Green tree snake mice feeding question

[the_tsar]

Hi Herb peoples

Just a question about feeding mice to green tree snakes..

How often should I feed an adult mouse to my adult snake?
Like once every 10 days, or once a week?

Stangely, my snake took to mice with no preperation, going straight from geckos (I got sick of catching them so now I have a bunch of pet mice)

Thanks guys
Jason

 

[Norm]

You'll find most people here are into herps not herbs, though judging by some of the threads we get im sure there are plenty into herbs too.

Can't help much with the question, Green Tree snakes aren't me specialty.

 

[wokka]

It would depend upon the size of the adult snake, the size of the adult mouse and the length of the week!

 

[the_tsar]

wokka;2428693]It would depend upon the size of the adult snake, the size of the adult mouse and the length of the week![/QUOTE]

Perhaps people who are experienced in what size an adult gts is and how big a mouse gets as an adult Would
Be better to try and answer this apparent riddle.....

 

[The_Geeza]

U need to be more specific regarding size of your adult snake

 

[the_tsar]

You'll find most people here are into herps not herbs, though judging by some of the threads we get im sure there are plenty into it

Damb auto correct!
Now I can't change it, otherwise your reply looks wacky... Lol

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U need to be more specific regarding size of your adult snake

It's an adult!! full grown.
If you don't know how big this is, I predict you are not the one to answer this question.
As the person to answer would know (within a standard deviation) how big an adult green snake is and how big an adult mouse is, and give me a rough outline of feeding duration.
I don't require best guesses from python owners.....

 

[The_Geeza]

Damb auto correct!
Now I can't change it, otherwise your reply looks wacky... Lol

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It's an adult!! full grown.
If you don't know how big this is, I predict you are not the one to answer this question.
As the person to answer would know (within a standard deviation) how big an adult green snake is and how big an adult mouse is, and give me a rough outline of feeding duration.
I don't require best guesses from python owners.....

Do u think I've just kept pythons for 30 yrs?... Just cause I live in oz now don't jump the gun and be so rude!!!.... Work it out ya self!!!

 

[butters]

Adult green trees can be varying sizes so they are far from stupid answers and are in fact relevant details needed before someone can give you good advice.

I have an an adult tree that happily chows down on large chicken necks, can handle an adult mouse or small rat no problems and will have two or three in one sitting.

I have others that are adult that would have difficulty with an adult mouse but would attempt it.

I feed mine a couple of times each week on average and one to three prey items per feed. Occasionally feeds get missed but that's an average.

They have a very different metabolism to pythons and I find this feeding schedule works for me.

Some will probably say that this is too often but if they weren't hungry they wouldn't eat and sometimes they won't. No big deal. Too me it's the difference between feeding a snake an optimal amount or feeding a snake a subsistence amount. They can get by on less.

It's the people who ask you more questions or who want clarification IMO who are the ones who will give you the best advice. If you aren't prepared for people to ask more details, be prepared for crap advice.

 

[baker]

As others have said you need to be more specific on the size of the snake. A fully grown green tree can be anywhere from 1.2-2 meters long. There is quite a large difference between the size of food a 1.2 meter snake can eat compared to a 2 meter snake.
For a green tree snake I would advise away from feeding adult rodents on a regular basis to them because the fur can eventually become a problem. Rodents and mammals do not make up a large portion of their adult diet in the wild so they have not evolved to digest fur that well. If you are going to be feeding rodents look at feeding pinkie or velvet rats to it instead to avoid the fur being to much of a problem. Fish are another excellent option to feed green tree snakes as well. As for how often to feed it start off by offering it weekly and see if it needs more or less from that. All snakes have slightly different rates of metabolism and activity levels so their food intake will also differ. If once a week does not seem enough and it is still hunting a day or so after a feed bump it up to twice a week. To put in perspective a keelback I have will eat up to 3-4 velvet rats per week plus feeder fish during the summer months but over winter it will only eat a couple fish per week max. So over the year I have to adjust how much food I offer to it. There is no hard fast rule about how often and when to feed snakes.
Cheers Cameron

 

[NicG]

Following on from the above, there is a great deal of variance in the size of adult tree snakes. I find that once they get over the 1.2m mark, you're better off judging their size by diameter, rather than length. This also makes it much easier to judge potential food items.

I have an adult (ie sexually mature) male CTS who would be around 15mm in diameter, whereas my largest female was 30mm plus. That's a factor of at least two. Adult definitely does not equal fully grown.

The best way to demonstrate the size of your snake would be to provide a photo of your snake next to a frame of reference like a broom handle or a whiteboard marker.

Butters, would you mind posting such a photo of your adult-mouse-eating CTS also? I'm really curious to see how big it is. I've never fed my CTS furred rodents. How does it affect their faeces?

 

[the_tsar]

Thanks for the info about this guys appreciate the time from a participants.
I had a vibe for what may be a good period to feed but was looking to see if I was way of base and check with the knowledge base.


And to the_Geeza, apologies for my bluntness.

Seems like I will have to feed mice and some geckos to combat potential fur problems.

 

[The_Geeza]

Not a prob

 

[butters]

I should clarify that whilst my large green tree will eat adult mice and small rats it is a small part of its diet. Predominantly it lives on 1-2 week old quail and chicken necks. It probably gets rodents once or twice a month. It's an adult female which generally grow larger than males and is just over three years old.

My smaller ones get rodents more often and then usually in the form of pinkie or hopper rats alternated with day to a few days old quail. They are predominantly males and one is from the same clutch as the big female but is dwarfed by her.

I've never fed fish to my green trees, even from hatching.

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Stuffed up I have actually fed them fish but not live fish. They will eat strips of flesh and have eaten lamb, chicken, steak, roo and fish. I try not to feed a large amount of non whole prey items though and they only get these in conjunction with a whole prey item. As in a quail followed by a strip of something. Helps to fill them up as they can be bottomless pits when it comes to food.

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Female showing girth of an animal that can handle larger food items. Picture is about mid body. She is only about 1.5 so not such a long snake but as nick mentioned girth has more to do with size of prey than length.

 

[Pitttownboy]

I only ever fed mine fish so I reckon feeding geckos isn't a good way, why not offer a mouse every few days and if it starts to get fat just miss a feed every now and then, its not rocket science and I've found they are really hardy species and thrive no matter what or how much you feed

 

[NicG]

Female showing girth of an animal that can handle larger food items. Picture is about mid body. She is only about 1.5 so not such a long snake but as nick mentioned girth has more to do with size of prey than length.

Thanks for the photo. She is definitely a sizeable CTS. Is she seriously only 3yo? I have a female that I bred three years ago and, whilst she's bigger than her brother, she's nowhere near that big. I might have to start upping my feed cycle.

Mine are fed predominantly rainbow trout fingerlings in the summer months (until the trout get too big) and standard feeder fish in the winter months, supplemented by the occasional rodent. I hadn't considered chicken necks. Might have to give that a go. Do you just serve them at room temperature?

 

[butters]

Yep room temp although sometimes when I'm pushed for time and have defrosted in water they might be a few degrees warmer. I tend to hand feed from hatching so they'll usually take whatever is offered.

Between three and four but closer to three.

i feed a lot, they grow a lot and I haven't cooled it keeping the heat up year round. I tend to feed until they don't look interested anymore.
If I could access rainbow trout like you I would possibly use them but they are a bit think the ground here in queensland.

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I thought I should post some images showing how big an item tree snakes can handle. Primarily to show that feeding an adult mouse to an adult tree snake is not such a big stretch and that they can handle items that size.

These are two different snakes.
One is my large female and the other (on the nest box) is what I would class as an average sized male. It's her clutch mate.

Whilst they may be a slim snake they can handle big items.

She will happily take 4 or more feeds that size each week to give an idea of how much you could feed them if you wished.