Hungry, hungry Mama

[kibakiba]

Haha, that's how my baby snake is. I cut worms up for him and they're small enough for him, but he likes them to be very bite-sized He wont eat anything thats more than half a centimeter long. Mama's sleeping now so I'm assuming she's full haha, my male snake is only able to down his in 4ths but I'm not sure if he'd even be able to down a whole fuzzy

[ConcinusMan]

I just tried feeding her one of my fuzzies, she seems scared of it. She strikes at it and then lets go and stares at it and slithers off. I figure maybe if i cut it in half it might be a bit less "scary". Right now I have it in a little dish in the tank... She's still pretty skittish so she may take it without me hovering over her tank with the tongs.

As I'm typing this she's opening her mouth and moving her jaws a bit it seems, and examining the fuzzy. Is that normal? She just dragged it out of the dish and left it, lol.

The fact she strikes at it is a good thing. She wants to eat it and so she's well on her way. Some of my snakes just took longer than others and they did the same thing yours are doing. It's not that they think it's too big, it's just that it feels foreign to them at first, so they drop it. Try chopping them in half (while still frozen) and scenting them well with fish, and keep trying. Eventually they'll get used to the feel of it and start swallowing them.

[kibakiba]

She took it faster than ever after I cut it in half It was almost triple the size of her head so I think that was what was wrong. She got its head down once but spit it up when she got to the body, she had no problem though, with the half of it. I'm happy she's taking them because it does seem like it'll hold her off. Pinkies rarely made a noticeable bulge, but now shes got a nice one

Also this is off topic a bit but if you hear a click sound when they, it could be a sign of a respiratory infection right? Mama has that a bit when I picked her up just now. It was only to examine her eye because it was cloudy, but then I noticed her breathing. Her eye is okay though, it was just a left over shed

Thanks for the help guys

[ConcinusMan]

It doesn't stop here. Now you're obligated. Stay active on the forum and keep us posted on her progress. A decent sized bulge of fuzzies in your snake should be adequate to provide enough nutrition for about 5-7 days at least. Let her be for now, make her comfy and let her digest her meal. Keep up the good husbandry.

[kibakiba]

Oh I plan on being active here, you're all awesome and I know I'll probably need more help since... You know I've got a garter fever haha.

She seems to have spit up on one of her climbing sticks, it was clear with a little white in it... Has she eaten too much or drank too much? she was in her water for a while. I've taken the stick out for now. She did it right as I looked over at the tank... she's making the sticks and log move and scratch against each other because of how big she is/

[ConcinusMan]

I wouldn't worry too much unless it happens a lot. Sometimes it can just be some air that got swallowed. They can't exactly burp like we do so, often foam and / or liquid comes up with the air.

You need to make sure that your sticks, logs, rocks, or whatever are secure enough that the snake can't topple them. Nothing worse than coming home to a dead snake pinned under tank decorations.

[kibakiba]

They don't move much the one she spit up on was a bit loose usually, but I'll keep it out of the tank now that I know that it could be dangerous. The other ones are very sturdy and secure, she was just so heavy that they rubbed together a bit and made some noise. Surprisingly enough when I got home Mama's bulge was 100% gone and she looks like shes hungry... She did have that sort of look in her eyes when I put my hand in the tank to clean their dish I don't really want to feed her again though for a couple days even if she is hungry for the sake of saving enough food to last a while, we only have 5 dollars and its around 4 to ride the bus one way so i cant buy more pinkies till the 4h

[ConcinusMan]

Don't worry about the bulge being gone. Sounds like another feeding on the 4th would be just fine. Snake won't starve.

[kibakiba]

Oh I know she wouldn't starve I'm more concerned about her thinking my fingers are food :P She's a nippy little girl, she just never really latches on, maybe its because my fingers really don't taste like worm or pinky

[ConcinusMan]

If the biting is a feeding response to smell of food, generally they grab on and start trying to swallow. Best to just let them do so until they figure it out and let go.

Quick nips to the fingers when there's no food smell around, or even outright biting and chewing a bit, again, when there's no food around, that's a defensive bite. Learn to know the difference. Your snake should be no more prone to bite you when hungry, than it is any other time, provided that there is nothing around that smells like food.