Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how would one tell if a snake is ready for a Fuzzy? I have a desert kingsnake purchased last week from Petco..I was advised that it eats 1-3 pinkys per feeding...I fed him 5 days ago one pinky....How would I know if he is ready for a fuzzy? I just purchased 6 pinkys today for him, but was advised on this board that pinkys are mainly just water and that they dont get much nutrition for him....He is not very big around, and a fuzzy is thicker then the fatest part of his body.. Now if you think I can give a fuzzy, what should I do with the 6 pinkys(frozen)that I have left? should I just feed him those over the next couple weeks, then move up to a fuzzy? I just want to make sure he gets the nutrition that he needs, and was under the impression that pinkys were ok...Im not sure how old he is, I assume a few months old...he is around 13 inches long, and skinner then my pinky finger..thanks again,,,, a real newbie..Pete

whatever he can swallow is ok.....

......use the pinks then try a little fuzz....you'll see...they eat bigger than people expect.....

.......(also , ''fuzzy'' is a term that has many sizes within itself.).......

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..J Yohe ....

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Pete,
Pinkies are ok for your snake, and they do give snakes nutrition, otherwise the snakes eating them would not grow at all to get to the size to eat fuzzies to begin with. The key for all of this is appropriately sized food items.

Pinkies can vary in size. Day old pinks are what a lot of breeders feed their smallest corns, kings, etc. 4 day old pinks are much larger, and can deliver good sized meals to baby various kings, etc. Overall, it just all depends on the individual snake vs. the pinks you are giving them. You want to be able to feed your snake a good sized meal, and if your kingsnake is doing great, and the pinks you currently have don't seem to be making that much of a visible bulge, if any, then thinking of stepping up to fuzzies is naturally the next thing to do.

A good way to gauge food item size is having a good eye and seeing how big the biggest part of the snake's body ( the girth ) is. Once you are familiar with that, then go look at some fuzzies at the store and see how big they are. A good way to go about it is to buy food items that are no bigger than 1 1/4 times the size of the snake. In other words, think of it as the same size girth of your snake, plus 25 % more. See what I mean?

Some fuzzies being sold are pinkies that are just barely getting fur, like say 5 day old pinks, while some other fuzzies are almost the size of small hoppers, which would be too big currently for your snake now. The key is to, again, get a good view of your snake's biggest girth, and then when you go buy fuzzies, see or ask if you are able to view what you are buying, and pick out the fuzzies that seem to be the best sized suitable for your snake. It is as easy as that my friend.

I would just feed your snake the pinks you currently bought, and then go check out the fuzzies after your snake has eaten those during his feeding schedule.

Take care!
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Genesis 1:1

Here is an example of the above here we have 3 fuzz small at the top (smallest i had) through medium and then large my thumb is there as a quide to size hope this helps you make your decision.

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Cheesemonkey

Does anyone else use the term "peach" mice?

I have found some places offer an intermediate size between pinkie and fuzzy and designate it as "Peach" mice............looks like "Cheesemonkey's" smallest mouse in that comparison shot.
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1.0.0 Lampropeltis getula holbrooki
0.1.0 Lampropeltis getula californae
0.0.1 Lampropeltis getula nigra
1.0.0 Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri
2.3.0 Eublapharis macularius macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.1.0 Gerrhosaurus major major

Your little king could eat that largest "fuzzy", I would bet, with no problem given a good temp gradient.
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Todd Hughes

Here's a newborn splendida hatched in Aug. '08 first meal, he is now on small hoppers. I will try to get a pic tomorrow for size reference for you. They were able to progress in 3 meals of pinkies to fuzzies. This is a two or three day old pinky. I use 1 day old pinks only on my smallest snakes, specks and milks, runt thayeri, etc. had to go 1/2 pink for the runt thayeri, but in three meals it was on whole. The runt is now on large fuzzies, 2 or 3 per feeding. In 7 months they are on small hoppers, splendida are bigger than specks usually. This is just my way, I have live available 24/7 so there never is an issue about what size I can use. They will eat bigger than you think, go with moderation at first, increase as you see fit and learn through the process!

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Todd Hughes