Big Ribbon Snake

[GartersRock]

Ok. I have this Western Ribbon girl that is big enough to eat f/t medium rats. :eek: Is that normal. :p

[adamanteus]

I'd like to see a picture!

[GartersRock]

I'll see what I can do, I kind of sort of have access to a camera right now. LOL

[crzy_kevo]

thats is huge lol how long is she cant wait for a pic

[Snake lover 3-25]

wait rats????? medium sized RATS???? :eek: OMG that is HUGE!!!!!!!!!

[adamanteus]

wait rats????? medium sized RATS???? :eek: OMG that is HUGE!!!!!!!!!

Which brings a question to my mind.......
Is it wise to offer as large a food item as a snake can manage? Or is it better to feed several smaller items?

[infernalis]

Which brings a question to my mind.......
Is it wise to offer as large a food item as a snake can manage? Or is it better to feed several smaller items?

I have heard of Garters breaking bones taking prey too large.

My female easterns take F/T hopper mice with a little effort.

That would be my limit though.

[Snake lover 3-25]

o speeking of bones..... i think meadow broke some of the bones about an inch past the cloca..... they just feel really wierd and are different...... idk.....

[adamanteus]

o speeking of bones..... i think meadow broke some of the bones about an inch past the cloca..... they just feel really wierd and are different...... idk.....

Can you post a picture of that, Shanley? (In a separate thread)

[reptile3]

oohhhh I want to see pics... Shanley I hope your snakie is ok

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup sorry lol

[Hornets23]

Holy cow..that sounds huge..i had no idea a ribbon could get that big.

[GartersRock]

Oh, I haven't been feeding medium rats, just saying she could take them. She gets multiple adult mice. ;);)

[Thamnophis]

My opinion... gartersnakes should not eat that much rodents.
Fish and amphibians are their main food.

And it is better to not feed the largest preys that they can eat.

I really would like to see pics of that giant ribbon.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I have a female radix that could eat a small rat if I let her.... haha! Kyle sent her to me because she was refusing food too often for him...

man... for a snake that does not like to eat... she sure sucks down 6-8 fuzzies, 4 or 5 nightcrawlers and a couple pieces of fish every feeding awfully willingly!!! She was a bit thin, but not any more!!! Now she is mad at me because I have stopped her meals because this weekend she goes to bed!

[GartersRock]

Lol Shannon!! How could you!! :D

I feed my snakes a diet of mainly various types of whole fish, fish fillet, worms and rodents. And I prefer to give them multiple small prey items. Just makes good sense. ;)

I'll have to get pics of her... I don't have that great an access to a camera right now.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Howabout you mail her to my house... I'll take pictures of her, in exchange for... her!:D:rolleyes:

[GartersRock]

Lol!! :D:D

[Loren]

I also am waiting for pics. :)

The biggest snake in my entire collection of 90 or so eats medium rats. She is a 5 foot+ Pacific gophersnake, eats rats at about 140 grams, pretty comfortably.

[drache]

it's hard to imagine - want to see this monster ribbon
I do have a couple of 3-yr-old garters who have no problem sucking down adult mice

[zooplan]

Years ago I tried to feed small quail chicks.
This was my experience of that:
If you feed prey as big as the snake is able to swallow it might be unable to digest. I had two females that defecated quali parts undigested.

BTW: I found it intresting that three females needed different time to swallow:
first a ´parietalis was busy for 45 min., a ´sirtalis Florida Blue needed about 30 min. but my ´vargrans female swallowed her piece in only 10 minutes

[infernalis]

I found it intresting that three females needed different time to swallow:
first a ´parietalis was busy for 45 min., a ´sirtalis Florida Blue needed about 30 min. but my ´vargrans female swallowed her piece in only 10 minutes

Just last night when I fed my Blue Ordinoides one took over twice as long as the other to swallow a similar size minnow.

I almost thought something was wrong, the first specimen swallowed two faster than the other swallowed one.

[Charlet_2007]

"Chants" PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

[GartersRock]

Lol! I am trying. ;);)
Also, if a prey item is too big they may regurge partially digested food items, NOT good.

Biggest snake in my collection is an 8 lb sub adult Blood python girl... I really have NO idea what she could stomach... She is so stout! 3 coke cans around maybe? And only 4 feet. But they have a VERY, very slow metabolism and she only gets medium rats weekly.

[NetBSD]

http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Misc/images.jpg


i couldnt help myself, i wasnna see this ribbon

[drache]

BTW: I found it intresting that three females needed different time to swallow:
first a ´parietalis was busy for 45 min., a ´sirtalis Florida Blue needed about 30 min. but my ´vargrans female swallowed her piece in only 10 minutes
I often find that size is not a good indicator as to how fast the food will go
down
just yesterday, that baby florida blue, sucked down two good size pinky halves in less time than it took the other sirtalis baby who is a bit over one-and-a-half times her size to just have one

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I have a couple garters who just.. well... suck at swallowing stuff! They take forever!!! the rest of my snakes take a few seconds to eat their food items. I feed multiple small food items... it's definitely a good thing to do when housing snakes together.... sinc they swallow it in a few seconds and I can keep stuffing snake faces until they are satisfied, no fights break out!



I always dread the first food item of the tank though.. I am housing my 2 baby flames, 3 baby concinnus, and the 2 baby fitchii together in a big communal cage (all were initally quarantined from one another until i was sure everyone was healthy) ....they all get along fantastic, but boy when I pull off that screen top they KNOW what is coming and suddenly I have even VERY active squiggly little snakes that ALL want to have the FIRSTS piece... I have to cut a whole bunch of fish pieces or pinky halves at once and lay them on a dish that I hold and I have to HURRY up and stuff each one's mouth while teh others are not looking!!!! it's amazing how well they can SEE across the tank that another snake has just grabbed food and is running like hell with it and yet they totally ignore every other motion they see!!! And they all come rushing over to the snake they think has food and chase it!!! LOL!

I find it extremely amusing to see snakes which are supposed to be "stupid" plotting and scheming to take the other snake's meal! It's what I love about garters...

[adamanteus]

I feed multiple small food items... it's definitely a good thing to do when housing snakes together.....

Yeah, that what Shannon just said!:D

[Charlet_2007]

I take all mine out of there tank.. One at a time take's me about 4-5 hours of feeding but I have nothing else to do.. I'm a stay at home mommy lol..

[snakeman]

I feed all of my adults rat pups.even the males I just cut them in half up the middle.

[prattypus]

See with only five 08s, it doesn't take me too long to feed my brood individually in different boxes. When I got my first three though, it hadn't even occured to me to do separate feedings. I used to just put the food in a dish and let them go, or put the minnows in a little bowl. That was all well and good until my Anery Plains (Pirelli) had the red sided (Ember) face first in her jaws!!

[Loren]

Just last night when I fed my Blue Ordinoides one took over twice as long as the other to swallow a similar size minnow.

I almost thought something was wrong, the first specimen swallowed two faster than the other swallowed one.

You have ordinoides that eats fish ? I didnt think they liked fish. I havent tried mine, since they take pinkies so well, but I thought I had read not to waste time trying fish with them because they wont eat it.

[crzy_kevo]

ive seen a video of some ordinoids eating minnows off a plate if that adds to waynes not being one of a kind