Reptile & Amphibian Forums

snapped this just after he downed a mouse tail first very strange he ate 4 and all were tail first
simon

4 mice?? Have you tried switching him up to rats yet? Sounds like he needs to go a little higher in the size of his prey. Just a thought.

mice are easier to digest imo i have never tried putting an atb on rats and dont plan on it just my way of doing things and its not hurting the snake
simon

How did you come to this conclusion? Rats are not harder to digest than mice, or vice-versa. It makes more sense to feed one appropriately sized pey-item than several smaller ones. Its more cost effective and less taxing on the snake's digestive system. There is no real reason to feed more than one prey item at a time.

say u swallowed all your food whole. would u rather try to swallow 4 chicken legs or the whole chicken. imo the leggs would be easier i dont really care about the cost of it 4 mice is just about the same as a rat around here.
i dont see how 4 smaller items are harder to digest than a large item they are certainly alot easier to get down but again its just my opinion im not going to fight with u.
we all have our own ways of thinking
simon

Well, If I was a snake, I'd probably swallow the chicken whole. You can waste your time and money if you'd like, but I get large rats for .69 a piece from Rodent Pro and that is not more expensive than 4 mice.........so do what you like I guess.

i oculd care less about what u do its ur snake
simon

He has a very good point. I have a 30 inch sinoling milk that is "leagly" ready for hopper mice, but I rether give them 3-4 fuzzys, there are many reasons. First off that a over size or a larger prey greatly increases the risk of tareing the the lineing of there stomach. (I cant spell what lineing it really tares, but stomach lineing best sums it up) and its easer on there diejestive system. Havent you seen hairless rats? People use them all the time becuse its so much easer on there diejestive system. But its all with the person, if they feel like its better to feed big thats your business. Also David, I am not trying to be offencive, but you dont all ways have to reply to every post to make you look good. And you dont have to be so aggressive with your posts with your post. If some one doesnt want to do somthing you say, then just say no more.
Well im just trying to help.
Philip

Better be safe than sorry. I would rather feed a couple of mice to my gophers than give them oversized food just to save a few bucks. There are more important things than money, like the health and well being of the animal in my care.

j

If I run out of adult mice and have to order some (since it usaly takes a week for the shipper to kill and get it out) and if I wasnt keeping good track of my roadents. I will some times take the next size up prey and cut it into, rub some brains on it and most snakes will eat it. But I all ways make sure the new "rat" is the same size of the mouse. Its really, really nasty, and im not going to go into any more detal till after I finsh my brakfast.
Take care.
Philip

f

Several smaller mice would be much easier to digest than on large rat. Say you have 4 mice that equal in mass to a medium sized rat, than the four mice would have 4 times the total surface area the rat does, thus much easier for the digestive juices in the snakes body to break them down quickly. Not that snakes aren't equipped to deal with large prey in the wild, and probably would have no problem at all taking down a medium rat, but for the sake of the argument here, yes, it is technically easier to digest several small meals than one large meal.

-Christian-

The first and most important thing you learn in Anatomy is the importance of surface area! The more the better, and the easier it is on the digestive system.

g

Its all dependent on the individual snake's metabolism and the environment in which it lives. A snake thats more active and has a higher metabolism and is kept in appropriate temps/humidity will likely be able to handle more/larger prey items than one with a slower metabolism thats kept too warm or too cold.

Some snakes will be more likely to regurg when fed multiple small items versus 1 appropriately sized item (Emerald Tree Boas being one example).

Appropriate size is also a term whose meaning varies depending on the snake. For most boids, its an item thats about the same size as the snakes girth. For BRBs, they seem to do well on items that are up to 1.5 times the snakes girth. For ETBs, most keepers prefer to feed slightly smaller than the snake's girth because they are prone to ERS (emerald regurgitation syndrome) which once started is a bear to get under control.

I don't think extensive research has been done, but some theories I've seen suggest that when feeding multiple prey items they basically line up one behind the other, waiting to get through the digestive system. They can't continue through the process until the one before them has moved on. This can leave partially digested food sitting and decaying in the stomach or intestine. Gases are given off as a by-product of decay and this bloating and decay can lead to regurgitation.

It would be a mistake to compare reptile digestion to mammalian digestion, so the whole question of "its easier to eat 4 chicken legs than a whole chicken" really doesn't apply here. There's no mechanical breakdown or pre-digestion of food and the length of time food spends in the digestive tract is completely different, so its a whole other ballgame. Heck, its almost a completely different sport.
-----
-----------------------------------------
Heather
Photo Gallery

Since snakes are opportunistic feeders in the wild, it would be pretty rare for them to eat several prey items at a go (assuming they're not raiding a nest of mice/rat fuzzies or something like that).

Swallowing prey takes a good deal of energy and puts the animal in a very vulnerable position, so they're likely to eat the 1 mouse/rat they catch quickly and then retire for a few days to digest before repeating the cycle.

So, given that circumstance, it would be logical that they're better adapted to handle a smaller number of prey items at one time.

I would never recommend feeding more than 3 items at a go, and I would be sure they are all smaller than the snakes girth. Unless your snake looks underweight, there's no reason to force food on it. One appropriately sized item every week or 2 will be plenty. Overfeeding can drastically shorten a snakes life and lead to health problems.

That being said, if you've regularly been feeding your snake multiple prey items without any problem, it sounds like in your situation its ok and there's no reason to change what works.
-----
-----------------------------------------
Heather
Photo Gallery

?????????? again here you are non informative posts. do you do this to upset people. i have read some of your posts before and some of it is cool but this is pure bafoonery.stay focused on snakes . talk to ya
clenzer

LOL, nicely put.