Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here is beefy and another ringneck. Both were found the same time and both measured at 14 inches, and both looked exactly the same size too boot. However beefy started eating pinks February 7th and ate 10 pinks so far and it is February 24th, so I cannot get over how much bigger she grew. The other ringneck has been fed a lizard once a week, so obviously it has not gotten the food beefy has received. I did not measure her as her growth seems to be wider then longer and she only shed once in that 2.5 week period, and even ate 3 pinks during her shed phase.

I am not trying to make a record length out of this snake, however it is likely that she may grow to 20 inches or more within the next year. We will all just see how long and fat she gets off pinks.

Dan

Here she is tonight eating essentially a small fuzzy. What is kinda amazing is that it only takes her about 5 minutes to eat such big items and I figured it would take longer. She actually has very strong jaws and she clamps down on the prey to squash it and make it fit down her throat.

Dan

lol, you are setting that snake up for a major eating disorder.

That thing is so fat lol, it just looks unhealthy. I'll be interested in seeing how much it has grown after several months.

A little surprising it got down the fuzzy, one of my 20" northern ringnecks used to take peach fuzzies which were what, 1-2 weeks older than a "regular" fuzzy? They don't differ much in size, and my northern ringneck had trouble with them. Though she managed to eat about 5 of them, 2 of which took her about half an hour.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.freewebs.com/badyear2005

She already has an eating disorder. Well I defrost the pinks/fuzzies in hot water and flatten them with my fingers to make them longer and easier to swallow. With some small pink eaters, I actually cut the bottom lip of the pink off so it fits easier and faster down and keeping them a bit moist makes it easier for them to swallow something like that.

When it starts eating jumbo mice, I will sell it to you for 1000 bucks.

Dan

lol
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.freewebs.com/badyear2005

..see comments below too...what a fat pig, I am going to report you to the obese society for prosecution...youve crosst the line mister...now go shovel it another load o chow!!!

Took about 1/2 hour for it to finish this.

Dan

mike, see how the pink's mouth is caught on the regals mouth? I forgot to clip off the pinks mouth and that is also why it took so long in this case. It chewed it like gum until it worked around that pink's mouth.

Dan

Yeah I've seen ringneck snakes have problems with the bottom lip. Usually the smaller ones though. Nice pics.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.freewebs.com/badyear2005

...to the man....that lil buggers lookn good, im amazed you can get them to eat mice so easily..Ive only had 1 take to them w/ any gusto...pity you have no roadguarder shots to share w/ us...

I narrowed it all down to one thing. Time. It take a lot of time and patients and it is indeed frustrating when it does not work, but ya have to regroup and try again. I keep their enclosures small and get them conditioned to my presence as food man and never touch or move them with my hands so they are not fearful or stressed. And then feed them small portions of a particular prey (worm, frog, snake etc) and then wait two weeks and when they are starvin marvin, I scent a defrosted rodent with that scent item they were eating be it a frog, worm, snake, cricket, etc, and it seems to work. Now it has not worked on night snakes and pinewoods, but I will keep trying.

I had the same issue with sawscales wanting crickets only. I fed a few vipers crickets and then scented pinks with crickets and wamo, they converted to mice. I also scented pinks with superworms and it worked also with a stubborn sawscale viper.

I am getting some food coloring to dye the pinks geen for frogs and brown for anoles and then scent them and see what happens?

Dan

Cool Dan. If it works out (and I see no reason it should be any problem for the southern eating pinks in the long run?) we'll have to make sure YOU get the next albino found! Every one has died I think in the past from keeper "error".
Anyway, I too have had small snakes get "caught up" on the pink's mouth..Some have eventually given up and had to be "re-started" on pinks again later.
A 2' southern, or better, a group of 2' southerns, would be impressive.
Don't know about the $1000.00 tag though
Good luck and keep us posted..
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

www.crimsonking.funtigo.com

Will such a big eater turn on his "friend" and eat him if he goes without eating for a week ?

Ringneck snakes often include small snakes in their diet and some species have been known to consume a cage mate (regals). However the case, southern ringnecks usually do not each each other even when starved. I have kept a dozen or so in a tank and watched as one starts on one side of a worm and another starts on the other and one continues to swallow the other snake until I have to wrap or tap one off, or break the worm in half. Now that is perhaps a mistake that can happen with any snake when it is feeding. That being said, I still would not keep any snake, ringneck or not with this beefy large one because if I forgo a meal or two by mistake, and her belly starts to shrink, there is no telling what she may try to eat as her diet is not normal and being in captivity is not normal. She is kept alone and was only put next to that other specimen in the photograph only for a moment to compare how much larger she has grown in just 3 weeks of eating rodents vice a worm or lizard diet.

Oh, I have witnessed Northwest ringnecks biting to harm or perhaps kill one another to protect their cage space. One I have sat in its hide area under a log and when another northwest ringneck approached too suddenly, it would strick out and bite the other one on the head and a big fight would ensue but it would let go of it as if giving the other snake a warning vice trying to hold on to it for a meal as they have a very tight grip and when they really want to kill something for food, it does not usually escape. They actually stabilize themselves for more bite power and hold power by wrapping their tails around something to anchor themselves to something sturdy so they can apply more energy to the battle of killing their prey.

Dan

Thanks a lot great info .

Jeanin