Eating Problems

[acovert]

I posted once before about my snake, Scar (the injured one I caught at my Uncle's house with my ex), throwing up food that he had recently eaten. Scar is significantly bigger than Cuddles at this point, but they eating the same amount at each feeding because if Scar eats more than a single nightcrawler (full-grown DMF from Walmart) then he throws one or both back up. Cuddles can (though rarely does) eat more than one and never has this issue. If I feel Scar only a single worm then he doesn't lose any of his meal, but he still continually acts hungry, going as far as hunting shadows in his water dish (one would think the guy was starving!).

Does anyone have any possible explanations or remedies for this situation? It's not urgent or life threatening, since he still eats, but I feel like he should be eating more than one if he is acting hungry as frequently as he does.

[chris-uk]

How frequently are you feeding? Small meals more often may be the answer, or feeding over a longer period (maybe leave him half an hour before offering a second).
This might be useful... I weighed my female blackneck before and after feeding a few weeks ago, and she weighed 35% more after feeding when I gave her as much as she would eat. Each snake will vary, but it gives you a vague indication of the quantity of food they can eat.

[acovert]

I feed once a week, on weekends. I don't have a lot of time to feed during the week because of my work schedule, so feeding multiple times in on week is a little difficult. I could try feeding him one worm on Saturday and another half a worm on Sunday. Maybe that would help. I'll attempt that this weekend and post an update on how it goes.
Last weekend I cut up each worm into fourths. He ate five pieces, so essentially one and one fourth, and still threw up a good portion of the meal.

[RedSidedSPR]

If I feel Scar only a single worm then he doesn't lose any of his meal, but he still continually acts hungry, going as far as hunting shadows in his water dish (one would think the guy was starving!) He might as well be starving. That's not enough food. You need to make time to feed him every few days if you're only feeding a worm.

About the throwing up - is he really throwing up? One of my babies used to have trouble keeping whole worms down. The worms would crawl back up and he wasn't able to hold on to it. Try cutting a few worms in half or in thirds and feed those. Or feed something else in addition to the worm, like fish or pinkies.

[d_virginiana]

Like Jesse said, try cutting up the worms. Even my bigger ones have trouble with large nightcrawlers sometimes. Worms are very healthy but they metabolize quickly. Kind of like broccoli- it's healthy, but you're hungry again shortly after. One worm in a week isn't anywhere close to enough food for an adult. Get some pinkies or something, and try smaller meals more often.

[acovert]

I've already tried cutting up the worms. Like I said, this last time I cut them into fourths for him. He's definitely throwing them up. It's usually several hours later, the worms are dead and partially digested. When Cuddles was a baby he would occasionally struggle to keep the worms down. What is going on with Scar is different. I don't know if I can get him to take something that isn't moving. He's wild caught, and I can't even get Cuddles, who was captive bred, to take something that isn't alive.

I'm basing most of what I do with Scar on Cuddles right now. Cuddles is about three years old now and refuses to eat more than one full worm a week.

I'll see if I can fit in another feeding for Scar. Between my work schedule and injury, it's been hard to try to fit them in.

[RedSidedSPR]

I missed the part where you cut the worms. my bad.

We can ponder the causes of his throwing up all week but it's pointless if you're feeding the snake that much food.

Feed him what he can eat several times a week and your problem may just go away. If he doesn't take it one day, try again the next. Make the time. Your work schedule isn't an excuse to not feed your animal. I have a work schedule too. I'm feeding snakes every day some weeks, even if it's at 2 am.

Once he's eating enough worms to be considered healthy you can get him to eat other things

[d_virginiana]

You can try fish or something (you can get live ones) as well. Live fish aren't really ideal, but an adult garter needs to eat more than one nightcrawler a week. That might be okay for awhile; mine don't eat a lot during certain parts of the year, but long-term there is just no way an adult can get everything they need from that. Even the one that isn't throwing up its food. When you say Cuddles refuses to eat more than one worm in a week, how often are you offering the food? Like, you offer every day and he'll only take one about once a week, or you offer once a week and he doesn't eat more than one at a time?

Can you post pics of both of them? I'm curious as to the actual sizes they are. If you have a three year old that has never really eaten more than one nightcrawler a week I'd be kind of surprised if she/he's normal sized...
Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, but if that's all they're eating there may very well be some sort of health problem that needs to be addressed.

[acovert]

About a year ago I tried giving Cuddles multiple nightcrawlers throughout the week, for a few weeks straight, always cut into thirds because he is smaller. After the first feeding, when he ate the whole worm, it was close to, if not a week before he took any more. He spent the rest of the feedings trying to escape.

I tried multiple feedings this week. Scar took to it well, but Cuddles doesn't seem interested. He took part of a worm, then tried to bite me and escape.

What kind of live fish can I feed them? The only ones available in the area seem to be comet goldfish and rosy red minnows, occasionally feeder whiteclouds, and I've been told they're not safe. I have been told that feeder guppies are safe, but I have yet to find any that actually exist, and I can't afford to buy several $3 fancy guppies every week for two snakes.

I can try frozen fish and pinkie parts on Scar, since I haven't yet, but I know Cuddles will have nothing to do with them.

It's my work schedule combined with other things that prevent me from doing things when I get home, among other things.

I can get some pictures up later. I'm going to try another feeding tonight or tomorrow, see if I can figure out how soon they'll take more food. Is there anything else besides fish, worms, and pinkie parts that I can fit into their diet?

EDIT
I don't know if it would have a significant effect on his eating habits, but Cuddles went a significant amount of time without eating when he was first born. The people who had him before me had happened to catch a garter in their yard, and it gave birth shortly after. By the time I was able to get out there to pick Cuddles up and take him home, it had been around a month. The family had no idea what to feed them, and a pet store told them that crickets would work. They thought the snakes were eating the crickets, but they weren't. None of Cuddles' siblings survived, though the mother was either released or rehomed. I was in Montana with Cuddles at the time, and I directed the family to this forum, but I wasn't able to do much more than that. It took me a while to find something that Cuddles would eat, even after I found this place. Finally, I got him to take fish a couple of weeks after I started caring for him.

EDIT 2
Cuddles took the smallest third of the worm and attempted to escape WITH it, rather than eating it. When I moved him back into the feeding tank (he managed to get the worm all the way to the top and halfway over the edge) he ate it and a second piece, then showed no more interest. It had been about a week since feeding. Scar, who did eat partway through the week, as well as last weekend, did take more food and hasn't thrown up, so multiple feedings does seem to be helping. Thank you for the feedback and advice. I'll keep updating with any changes.

[acovert]

Scar ended up taking only one small piece tonight. He started to take a second, then abandoned it. How much would an average adult northwestern be eating in terms of nightcrawlers in one week, assuming nightcrawlers were the only food source?

[guidofatherof5]

Lots of variables in your question. My ordies eat all they can get. Have you tried slugs on Scar?

[acovert]

I've tried slugs with both of them. Cuddles takes them fine, so if I can find some in the garden then I go for it. I tried them on Scar this spring and he attempted to eat one, lost his grip on it, and didn't try again. If I could find any more then I'd be willing to try them, but I haven't really seen many lately.