New Snake owner concerned about size of feed for my Simpson Python

[bidmark]

I am only new to keeping snakes and we have purchased a really cute stimpson python. He is about 12 months old according to our paperwork and we have had him since the 30th of October. He feeds quite well and we usually feed him a pinky mouse once a week. He seemed to want ore so we fed him a pinky mouse twice a week and he eats those well. He has shed three times since we purchased him with the most recent shed being a couple of days ago. When I went to the pet shot they didn't have any pinky mice and so I asked for the next size up. They were out of those and so they told me he would be ok on a pinky rat. I purchased a pinky rat and he took it straight away. It looked too big for him and so I tried to take it off him but he wouldn't let it go. He may be a small snake but he is a strong snake. He started to eat it and honestly it looked like he was going to burst. He managed to get the whole thing down to my surprise and he has a very fat belly and it just looks very uncomfortable. I fed him about 5pm yesterday and I just checked on him at 10:30am this morning and his belly doesn't look any smaller. If snakes eat something that is too big for them do they have trouble digesting it or does it just take longer? How will I know if my snake is ok. I am worried that this thing might be stuck in his tummy but don't know what to do about it. Could someone who has a bit of experience with snakes help me out with this one please. If you need a photo I can take one and send it to you if that helps.

 

[sara_sabian]

Relax lol. If he can't eat it he would have spat it out. All you have to do is maintain a nice warm spot for him to digest.
It can be nerve wracking upping their feed size when you're new to pythons but he'll be fine. It'll just take him a little longer to digest than the pinky mice, it sounds like they were too small for him so this is a good thing.

 

[bidmark]

Thank you for that. It just seemed so big for him.

 

[Grogshla]

He will be fine mate.
At this age if he has been feeding well he should be on weanling/hopper mice or small fuzzy rats.
Mine is just over a year old and I am feeding 2 hopper mice every 7 days. I will be moving him up to slightly larger hopper mice or small adult mice. If I can't get a good size then I will find the size I am after in rats. How long is he roughly and how thick is he?
Be sure to have his heatmat set to about 32 degrees celcius so he can digest

 

[bidmark]

Sara is there a way to tell what size feed to give your snake. I have just purchased a diamond python too. Its probably silly of me to have two snakes as a beginner but our family love them so much and we hold them all the time (except for when they are shedding). I just never know what size feed to give them.

He is not very big. I am wondering if he might have been underfed when we got him because from what I hear he should be a lot bigger then he is. Is there a way I can attach a photo so that you can see him or can I email you a photo?

 

[Spider178]

He'll be fine, probably like having a full belly. Pinky rats are about the same size as a fuzzy mouse which is your next size mouse. It's also good that he took a rat as some people have problems when trying to get their snakes to change from mice to rats so well done.
There is a rodent size comparison chart somewhere on this site, I'll try and find it and post for you.

 

[bidmark]

Thank you Spider that will be helpful.

He'll be fine, probably like having a full belly. Pinky rats are about the same size as a fuzzy mouse which is your next size mouse. It's also good that he took a rat as some people have problems when trying to get their snakes to change from mice to rats so well done.
There is a rodent size comparison chart somewhere on this site, I'll try and find it and post for you.

 

[Spider178]

Try this.

 

[bidmark]

Wow thank you. Everyone has been so helpful its much appreciated.

 

[Dmnted]

Most people feed 10-20% of the snakes body weight and the chart above helps.
Don't worry too much, you will be surprised what they can eat.
If you want to upload a photo go to "go advanced" next to post quick reply.

 

[bidmark]

Sorry the photo isn't that clear but it will give you an idea and you can see his little fat belly. Cute snake isn't he

He was hiding under his grass mat so I had to lift it up to take the photo

 

[Dmnted]

Nice snake bidmark!
Looks completely fine to me.
You can even see he is smiling now it has a full belly...lol

 

[IgotFrogs]

If hes 12 months old and a very good feeder a pinky mouse would be way to small for him .... he would be hungry all the time probably
when you've used up all the pinky rats .... i would buy him hopper MICE run him through a bag of them one or two depending on how much he wants then up to weaners ..... they do better on food that has bone and fur rather than bags of Jelly like pinkys are

 

[Red-Ink]

Sorry the photo isn't that clear but it will give you an idea and you can see his little fat belly. Cute snake isn't he

He was hiding under his grass mat so I had to lift it up to take the photo

Going by the photo, perfectly fine... in fact you probably could go ahead and start feeding that size prey item.

Mine have a buldge that big and they get fed every five days. They are yearlings and are on 20g rats, both weigh around the 140g mark

 

[12-08-67]

hi, my stimson is about 11mths now and when i got him 3mths ago he was only on 1 pinkie mice a week and about 35cm but i quickly found out this wasnt filling him and went to 2pinkies and then to pinkie rats which he will eat in about 8 min and i swear he would eat another one if i let him, he is now going to go up to a fuzzy rat and is about 55-60cm. Am sure you will have alot of fun getting to know him and as speaking from experience first time round its a bit daunting feeding the bigger size but rest assured the little buggers enjoy it you will get alot of helpful information and advice from this site which great to have at hand

 

[IgotFrogs]

Stimmies do alright just on mice alone ..... even if full grown its one or two adult mice .... no real need for rats

 

[bidmark]

Yeh I only joined the website today and it is so very helpful. Now I feel much more confident that I am doing the right thing. I would hate to hurt my snake and want to give them the best care I can. Now I know I need to feed my new diamond a bigger feed to we only got him recently too. I have never wanted snakes and really didn't like them till we went to buy a lizzard and the pet shop owner got me to hold a stimpson python and fell in love with them and want heaps of snakes. I think I will stick to two for now I do get nervous that they will bite but so far they haven't and show no signs of biting

 

[IgotFrogs]

a good way to judge the size their feed should be younger snakes should shed around every 6 weeks if you keep food and shed records its easy way to know if its around time to increase the food or cut it back also a feed should take then around 20 minutes to manage to get down ...... also the widest part of their body is around the size of food item you aim to buy ... also remember when upsizing feeds better off to offer two smaller items for a couple feeds than jump right to the bigger item

 

[atothej09]

I would up food. On pinkies after 12 months is not right.
Measure width of snake at main girth (widest part of snake, approx middle of length) and measure a rat. Rat should be 1/3 to 1/2 wider than snake. If it's too big, snake will refuse of regurgitate. You would be surprised what pythons can handle food wise.
Feed every 14 days as a guide.
Good luck.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Just a word of caution... don't be too cavalier with very large food items. The advice such as "it'll be OK - he'll just spit it out if it's too big" is dangerous for a novice, and untrue in most circumstances. Many snakes meet an untimely death from eating very large food items, (which rot sooner than they can digest them) from attempting to regurgitate.

I'm not saying that the food was too big in this case, but many keepers on APS with little experience offer advice that is patently dangerous to your animals because they have very little knowledge of reptile physiology.

The old saying "she'll be right" will work most of the time, but when it does go wrong, you'll regret being mislead.

There is no need to feed snakes HUGE meals just because they can eat them, and the member who congratulated you on getting the snake onto rats needs to consider that this is a 1yo small species python. As IgotFrogs has said, mice are perfectly suitable for your snake, for its entire life. They may in fact be better than rats - the have fur and fully calcified bones, both of which are useful for your snake's nutrition and digestive processes.

Jamie