Reptile & Amphibian Forums

No picture yet, but I adopted a Pine Snake a few weeks ago...a juvenile...about a foor long...he/she loves pinky mice...he/she eats 4 in a few minutes! It's got a great personality...rattles its tail once in a while and last night after I fed it, it hissed as I slithered around and it "close mouthed" struck at my hand...his/her way of telling me to pound salt...if it keeps eating like this...it's gonna get huge in no time!

Pardon the few spelling errors

I would STRONGLY advise AGAINST power feeding your new friend. I don't know how long you intend on keeping him, but over feeding him will most certainly shorten his life span, lead to obesity and lead to a premature death. Not sure if you plan on breeding him either, but if you do, over-feeding is a sure-fire way for him to "lose that loving feeling"...

Not trying to flame here, but over feeding a snake is a VERY unhealthy thing to do. Just because it will pound mice like no tomorrow doesn't mean it should be afforded that opportunity.

For a juvenile pine, 1 rodent every 7-10 days should suffice. I have a pair of northern pines that are cb '03 and at that rate they are now taking medium rats at a rate of 1 every 2 weeks or so and are both over 4 feet long.

-With a fistful of steel,
-AzAtrox

I feed him once a week and I feed him the small newborn mice that are about 1 inch long...he could easily eat a larger mouse, but he is still thin, so the tiny mice are perfect.

Remember that pinks have almost no nutrition. So feeding larger more developed feeders would be healthier. Or rat pinks if you think the snake has digestive problems ie. fur is to much for it right now.
Thanks Jason

Thanks Jason...I didn't know that....much appreciated!!!

No nutrition is a little overstated but it helps get the point across. No bones in the pinks means no calcium to the snake. I know that there are bones but they are not very developed. Pinky mice are also very fatty not much muscle really. Pink rats are less fatty and have large skulls which equal calcium. Then you have the young mouse that while simular in size to a crawler rat is leaner and has more muscle than fat compared to a simulared size rat. But the rat has more calcium because of the bone structure. And if you go over to the kingsnake forum the debate of quail/v/rodents is starting. Yeah LOL I prefer rats all the way but you get people all over the board on this issue.
Later Jason