I only had large pinks, for example, and was having to wait 2 weeks for small ones on order, I'd split a large pink lengthwise without worrying too much.
 
I mean thats fine. I offer a few snakes small delectables usually just when I have an overage like I thawed to many mice I give Jasmine a fuzzie or two. Or Doc gets a large pinkie. I am not trying to make this thread some mega fight or anything just concerned. :)
 
i would be more worried about over feeding with "snacks" then about a feeding a split this or that
the regurge protocol calls for smaller food items than normal for a few weeks and ample time for them to rebuild their gastric fluids, during this time the snake gets no nutrients
and often the smaller food item consists of a pink's head to accommodate a smaller food item
that being said, a big part of this would probably depend on the frequency that you feed your snake, if it is a half every two weeks then i could see the effects being greater than if you heed a half ever 3-4 days
when i got my first snake, i fed her every week one whole pink, i dont really see the difference between that and if i would have fed her a half pink twice a week
but i could be wrong
btw... i am still waiting to be ripped a new one
 
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