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How to deal with an underweight snake.

Plissken

Plissken

Crazy Snail Lady
Hello everyone. I'm hoping to get some advice.

I've just acquired a snake who in the past hasn't been feeding terribly well. He wasn't treated very nicely by his previous owner and has been stressed for some time. He looks awfully skinny to me, but I'm not sure when a snake stops being "small but all right" to underweight. I haven't managed to weigh him I'm afraid, but he's 7 months old and measures around 16" long.

Is this a very unusual length for a snake his age?
If he is underweight, should he be fed more often to help him grow? Or can he be fed as is normal?

Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
 
Plissken said:
Hello everyone. I'm hoping to get some advice.

I've just acquired a snake who in the past hasn't been feeding terribly well. He wasn't treated very nicely by his previous owner and has been stressed for some time. He looks awfully skinny to me, but I'm not sure when a snake stops being "small but all right" to underweight. I haven't managed to weigh him I'm afraid, but he's 7 months old and measures around 16" long.

Is this a very unusual length for a snake his age?
If he is underweight, should he be fed more often to help him grow? Or can he be fed as is normal?

Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

when mine was underweight i fed her twice a week. and she got to normal size within a month. hope this helps
 
Could you give a few details first, eg. what size of food is s/he on, How often is s/he fed...

To bulk up a snake the easiest way to do it is increase the prey number (not size) and the amount of times it is fed...

Maybe try 2 or 3 of what s/he is feeding on every 5 or 6 days for a month or so and i bet you will soon see a change :)

However don't powerfeed... this can cause your snake to grow too rapidly and ultimatley cause your snake major problems later on in life and probably lead to an early death.
 
I found cutting the backs of the prey (easier on pinkies and fuzzies) also help snakes bulk up back to weight.
 
Baba-Lou said:
I found cutting the backs of the prey (easier on pinkies and fuzzies) also help snakes bulk up back to weight.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the supplemental calcium and vitamins!
 
Tula_Montage said:
Could you give a few details first, eg. what size of food is s/he on, How often is s/he fed...
Click to expand...

He's currently feeding on two pinkies at a time, and atm I'd be aiming to feed him once every six or seven days. I've only just got him, so I'm waiting for him to settle in before I attempt to feed him; I might try with a feed on Tuesday. Trouble is, he isn't the best feeder in the world, so I'm really hoping I can turn that around. The person I got him from said he wasn't eating well due to stress, and would probably pick up once he'd settled in with me.

Baba-Lou said:
I found cutting the backs of the prey (easier on pinkies and fuzzies) also help snakes bulk up back to weight.
Click to expand...

How does this help the snake grow?
 
I don't know HOW it works, but it works.

A while back, Connie H did a study in which she cut the skin of pinky mice and gave them to a group of hatchlings. She also had a control group of hatchlings that received un-cut mice. After several weeks she found that the hatchlings eating the cut mice were significantly larger and heavier than those eating un-cut mice. She posted the results on this board.
 
With F/T'ed pnikies, I will split the skin from the nape of the neck to the rear hips.. Seems to aid in the digestion, the tummy is able to digest the softer tissues sooner. Hench more nutrients from the rodent... Remember, this is done on F/T'ed not on live..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
TandJ said:
Remember, this is done on F/T'ed not on live..Regards.. Tim of T and J
Click to expand...
:crazy02:
I also cut the skin of f/t and Freya has bulked up nicely but not too much, I do not want to power-feed her ;)
Even thought it might seem logical that it is done ONLY on f/t, it is always good to remind that it is NOT on live mice!
 
Even thought it might seem logical that it is done ONLY on f/t, it is always good to remind that it is NOT on live mice!
Sometimes you never know what people think.. I would just hate to hear that someone split open a live mouse and then they blame it on my advice being incomplete, because I failed to mention the F/t aspect of it.. I totally agree with you jenkva that it should be common sense..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
abell82 said:
Don't forget the supplemental calcium and vitamins!
Click to expand...
My mice are spoiled. Their haelthier then the mice from the local petstore. I've already sold off some nice plump adult f/t mice to a nice fellow.

As for cutting their backs. It makes it so the snakes juices can digest the mouse faster by allowing the juices to also work from the inside out, instead of always outside in (this is where some folks get the problem with halfdigested mice)
 
TandJ said:
I would just hate to hear that someone split open a live mouse...
Click to expand...
My heart got tight just at the thought of the suffering of the mouse should someone do it....
 
I've been slicing the backs of the F/T mice I give Trav, I slice down the back from the neck to rear hips, like Tim. He's growing like a weed, this is also because he's on fuzzies and not pinks anymore of course, but the cutting does aid with his digestion and his lumps go quicker when sliced.
I powder with Nutribal every 3rd feeding.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to try a feed tomorrow, and I will be cutting the mice (f/t, don't worry!) I'm really nervous about trying to get him to eat...I don't like him looking so skinny.
 
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