Yearling - Hypo Coastal Carpet (help!)

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Leesh_91

Not so new Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2012
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Location
Central QLD
Hi, Im a newbie to owning reptiles and i need some adivce. I have recently got a coastal carpet and he was sold to me as a yearling. He is very quite and a really great snake to start off with.. not bitey at all. But as I spoke with a snake breeder over the weekend he said that my coastal looks fairly small for a yearling and that he may have been refusing food. I have fed him pinkie rats and he seems to take it fine. I was wondering what i can do to get him back up to weight?
 
Is he actually eating what you give him? He's not regurgitating at all?

Also what are the Temps of your enclosure at? If not an enclosure with whatever you're using make sure you have a heatpad on around 1/3 of the area.
 
No he is eating it fine, and not regurgitating at all. Ive only had him a couple of weeks and i was told by the previous owner to feed him two pinkie rats once a week.

I brought a enclosure but was too big and as he is only small i didnt want him to escape. Ive got him i a good size container for now and i got a heat mat under 1/3 of it.. its about 33c on the basking spot and 26-27c on the cooling side. The breeder i spoke with said to watch the temps and get them right because who i got the coastal off told me wrong informationg that "i wont need to bother we heating for this time of year and where im living central qld".
 
"i wont need to bother we heating for this time of year and where im living central qld".... With the weather we've been having? What ridiculous advice.

Also could you provide us with his current length?


Depending on his current size i'm assuming 2 Pinkie Rats/Week is easily sufficient for him to grow significantly if not to much.
 
This is what i thought also.. I may be learning but i thought it didnt sound to right. expecially the websites and other advice i have been given. he would be roughly about 80cm? when i saw the breeder in emerald, he showed me an example off a yearling and he very much smaller.. i was also told that feeding them on fuzzy mice can be better than the pinkie rats - as the fur can help digist unlike the pinkie rats as the fecies can be runny.. im not sure on what is the best way to go as i have heard many different things..

Also he advised me for over the next month of so to fed him every 5 days?
 
Last edited:
Maybe it was a slow starter, I'd be changing from pinkies to something with fur my yearlings are on adult mice soon to be changed to weaned rats offered every 7 days but if your trying to put some weight on it every 5 days will be ok just don't keep power feeding it for a long period of time..
 
ok I will change it over for his next feed. My apologies but powder feeding? what do you mean by that
 
power feeding is basically feeding it more food then it needs or can digest in a short period of time usually every 3-4 days 5 you should be ok with it being a yearling but i wouldn't be doing it for more then a few months. It's not bad to power feed for a short period of time, but your snake will get obese if you power feed for too long which can cause liver problems.
 
Last edited:
Ok i understand what you mean now. yes that what i was told, to only do it for a few months - just to get him to size. Will it be difficult to transit him from pinkie rats to adults mice? or wuld that be a little to big at the moment?
 
it depends what size your snake is if your going to go adult mice or not, it can be a problem switching from mice to rats because they have a diff scent, I've personally always started on mice then moved to rats with no problems accept 1 of my snakes with that one snake i defrosted a mouse and rat in the same container and wiped the rat with the mouse to get a bit of scent on it did it for a few feeds then it was taking rats no problems, if you think it's up to it go for the next sized rat that has fur.

The equivalent size of a pinkie rat to a mouse is around the fuzzie to weaned mouse size.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 237539This isnt the best photo as im at work so i hunted one down on my phone. Gives some idea of how big he is.. Would you think he would be too small to go one size up from the pinkie rat? or bes to go to mouse?
 
Hard to know without size or weights but In my exsperience hypo coastals are the worst feeders pinkies are way to small If your worried or have been told that your snakes small offer bigger food Items that will get It growing
 
Ohh not sure why that didnt work.. will try at lunch. I will try offer him something bigger. Unfortuantely i cant go to the pet shop to get more supplies until the weekend.. i live in a small town so ill have to try offering something bigger on saturday. Would this be the most practical way to try? or can they take it down and regurgitate it if its to big?
 
I have the same problem with photos on my mobile. Yeah I'd be going bigger then pinkie rats for sure weather you go next size rats or to mice depends on the size and if you think it can take it down. If it can get it down then you shouldn't have a problem with regurgitation.. They can regurgitate there prey but if never had that problem. Once you get home if you can weigh it a good rule is they should be eating 10-20% of there body weight, with you wanting to get some size on it I'd be going with 20% of it weight with regular feeds.

check that chart out it will give you an idea on the sizes and the comparisons.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/chit-chat-39/rat-mouse-size-comparisson-chart-159627/
 
Ohh thanks! that has helped alot :)

Btw is that ur bike in your dp? if so nice bike! I have a CRF250.. lol
 
Ohh thanks! that has helped alot :)

Btw is that ur bike in your dp? if so nice bike! I have a CRF250.. lol

No problems.

Yeah that's my 250f I have two 250f's and a 450 the 250s are 09 others a 07, my new bikes a yz450 2011 fuel ejected ( weapon of a bike) and gsxr 600 for the road. I haven't ridin in a while I compound fractured my leg broken fib, tib.
 
Ohh wow now I feel like a beginner!! I want get rid of my crf250 and get a fuel injected one.. Unfortuantley it's just a 04 model. Just had a rebuild.. Then I got 2011 350 banshee quad :) good fun bikes but yeah can cost ya way too much money and injuries lol
 
Leesh
Up your feeds to 1 fuzzy rat every 5 days and he'll be fine, then when this is not making much of a 'lump' in his belly anymore up it to a weaner rat every 7 days and you cant go wrong - so on so forth. As a snake gets towards adult size you can back off too the appropriate size feeds every fortnight too monthly - what ever floats ur boat.
 
Thanks! I wi be deffinately changing him on to fuzzies for his next feed and see how he goes. I think he will take it fine, he seems to take the pinkies with ease
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top