Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello fellow herpers....Long time since i have been on this board..very busy...anyways..not sure who remembers me or not..been about 3 months since I purchased my two young pyros from Ryan Hoyer..anyways they doing real good and im due for pics, but I do have a question on how often to feed. I was advised that Pyros should go alittle longer between feedings then other snakes.. I think i heard 10-14 days is the norm for young ones, compared to 7 days for other young snakes. Is this true? they have each been eating a large pinky every 11-14 days. they seen to be doing great.. they dont shed as often as my desert king or my corn.. if 10-14 days is too long, would there be any damage that i caused? once again, they both look good and plump.. they dont look skinny, and they seem to be growing ok..... oh, by the way, my desert king is eating like a king.. eating two small mice per week now...well every 7-10 days i feed her two small mice, and she is agressive eater now, so thanks for the help months ago....take care, thanks, Pete

sorry about the quality... i dont feel like retaking..LOL...my cheapo digi camera takes better close up pics then this expensive SLR that im learning to use..lol..Anyways, this is the male. It looks like he is good shape..he is roughly 16 inches long...

I'm going to reply to this since it has been answered many times.....
Provide your snake all the necessary options and it will tell you when it is hungry......That is when you feed it.....There are no set days or schedules....
There is certainly a differences between just keeping a snake alive and allowing it to thrive in captivity......

BTW.....
I have 1.1 2008 pyros that are 30" plus right now.....They sometimes eat 3 times a week.....unless they are in shed......Other times they eat twice a week...during the fall they only wanted to eat once a week.......

When they were hatchlings they wanted to eat as much as every day or every other day.....I fed them for 3 months almost every day.....They were on fuzzies by the end of their first year.....Now they eat numerous hoppers at every feeding.....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I also have small ones right now that will eat a pink every day if I let them. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But they eat a lot. Wouldn't want to go 10-14 days between for sure. But, each snake is different.

My adults eat as much as any other snake I have until the fall. Right now, my females will eat 2 big hoppers/small weanlings every 3 or 4 days easy. I would also say that it seems like they may even digest and poop faster than a lot of my other snakes.

As far as not feeding them as often, I'm not sure I'd follow that plan. Pyros can get weird in the fall when it comes to feeding. May seek cooler parts of the cage and not eat near as much. If you plan on brumating at all, I think it's a better idea to let them eat as much as they will, while they will. Get good weight on them and let them decide how much to eat later.
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

I think John said it pretty well. I am amazed sometimes that such a slender snake can eat adult mice. I am not one of the most knowledgable folks on Pyros here but the general tone has been like John has said, as often as they want. Good luck with them. I find them very rewarding and keep them in 3' Visions to display

>> I'm going to reply to this since it has been answered many times.....
Provide your snake all the necessary options and it will tell you when it is hungry......That is when you feed it.....There are no set days or schedules....
There is certainly a differences between just keeping a snake alive and allowing it to thrive in captivity......

When they were hatchlings they wanted to eat as much as every day or every other day.....I fed them for 3 months almost every day.....They were on fuzzies by the end of their first year.....Now they eat numerous hoppers at every feeding.....
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I have not had luck with Pyros but since no one else has answered I will just say that my pyros didn't seem to eat as much as other kings. My female which recently passed for no obvious reason had a good apetite and would eat quite often but the others I had in the past and the male I still have only eat smaller meals and less often. Maybe some others will jump on board, I know we have a lot of Pyro owners here.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

I have a couple of 09 pyro females that were hatched last August. The breeder was of the every ten days school. When I got these little snakes in March 2, 2010 Zafina weighed 15.5 grams and Zuni weighed 10 grams. As of April 15:

Zuni 25 grams

Zafina 30 grams
They didn't eat for the first week I had them as they were both in blue, but once they shed they began eating every four to five days, multiple pinks at a time.
I also have four 08 pyros that eat every 7 to 10 days on average. In the winter they go off feed. I offer them live pinks, fuzzies and even small weanlings, according to the size of the individual snake. I came to this pattern of feeding by seeing what the snakes wanted to do. If I have left over mice none of the pyros want to finish off there is always a hungry gopher snake to do the job.

I think pyros are a great beginner's snake!