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I have pretty much moved spot to a all pinky diet. He seems to take whatever I give him. I put in one fuzzy and 3 pinkys and he ate them all! Since I appear to have a bottomless pit... what is the proper amount to feed him. Is there a ounces per week rate for hatchlings? Should he eat a certain percentage of his weight per week? I know I should feed him about every other day, but how much? One pinky, two pinkies? I know if I feed him a lot he will grow by leaps and bounds. I don't want an obese gator, or a thin one. What is the optimum level for a healthy diet?

Thanks,

Matt

http://www.crocodilian.com/crocfaq/faq-5.html#6.1.2

I have read over those documents in their entirety several times. That does not address the question I was asking. It tells me the frequency( about every other day) but not the amount. It also says it is possible to overfeed the gator which gives even more validity to my concern.

When I feed him, how much should I give him?(not how often) Right now I have decided to give him two pinkies when I feed him even though he could eat four to six. My main concern is obeseity. It says on that document that I should monitor his general body condition, but it doesn't go into specifics. How fat is too fat?

I was just hoping somebody had a math formula for feeding their crocodilian.

Thanks,

Matt

How big is your gator?

He is 12.5" and weighs around 4 ounces(probably a little more). My scale doesn't weigh fractions of an ounce(soon it won't matter. )

Thanks,

Matt

In that case, I would say that 4 pinkies or 2 decent size fuzzy mice 2-3 times a week would do him fine for now. Of course the size of the meal will need to grow as the animal does. As far as I know, there is no "calculated" rate of feeding set. However, if you might consider emailing Adam Britton at abritton@crocodlian.com and he might be able to answer that for you. I am sure that there are a few others in here that might happen to have that answer for you, but I personally dont. I kinda feed my alligator in the same way sorta that I feed my snakes. Depending on how much I feed, will determine the size and quantity of the previous meal.

Example, If I feed my burmese a Jumbo rat that leaves a nice size lump in her, I dont feed again for another couple of weeks, until that I see she has slendered back out. However if I feed her just a large rat, that is a bit smaller, I will feed her one of those every week to every two weeks.

Younger crocodilians will feed more frequently. In my opinion, feeding them more times a week, but smaller portions is much better than throwing them a giant meal at one time. That is just my opinion, that I go by from what I have read and learned from my own personal experiences with my gator.

Hope this helps,
Stan

ok, hold on a minute, You might want to knock that down slightly. I wasn't really considering a 12" gator actuall size there. I would say 3 smaller pinkies with a vitamin supplement, or 1 fuzzy and 1 pinky. I would feed him that between 2-3 times a week.

Just remember pinkie's are not a great diet, try using larger mice. Also vary the diet using fish, chicken, and beef. No one food item is perfect although it's hard to go wrong using whole food items such as rodents.

Typically I feed young animals as much as they will eat several times a week, older animals are adjusted depending on condition.

I'd feed mainly fuzzies or larger for the animal you have and stop using pinkies other than occasionaly.
The Ultimate Guide to Crocodilians in Captivity

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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'