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how much is too much

K

Kraggack

New member
Hi i was just wondering and i know there are alot of answers but is it better to feed my snake one pinky every 7 days or two and it has to be a 7 day schedule cause i use live and can only get them once a week here.
When i got Krishna(my snake) petco who i hate but i refuse to buy from my local pet shop, anyway they were feeding him feeder gold fish every 7 days. Once i got him i immediatly went to pinkies for his first feeding; and only fed him one.
Today was his second feeding and he seemed hungry so i got two pinkies, the first one went fast didnt even wait for me to set him down he just struck and started eating. the next one he circled it for a bit but finally ate it and seemed to do just fine.
So do you guys think one two three or just whatever as long as he eats??

Thanks for any responses.
 
Amounts to feed and time between feeding depends on the size of the snake. Check out the Munson Plan for really good guidelines. It's in a sticky, or you could search. There are a few other questions that come up based on your info. Is your snake a corn snake? If so, mice are the simplest, nutrionally satisfactory choice for him for the rest of his life. A rough way to estimate size of prey is that it should be about 1.5 times the girth of the snake iat the widest part of the snake's body.

Just wondering, why are you choosing to feed live? While there's no danger from pinkies, larger mice can and do cause injuries to snakes when fed live. These injuries can range from annoying to fatal. Consider feeding frozen/thawed mice instead, as most people on this forum recommend. You can buy in bulk from a variety of sources online. They're also available in smaller quantities from local pet stores. That way your snake's food is always convenient and always safe.

Best of luck, and welcome to the hobby!
 
I follow the munson plan pretty closely and i prefer live feeders i know it has its bad parts but i feel its a snake and still pretty much a wild animal i feel i keep him in a cage so the least i can do is let him have some "fun" while eating.
my real question i guess is as long as he seems hungry and eats can i keep feeding (up to a set limit of course) and what would seem like too much for one feeding?
 
Caryl said:
Is your snake a corn snake? If so, mice are the simplest, nutrionally satisfactory choice for him for the rest of his life.



yes he is a corn snake and i know to feed him mice that was just the idiots at petco were feeding him goldfish.
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Kraggack said:
I follow the munson plan pretty closely and i prefer live feeders i know it has its bad parts but i feel its a snake and still pretty much a wild animal i feel i keep him in a cage so the least i can do is let him have some "fun" while eating.
my real question i guess is as long as he seems hungry and eats can i keep feeding (up to a set limit of course) and what would seem like too much for one feeding?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure they care if they have fun or not while eating...but I'll let that one go. If you follow the Munson plan then you know it suggests 1-2 food items depending on the size of the snake. Thats pretty much the max they can handle safely. If given the chance, they will eat and eat and eat...but this can cause regurges and fat snakes.
 
Your snake may continue to look for food after you feed. My snake is about 10 years old and still acts that way sometimes, and I've seen people post the same about younger snakes.
It's up to you to regulate how much your snake eats to keep it healthy. If you're following that plan stick to it and observe how it works for your snake. If it doesn't work adjust it to fit your snake's needs.
Don't feed your snake extra for their mental well being, I don't think they have a mental.
 
i dont just feed him to feed him or because he looks hungry i understand schedules i just wanted to know if there was a limit, an amount you should not feed your snake. and as for the "fun" part i know its not fun and im aware its an animal which means no real feelings or emotions of sorts but if you still had primitive instinct from only being domesticated for a short time. eating live animals is more natural thats why i feed them live.
 
And it's totally unnecessary. "Primitive instinct" is has no scientific value. The animal needs to eat, have proper temps, water and shelter. If it's a male, it may eventually seek a mate. Anthropomorphism.
 
so if it doesnt matter at all then why is it some snakes wont eat frozen only live its just a matter of preference why i do it should not be in question nor should the fact of me doing it. i dont tell people not to feed there snakes frozen they need to switch to live. every body characterizes* (dont think its spelt right) there animals i like to think as my pet it would prefer live to frozen. whether it really does or doesnt.
 
To your first question.
Feed it one food item per feeding. (pinky/wean/hopper) whatever it is.

And... It is easier to get you snake to fed on f/t now than latter when it more dangerous for you snake to be eating live.
 
So you would prefer to do what you do whether it has value or not? Okay.

FWIW, I see some merit in logical reasons those who prefer feeding live pose.
 
Kraggack said:
so if it doesnt matter at all then why is it some snakes wont eat frozen only live
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That is damn rare in corns. I've bred mostly w/c corns over the years, I'm not sure I EVER had a specimen I couldn't get on thawed, and quickly. Some gray bands kings, sure. But even they "prefer" live because they haven't developed a strong feeding response. "Food" doesn't equate to them yet. Once they make the connection, they "follow their nose" when hungry.
Kraggack said:
its just a matter of preference why i do it should not be in question nor should the fact of me doing it.
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I do not understand a bit of this sentence.
Kraggack said:
i dont tell people not to feed there snakes frozen they need to switch to live.
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Well, there aren't proven downsides to feeding frozen! If frozen mice could bite your snake's eye out, you have a point.
Kraggack said:
every body characterizes* (dont think its spelt right) there animals i like to think as my pet it would prefer live to frozen. whether it really does or doesnt.
Click to expand...
"Spelt" was your only misspelling, outside of "there". Seriously, I'm not trying to fight with you, and I'm all about people trying new things and venturing away from caresheets. That's how the hobby grows, often. This is just an issue that has been beaten into the ground. If you want to feed live, go for it! Odds are you'll never have a problem.
 
what i mean is if you feed frozen great if i feed live great but just because i say im feeding live it doesnt need to provoke people into preaching that frozen is better, both are just as acceptable given one the live one can cause harm but then again so can alot of things. and if we wanna be picky elrojo i didnt misspell there it was only grammatically incorrect.

i dont mean to start a fight but i only asked about a feeding limitiation than damn near everyone posting went into how i should switch to frozen when it was not the point or even relevant.
 
You posted a question that could easily be answered by searching for the munson plan or reading the stickies at the top of the page.

This stirring lack of insight into how the forum works or the prevalent opinion of this board, ie, that you should search for your answer before posing a question and that f/t is prefered over live due to the damage that can be caused to the snake, is not necessarily the best way to start a conversation about this topic here.

EXPECT there to be several people who actively disagree with your decision to feed live when it is not required by the feeding habits of your snake.

Please, before posting, do your research into what has already been discussed on this board, as there is a WEALTH of information from some of the largest corn snake producers available here. No one is attempting to "preach" at you, but continuing to argue about it isn't helping you OR your snake.

Feed what is recommended by the munson plan. If issues arise, such as regurge or refusals, CONTINUE to follow the advise contained herein to assist in getting your snake through these issues in a healthy fashion.

I apologize if this seems snippy, but the tone of your posts, especially with the instructions that are listed at the top of this forum, was completely inappropriate.
 
there are posts to say you can feed your snake too much and ones saying you can feed them not enough. my snake is healthy i only asked what a decent limit should be not that i would go to it just curious. but i still have no real answer except on what i should feed him, which i know. i dont mean to start a fight either or have a attitude but not one of these posts really answered my question. when asked why i fed live i get people posting me with attitude for my reasoning
 
There was at least one post indicating that you should feed 1 to 2 appropriately sized prey items based on the weight/girth of your snake. More then this may result in regurge.
 
Actually, there were at least three. Kraggack, you stated that you "follow the Munson plan pretty closely." In that case, you already had the answer you requested; feed 1-2 appropriately sized prey items.

If you're actually wondering if the snake is still hungry because it's willing to eat more at one time, that's because in nature they sometimes come upon a group/nest of prey items and will at times eat more than is ideal. Too much prey in the stomach can lead to a regurge, for a variety of reasons. The fact that your snake WILL eat more doesn't mean s/he SHOULD. It's kind of like some people at a smorgasbord. If the food is available, it may get eaten even if is isn't necessary or desirable.

And as for the live/pre-killed squabble, please understand that we are concerned about the snake's health and are recommending what is proven best for the snake. Your responses don't appear to recognize this. We know, your snake is yours and the choice of how to feed it is yours as well. That doesn't prevent us from wanting the best care for him/her.
 
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Kraggack said:
there are posts to say you can feed your snake too much and ones saying you can feed them not enough. my snake is healthy i only asked what a decent limit should be not that i would go to it just curious. but i still have no real answer except on what i should feed him, which i know. i dont mean to start a fight either or have a attitude but not one of these posts really answered my question. when asked why i fed live i get people posting me with attitude for my reasoning
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That's because your reasoning is faulty.
You feed live to give your snake "fun".
Snakes don't experiance "fun".

And your "live is natural" argument is full of holes as well. There is nothing natural about keeping a snake in a vivarium in the first place!

What IS natural is a hatchling having a 1 in 50 chance of surviving its first year.
What IS natural is a snake getting eaten by a hawk.

It's also "natural" for dogs to die of distemper or rabies, but because they are our PETS we innoculate them against disease, because it's what's best for them. Although it's "natural" for dogs to hunt for their food, we feed them out of bags and cans and don't expect them to run down a deer. When they become our pets, they are no longer wild animals. We do what's best for them and throw "natural" out the window. Nature is cruel.

I have fed thawed for 13 years, and up until last week had never had a problem. Due to a freak accident a piece of hardware cloth that was sticking inside a thawed mouse got in my snakes throat. But it was a freak accident.

With the number of snakes I've had over the past 13 years, if I fed live I'm sure I would have had an incident ALOT sooner. A mouse can take out a snake's eye before you can stop it, and you can't blame the mouse. It just wants to live. The most experianced and EDUCATED keepers feed thawed food.
Feeding live has little benefit to the snake, and ALOT of risk.
And it's cruel to the mouse, which can feel pain and fear just like any other creature can.
I personally have no use for anyone who feeds live when there is no need to.
It's just cruelty disguised as something else...
 
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