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Am I under/over or feeding my snake just right?

Taz Monkey

Taz Monkey

New member
I got Fluffy on June 24th. The first time I weighed her was right after her first meal, because I didn't realize I had a scale that measured in grams until after she ate. She weighed 140 g. I weighed her before her last meal, yesteday, and she was 150g. She eats once a week. She's eating 1 adult medium mouse. This is what is says on the box I bought from PetSmart, but honestly they look A LOT smaller than an adult medium mouse. they are about 12 g, which is hopper size, right? So that's what she's eating. i really see no lump at all now, so I'm thinking of moving up a size but the sizes and availability of the mice at my local store is so sporadic I never know what I can get. I just got these mice at Petsmart because I was there, but the nearest one is 45 minutes away. I think she's female too, but not sure. Should I feed her once a week, or less?
 
It's hard for us to tell you over the 'net what you should be feeding, but I would err on the side of caution and feed something a little smaller rather than something that might be too big. I'm assuming you are going by the Munson plan, but realize that it's only a guide and is actually a little aggressive. Personally, I follow the Munson plan very loosely and usually wait until the snake is well within the suggested weigh before moving up. I also make sure that it doesn't break the 'no more than 1.5 times the girth of the snake' rule. But if you see no lump, you are probably fine to move up.

You also have to take your corn's body condition into account. If she's skinny, go more, if she's fat, go less. But once a week is probably fine until she is on full size adults. At that point, evaluate again and perhaps start with every 10 days as long as she is still growing.
 
When I feed, I put Fluff in her container in a cabinet, to keep curious kitties from disturbing her. When I went to get her back out last night I could literally not tell she had eaten. No lump. The mouse she ate is about the same size she is around, no bigger. But like I said, it's hit or miss what I can get at the pet store as far as mice. since she's 150g, she's almost to the top of the size range to be eating weanlings, which I have yet to be able to find anywhere. I'm hoping to find some good mice at the expo here in my town at the end of the month, where I don't have to buy 100 at a time. Or maybe I'll just have to buy enough snakes that will take care of 100 mice... ;)
 
Hit the expo. They're good. I've been able to get 50 at the Havre de Grace show, and if you get small adults/big weanlings, which Fluffy can handle just fine, she should be good on those for quite a while. Your new babies will need pinks and/or fuzzies, but if Fluffy's food is a bit small for her you can add one of those to the mix-- that's what I was doing for Wisp When I still had her hoppers and she needed a bit more. Anyway, Fluffy is a lovely healthy snake, and considering how she's growing, I think you're doing fine regardless.
 
To be honest, I've never weighed a mouse. But I am only working with 4 sizes of mice: pinkies, fuzzies, hoppers and adults. I do the ordering of mice for the store I work at and that's all that's available from the supplier. To be sure, the sizes differ (especially at different times of year), so I just kind of eye-ball them and give a smaller adult to the ones barely eating adults, or even a big hopper if the adults are huge that week. Same for "big fuzzie" and "small fuzzie". I wouldn't stress too much about the exact size of the meal if you're not able to get a certain size. Mine ate hoppers until they were big enough for an adult.

I checked my records and for him/her to have gained about 10 g in that time period, it sounds like you're doing good and it seems mostly consistent with what I'm seeing in similar sized snakes. My 50 g snake gained almost 20 g in the same period though! He's a growing boy. LOL
 
12g is way smaller than an adult mouse so the box you got either put the wrong mice in or was mislabled or something. We raise our own feeder mice and they weigh 25-30 grams and they arent completely full grown yet.
 
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