All Forums  Royal Python Posts  Royal Python Health  Not putting on weight

Note: You must be registered in order to post a reply.
To register, click here. Registration is FREE!

Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by speedy231278[/i] [br]As I posted last month, I picked up Tubs at the reptile show at Kempton Park and he weighed 87 grams (less his deposits on the carpet and my missus... lol). A month later and nothing much has changed. He'd eaten a few days before I got him, so I decided to wait until the next weekend to feed him so that he would be a bit more settled. He refused to eat, and I think that was partly down to moving in, and partly because he was starting to show signs of going into shed. When I went on holiday leaving the missus in charge he was looking very sorry for himself, all skin and bone :-( He then had a rubbish shed and my missus took him up to the local reptile shop (who are very good) to get some help removing his eyecaps. She explained that he'd not eaten, and they suggested that the rat pups he had were a little small, which is why he might not have been interested, and suggested trying fuzzy mice instead, as they'd be a bit bigger than a rat pup, but not quite as big as the equivalent on the rat scale. He ate one overnight 25/8. I can't remember if it was before or after I went away for the week, but at the low point his weight was a worrying 78g, which equates to a whopping 10% or so loss. Since then, he's eaten three more times, a fuzzy mouse, rat pup (my missus got the wrong one out) and another fuzzy last night. I weighed him a couple of days ago and he was 89g, which according to the scale on this forum is pretty low for his age or four months. No real persuasion is necessary, defrost, bit of hairdryer for good measure, and bang, straight off the tongs every time. He was definitely ready for one last night, he struck and missed, then went for everything in sight, including my shadow. Was like watching a game of Hungry Hippos. He also appeared to be quite happy to investigate the prospect of another one appearing, as he went for my shadow after he'd finished eating. He's certainly looking far more healthy now, so I'm not too worried about his relative lack of weight because I'm sure he's not got a feeding issue other than probably not having done enough of it. So..... I'm not sure I'm really feeding him enough. I don't want to overdo it, as I'm sure feeding too much too quickly to an underweight snake would if anything be worse than not feeding enough. However, after four feeds spread out by 6/7 days he's basically back where he started. The fuzzy mice have now run out, and to be honest I don't think they were big enough. I've not seen anywhere that the thickest part of the body rule shouldn't apply to feeding very young snakes, and the fuzzies probably weren't more than 2/3rds of the size of his middle. So, I was thinking of getting something a little larger. Would you guys recommend something a bit bigger in the mouse department or rats? I've seen it written that rats have more nutritional value than mice (apparently you should avoid giving too many to corns in case they get fat!), so should I go for the next sizeup from rat pup? Also, how often? Should I be feeding him a little more often to help make the weight up, or is once every 6/7 days enough - or even a little often? It seems a little strange having a Royal that eats more often than our corns, especially when Patsy flatly refuses her medium rat if it's not been a good three weeks! She's just gone into shed when she's due dinner, so I imagine there won't be an issue feeding her when she's sorted herself out. Bound to get questions about his house. He's living in a tub above Patsy, I'd guess about 14x8x7. Heat mat under a fraction over 1/3rd of the base, pulse statted and sat at 91F +/- 0.2 at most. Have to confess until this morning there was not a hide at the cool end - however he has always seemed happy to curl up behind his water bowl at the cool end if he wants to cool down. I've put a small cardboard box hide there this morning after reading another thread. Temp probe says cool end is a whisker under 80F (damn things arrived as C only despite eBay listing scales in C and F). [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.