Reptile & Amphibian Forums

was just wondering what the guideline was to start on smaller fuzzys? my King is around 14 inches long now..Not sure how old he is, I had for around 2 months now...He is currently eating 2-3 pinkys at a time every week..was just wondering if I should move up to a smaller fuzzy?

consistently taking smaller food items is the clue as to when to bump up to the next size, IMO.
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Todd Hughes

If you are feeding your king pinkies at 14" he is severely malnourished. Pinkies do not suplly the protien, fat, calcium and other nutrients that a more mature mouse does. Get him on small mice asap. You will be amazed at the transformation of your snake.

I usaully get my newborn Florida kings on fuzzies after only 2 or 3 feedings of pinkies. Larger newborns I start directly on fuzzies. The larger the meal in the beginning, the healthier that snake will be long term.

I would get your 14" snake on small mice because it is to small for fuzzies. While fuzzies are much better than pinkies (pinkies are mostly made up of water) they still lack in a lot of areas. Remember that most wild kings eat other snakes or lizards for their first meals and can handle large meals.

..So, DON'T BE AFRAID TO GIVE YOUR SNAKE WHAT YOU THINK IS A LARGE MEAL- if it is too big for them to swallow they will simply give up. It will not kill them and is not bad for them. Mostly it will teach you (the keeper) what your snake can and cannot eat.

This is also a subject that comes up here quite frequently. Try and see if the archives search will turn anything up.

OFF TOPIC PICS---------------------------------------------------
nice healthy size clutch of Florida kingsnake eggs:

Phantom Male breeding lavender female. Notice how samll the male is compared to the female:

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www.Bluerosy.com

Were you ever worried about losing that male during introduction and were they left unattended? Teenagers Oye ...
She looks well fed prior !

Were you ever worried about losing that male during introduction and were they left unattended? Teenagers Oye ...
She looks well fed prior !

I think part of it is KNOWING your snakes. And by that i mean experimenting (acclimating to groups) at an earlier age. That is just the way i do it. I don't know if they would eat each other if i didn't. I never had any problesm. i started keeping snakes togther because of space was limited. This is alos nothing new. I remeber when Bob Applegate came out with the dual level enclosers for multiple Pueblin Milks. Nobody ever questioned it.

I have put a lot of small males this year in with multiple females that they have never been formerly introduced to. I just throw them in and never look back. 2-3 days may go by before i check.

i dunno. Maybe i have a sixth sense about these things. Or maybe it is because i feed my females. Or maybe i just know my snakes. I am sure if I had a female that ever tried to attack a male I would keep an eye on her. But most of my females I am very familiar with. Never had a female attack a male before . But common sense tells me if I put a prepubesent male in with a female that is ready to breed she might eat him.

..also i am keeping younger Florida kings together now. i used to wait until they were eating small mice. Now i start to keep them together after 2-3 feedings. As long as I am on top of them eating they are fine. It works out great because the snakes learn to share and live like this from the beginning. So later on when I put them togther they are used to others.

Now I did keep neonates that together before they even had their first shed. If I was not around during the pre-shed they will eat each other due to hunger. Also it is dangerous to feed them togther in groups at this stage. That is why i wait a few feedings before i put them with others. I usually keep 3-4 neonates in a shoebox size container. Any more than that and it gets hard to tell which ate what and when.

All-in-all, when they get older.. my snakes don't have these cannabalistic tendencies even when they get hungry. I have a couple large females now that have refused chicks and am out of mice. They are still in with their smaller breeding mate and the respect is there.
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www.Bluerosy.com

I think part of it is KNOWING your snakes. And by that i mean experimenting (acclimating to groups) at an earlier age. That is just the way i do it. I don't know if they would eat each other if i didn't. I never had any problesm. i started keeping snakes togther because of space was limited. This is alos nothing new. I remeber when Bob Applegate came out with the dual level enclosers for multiple Pueblin Milks. Nobody ever questioned it

Do you use this ? Not that i care but they way i saw it bob gave them diffent chambers for living and feeding Than again i may be wrong

Do you use this ? Not that i care but they way i saw it bob gave them diffent chambers for living and feeding Than again i may be wrong

No I don't do the large encloser / different chamber thng. I don't think it matters with my snakes. They just don't eat each other no matter how small they are confinded.
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www.Bluerosy.com