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Can anyone tell me if I should see the snakes body expanded if it ate a slug larger than its own diamiter? It would seem to me the snake would just compress the slug and you would never know if or when it ate
My reptile collection and research

I had some slugs about equal to my snakes body diameter "disappear". I never saw a buldge in the snake. The slugs are so squishy that I imagine they don't exert enough pressure to distend the belly. I found a bannana slug that was over an inch in diameter unextended and about five inches long, and less than an inch in diameter and close to nine inches when fully extended. I think that this shows that the slug will likely conform to the shape of the snake's digestive tract. The only way I can tell my snake has eaten is to count how many slugs are left.
-Alice

Counting them may be hard for my setup. Maybe I should change the enclosure just because of this. I am using a 3G all glass enclosure with roughly 2-3" of Zoo-Med Eco Earth a climbing stick and water dish. I have noted the slugs like to burrow as well as the snake which is the resone it would be hard to count them without going through the eco earth with a fine tooth comb. So far I have not observed any sign of shedding and this coming Monday will mark the 2 week point that the snake has been in my possession. I fear that if I see no evidence of it taking the prey very soon I will be forced to return it to were I collected it.
My reptile collection and research

I've never had a problem with slugs burrowing, they usually just hang out on the lettuce leaf; are you sure, that the snake didn't eat them. I've noticed that the small slugs (about 1/4" in diameter or less) are the fist to go, so my snake must prefer these. I'd say that you would be safe keeping it 3-4 weeks unless you notice some marked weight loss.

You've also got to remember that in terms of the snake settling in you set yourself back to square one every time you mess with the cage. So I'd just leave him be for a couple of weeks in his current set up and keep adding slugs. The only time I disturbed my snake in the first few weeks I had him was to lift the bark and do a weekly slug count. I've read in one of my field guides that there are reports of sharp-tails taking slender salamanders in captivity, but I'm not sure if this is an option for you. The same field guide also suggests that sharp-tails may prefer the introduced garden slugs to small bannana slugs. This works out well for me since we don't have bannana slugs locally; if possible, you might want to try varying the types of slugs offered.

Mine also seems to be shedding bi-monthly, so I wouldn't be worried about yours not shedding.

If you look on page 2 of the forum I posted about sharp-tails on July 5 (Contia Care?). The person who responded had a sharp-tail that took crickets after she removed the hoppers she also said that there were reports of them taking thin-shelled snails. Although, my snake refused these items, maybe your snake would like them.

Good luck!
Alice

I have a stockpile of crickets for my lizards so I will try to offer them to the snake tomorrow. Yes the Salamanders are tough for me as I don’t believe there are any in my area. I will post this not and go look up the post your mentioned
My reptile collection and research