Snake feeding schedule

[David_F]

I've been away from keeping snakes for a while and have never kept a snake with a metabolism quite like this so I'm a bit curious.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can help me out.

I've got an adult S. miliarius streckeri. I've been feeding him two large hopper mice a week, one on Tuesday and another on Saturday. Read that two every seven to 10 days was good. He eats right on schedule and with no problems. Defecates two to four days after each meal. What I'm wondering is 1: Is this a good schedule for the species? and 2: Should I keep this a constant thing or give him break from a feeding or two every so often to avoid any health issues (impaction, obesity, etc.)?

Thanks for any info.

 

[ballpython2]

I've been away from keeping snakes for a while and have never kept a snake with a metabolism quite like this so I'm a bit curious.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can help me out.

I've got an adult S. miliarius streckeri. I've been feeding him two large hopper mice a week, one on Tuesday and another on Saturday. Read that two every seven to 10 days was good. He eats right on schedule and with no problems. Defecates two to four days after each meal. What I'm wondering is 1: Is this a good schedule for the species? and 2: Should I keep this a constant thing or give him break from a feeding or two every so often to avoid any health issues (impaction, obesity, etc.)?

Thanks for any info.

how active are these snakes?

I don't know what kind of snake that is, however all baby/juveniles should be fed either twice a week or two appropriate sized meal items at once.

I feed my year old baby carpets pythons two - thee mice a week but it depends on what comes first. I wait either until they poop which usually takes no less than two days later or if three day or more days have passed since
They last ate which ever comes first.

My snakes are real active so I always take them outsid with me keep their minds/tongues going.
And as far as I know impaction can only happen of there is damage to the cloaca or somehing is swallowed that can't pass through like too much substrate

 

[Lucas339]

i don't use defication as a sign of needing to feed. this can be a problem when snakes retain feces for a while. my GTP comes to mind. it defecates once maybe twice a month.

i stick to a strict feeding schedule. my young animals get fed every 5 days and my older animals get fed every 7 and my adults, every other week. i go by the 10% of body weight rule unless that doesn't show a significant buldge in the animals.

 

[LeilaNami]

Going by what a herpetologist told me, all my snakes ranging from babies to adults get fed once every couple of weeks

 

[ballpython2]

i don't use defication as a sign of needing to feed. this can be a problem when snakes retain feces for a while. my GTP comes to mind. it defecates once maybe twice a month.

i stick to a strict feeding schedule. my young animals get fed every 5 days and my older animals get fed every 7 and my adults, every other week. i go by the 10% of body weight rule unless that doesn't show a significant buldge in the animals.

Lucas has a point not all snakes can be fed based on release of feces because some will 'store' it for a rainy day lol. In a case like his you measure feeding by days. If my snakes were like his I'd wait five days or more also at least five.

 

[codykrr]

hey david its a male!:8o im sorry i know he sure was pretty though

anyhow. id say stick to your regimin. and slow down in the winter months since they will be in a den for he winter id also give a cooling period maybe mid 60s. from my understandings they gorge themselves during the summer months and then retreat to the den in the winter. kinda like a hibernation. but. you could always keep him warm and just feed less during the winter. personally i feed once a week. but thats just the regimine ive always used.

oh and maybe next summer we can find him a female!

 

[Lucas339]

i would only slow down feeding if you are going to brumate the animal. you don't have to do this. i never have with my hognose. the real reason to do this in captivity is for breeding. i have never herd of any health problems associated by not putting the animal into brumation.

 

[David_F]

Thanks for the info, folks. I'll give it all some more thought and observe the snake to see what he "tells" me.

Yep, Cody. Pretty positive it's male. Now that I'm sure, I'm planning to set up his house this weekend. Then it's time for pics.

Going by what a herpetologist told me....

What did the herpetologist tell you?

 

[tarantulaperson]

snake feeding help

my snake is 3 ft long and 3/4 of an inch tall i have been feeding him once a week but lately he has been wanting more food. hw often should i feed him?

 

[David_F]

my snake is 3 ft long and 3/4 of an inch tall i have been feeding him once a week but lately he has been wanting more food. hw often should i feed him?

What kind of snake is it and what have you been feeding it?

 

[tarantulaperson]

it is a garter snake and it eats mice

 

[David_F]

I've only kept garter snakes for very short periods of time so can't really help much. Hopefully one of the other people who have posted here will check in and maybe they can give you some advice. Good luck, man.

 

[LeilaNami]

What did the herpetologist tell you?

That many snakes in captivity are obese compared to what they would be in the wild. I told him what I feed and he approves.

 

[David_F]

Okay. I may be over-analyzing things but....

Has anyone here ever kept this species (actually, any of the pigmy rattlesnakes) before?

It's been 16+ days since this fella has eaten. He looks healthy to me and has the typical attitude one would expect but I'm not accustomed to this kind of feeding pattern. I'm used to snakes that eat every time food is offered.Maybe he's just screwing with me. He went off-feed right after I posted this thread. Still, it'd be nice to hear from folks who know the nature of this species (though I do appreciate the input from others so far ).

Is this normal? Right now I'm just making sure he has clean water and offering food on the regular days hoping he decides to eat. Anything else I can do or......?

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,
David

 

[David_F]

Update:

Sometimes being wrong is nice.
Found some babies in with the "male" pygmy yesterday. Good news: three lived. Bad news: two didn't. I'm not sure what happened with those two. They looked great but were dead as hammers when I got home from work.

So....I know I won't need to feed those two. But the other three are a different story. Planning to start them on newborn pink mice (whole or parts if that's what it takes) as soon as they shed. Thing is, I found a shed skin that is baby snake size in the enlcosure tonight. They weren't in there more than 12 hours before I found them. WTH? Is that possible? They shouldn't shed until after a week, give or take a day or two, right? One does look lighter than the other two. Should I go ahead and see if they'll eat?

Momma still hasn't eaten so I'll toss a few fuzzies to her throughout the next week.

 

[Lucas339]

i would wait until they all have shed out. the one that shed will be ok for a while without food. the rule of thumb is a week, but with nature, rules were meant to be broken!!

 

[theanimalbin]

I'm not sure since I'm not knowledgeable on snakes. However I've heard people feeding once a week since it takes that long to digest. And when they go a long time without eating, its sometimes normal because of something.. I forget what its called.

 

[David_F]

Thanks Lucas.

I hate sounding like such a n00b, especially with this species, but, essentially, I am new. First time I've kept the species and first time I've had to deal with neonates born from one of my own snakes.

They've all shed now. The third one had a bit of trouble with the skin on its head but raising the humidity and giving it a rock to rub on fixed that. I offered them pinkie heads today (the mother ate the bodies so nothing went to waste) but they still don't seem to want to eat. Still living on reserves from the yolk? I'm thinking of giving them anole tails if they don't eat mice/mouse parts. If that doesn't work, does anyone know where I might be able to obtain hatchling skinks or, preferably, hatchling Sceloporus sp.?

Thanks for all the help, folks. I really appreciate it.

 

[Lucas339]

give them sometime. they may just be living off yolk reserves still. wait a week and offer agian. senting may work but then getting them back on rodents can be tricky. i haven't worked with this speices with that but have had problems with others on that.

 

[samatwwe]

I've been away from keeping snakes for a while and have never kept a snake with a metabolism quite like this so I'm a bit curious.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can help me out.

I've got an adult S. miliarius streckeri. I've been feeding him two large hopper mice a week, one on Tuesday and another on Saturday. Read that two every seven to 10 days was good. He eats right on schedule and with no problems. Defecates two to four days after each meal. What I'm wondering is 1: Is this a good schedule for the species? and 2: Should I keep this a constant thing or give him break from a feeding or two every so often to avoid any health issues (impaction, obesity, etc.)?

Thanks for any info.

Sounds good, I feed my snakes all once a week. When I feed two items to one snake, I dont spread it out, I just give one and about a half hour later give it the other mouse/rat.