5 Month Old Nelson Feedings

[Meltos]

Hello, I will introduce myself, as i am new here. It's nice to see such a large forum, very active and a large Milk snake Topic too, I don't often see this. Anyway to the point, it has arisen me that maybe its time to change to fuzzy mice or feed my milk snake 2 Pinkies once every 4 days.

He/She is 5 month's old now and is getting a Pinkie every 4 days, Everything is fine, No problems eating, ever. While feeding him today, he went on a (as you would say) feeding frenzy. I know this is normal, but its the first time its happened in the month i have had him, He was striking for m hand at the glass and the wood i was putting back into the vivarium.

So like i said, Should I move to 2 Pinkies each sitting (and/or even extend the days to 5 instead of 4) Or Change him to Fuzzie mice (And/or change to 5 instead of 4) or just leave how he is, and if so, When is a good time to change.

Please Reply, Much Appreciated, As i never really get a reply. Please Help, If you can't, you could even give me some websites with useful tips on feeding the milk snakes. Thank you, Scott

 

[Karen Hulvey]

Hi and welcome.

A good time to up the mouse size is when, after you feed him, you no longer see the lump in his belly. But whichever you choose, 2 pinks or 1 small fuzzy, is okay. Whatever is more convenient for you.

It sounds like you have a good eater on your hands. I really love the feeding frenzy that some of my snakes get into. They get all excited and grab anything in their paths.

Any pics of your little darlin'?

 

[Clay Davenport]

I find that more often than not people with less experiece are too conservative when it comes to prey size. They wait significantly longer than necessary to move on to the next size.
Nothing wrong with feeding multiples of a small prey size, but it's often not appreciated just what a snake can swallow.

The best rule of thumb is like Karen, said something that leaves a small but noticable lump in the snake. It shouldn't be distended to the point it doesn't crawl normally, but if after it eats you can't tell anything is there it's time to go bigger.
As for the schedule, it's fine to feed whatever size that's appropriate every four days. For a growing young snake that's a good schedule to get decent growth without pushing it too hard.
I have raised colubrids on a three day feeding schedule for their first year with excellent results. I would be hesitant to go any further than that, but cutting that one day off adds a good number of feedings over the course of a year which means faster growth.
I don't like the weekly feeding schedule of adults when it comes to the small snakes, if they'll eat twice a week they should have it.

 

[Meltos]

Thank you Karen and Clay, Much appreicated. Most of the time i never get a reply from other forums, but like i said, this forum is very active, which i like veyr much.

Anyway, I understand where ur coming from, Ill give it a other week and if the Pinkie is not as visible inside him then i will change to 2, But maybe im just rushing things. But he is defernetly growing, FAST. im running out of pinkies you see, so i'm wondering should i just get more pinkies or move straight onto Fuzzies. I think i will stick with pinkies for now, untill say 6 months old or something? I sound really stupid don't I, But i want the best for my Nelson.

And Yes I have many pictures heres some below.

Thats Him In His Shedding Period.

Thats His Vivarium Which he will stay in for a while.

Thats him at the bottom left hand corner of the above viarium.

You can see a few more pictures of him and my Cat on my site here! There are better pictures here, Look around. Hence them photos of Mirage are about 2-3 weeks ago.

And Btw, My Nelson is called 'Mirage', I love naming animals. I especially like strange names, Like my cat is called Cosmo. Im weird like that xP Thanks again.

 

[Meltos]

Sorry, Can't Find any 'Edit' Button. When i say 'His', 'He', I dont actually know hes a he. lol. So i chose Mirage because it can be both, You get me lol. And heres a other picture of the size different from me.

Im 6'2, So my hand is pretty large. When i get a reply from any of you, I will put something next to him that you know the size off. lol. Like a pencil, Ill put a pencil beside 'shim'

 

[Clay Davenport]

In my opinion, based on the pics, he can definately take a fuzzy with no problems.

 

[Meltos]

Ok, How Big are the fuzzys then? Ill look aroun don the net. Clay, Thanx alot. Your a huge help.

 

[Karen Hulvey]

I find that more often than not people with less experiece are too conservative when it comes to prey size. They wait significantly longer than necessary to move on to the next size.
Nothing wrong with feeding multiples of a small prey size, but it's often not appreciated just what a snake can swallow.

This is exactly what I see at least once a week. Tuesday a woman came in the shop to buy pinky mice. She's been feeding her corn pinks for a long time so I asked her how big the snake is and she said around 21-24"! I showed her our corns that were born in July that are now taking fuzzy mice and she said hers is considerably larger but she still bought pinky mice.

Fuzzy mice can be different sizes but I'd go with ones that are about the diameter of your index finger in that picture.

BTW Pretty snake.

I bought an albino and two het albino Nelson's last year for a friend of mine for Christmas. I should have splurged & bought some for me too as I really like them.
I have 4 milks:
0.1 Sinaloan
1.0 Ruthveni albino
0.1 Ruthveni het albino
1.0 red milk

 

[Karen Hulvey]

I've been perusing the pictures on your site, Meltos. Your cat is a cutie. I love the pictures from the Blair Drummond Safari Park. Looks like a neat place to visit!

 

[Clay Davenport]

The main reason I like to get my hatchlings moved up in prey size as quickly as possible is pinkies just aren't as healthy a food source as larger mice. Their skeletons are underdeveloped so the calcium content is low and they have a much higher proportion of fat content.
Feeding two weaned mice as opposed to one larger adult is basically the same nutrition wise, but 2-3 pinkies are not worth as much over all as one hopper.
I think doing as the woman you mentioned and continuing to feed pinkies for that long can become detrimental to the health of the snake.

 

[Meltos]

Guys, you guys are superb. I defernetly recommend this forum to friends, As you get straight to the point. Your honest, and thats what im after. I have ordered 20 fuzzies for Monday. You like my sexy hand too lol. Yeah, Cosmo is one of my best friends to be honest with you, I got him when i was like 7 in Germany, he was a stray, skin and bones, and Scott to the rescue got him. Then on from there i have began to love animals, i want to dedercate my life to animals, I am studying my first year in Animal Care, I plan to do the full 3 year course and then maybe Zooloigy (cant even spell it) Well yeah, Mirage is lovely, I went to the pet shop to choose from Cornsnakes, But There was one Milk snake there, Mirage (that was eating fine) and he was rescued from a alcoholic, So i thought i would help him. Well try, You guys seem to guide me through it, Thanx alot. Serously

 

[Meltos]

Heres some better pictures to show the size difference from a pinkie to Mirage. Ok, it looks that mirage can easily eat the pinkie, an dhe can, but in the pictures u cant see the 'height' (hard to explain) he looks wide there but when eating the pinkie you can most defernetly see the lump, even in the larger part of his belly. In the photos you cant really see. I just find that his neck is extremely bony if you know what i mean, Maybe its because you get the long and skinny milk snakes (Nelsons, Which is mirage...) So maybe thats why. The camera is pants. I'll stick to pinkies for now, Untill i defernetly no when to start him on fuzzies.

Basic Size comparisment.

Mirage got a grip.

Here you can see what i mean about the 'neck' part.

Theres the Pinkie, See what i mean by not bein visible on camera, but in the naked eye its simple to see the lump.

 

[Meltos]

Ok, well there is no longer any replies from you's. I really need the answer, should i change to fuzzys or pinkies, Over nite he has gotten a little fatter. I dont know how big a fuzzie is so i wouldnt know if its the rite size or not for him. Please help us, I need it bad just now.

 

[Clay Davenport]

In your last post you said you were going to stick to pinkies for now and I figured the case was closed.
You also said you had ordered some fuzzies for yesterday, but you said you still didn't know how big a fuzzy was. Haven't they come yet?

Ultimately you're just going to have to do what you feel is best. If it were my snake though I'd move it to fuzzies.

 

[Xelda]

Feeding two weaned mice as opposed to one larger adult is basically the same nutrition wise, but 2-3 pinkies are not worth as much over all as one hopper.

I agree with you there. The Nelson is ready for fuzzies. If it were my snake, I'd feed off the rest of the pinkies 2-3 at at time and then graduate him to fuzzies.

I do want to mention though that given a choice between two weaned mice and a larger adult, it would be better to go with the two weaned mice. They're the same nutritionally, but it's better to think in terms of how much of that nutrition the snake going to be able to tap into. The rule of thumb is to go with food that's easier to digest because that will help the snake gain more nutrients from the meal.

It's the same thing with vegetables. People talk about how the cooking process boils away nutrients from vegetabes. But since cooked vegetables are easier for humans to digest, people are going to get more nutrition from those vegetables than if they were to eat those same vegetables raw.

Anyway, my point from all of this is that it's not what's measured in the meal that counts. Ultimately, it's what is gained from the meal, and that is heavily dependent on choosing what is easier to digest. But no, I don't agree with feeding a bunch of pinks to a snake that should be eating hoppers. That corn Karen mentioned might look like a good size, but it's probably not going to be a good breeder.

 

[Meltos]

Ok, Thanx for all your help people. I have just fed Mirage 3 Pinkies, I attempted to give him a (small) fuzzie last week and he took it no problem, just it took alot longer to swallow (understandble) So now, Im using up the pinkies to feed him on the fuzzies. He shed on the 31st if december and was fed the same day (with the fuzzie)

Thank you very much, your experience has payed off. I can't thank you anuf people

 

[Shadowlerker]

Nice milk good clean patteren if he\she is eatin pinkies or fuzzies i woul give it as many as it would eat until you can see a lump in the stomach i have $ columbian red tail boas and 2 guyana boas and thats how i feed mine. feed again id say every 5 days or 1 day after lump dissapperars. I am also looking into getting a pair of milks if any1 know where e-mail me at [email protected]
Thanks,
James