Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I aquired a baby Arizona mt king not long ago. For its small size it certainly eats well and a lot.
Pinkies only but 2 to 3 in one feeding . I heard some stop eating during winter .
My question is can I feed him as much as he will eat just to give him fat reserves?
I am switching to fuzzies now and this snake eats till he looks like a round little fire hose.
Thanks

Your snake cannot be from this year's hatch because there is no way it would be ready for fuzzies yet. We can assume it is a yearling? Reptiles have the same health problems associated with obesity as other animals. I would feed a yearling 2 small fuzzies or one medium fuzzy every 5 to 7 days. Wild AZ Mtn Kings are fairly slender snakes. Looking like a "round little fire hose" may be a sign of obesity.

Greg

As Frank said, it isn't out of the question for this years hatchling to be up to fuzzies. Cage environment and feeding habits (yours) will dictate the potential growth of the snake. The rest is up to the snakes choosing. When all else is considered equal, an individual's feeding habitats may still (and do) differ. This may be personality related, or controlled by some other mechanism (yet untested).

I have seen this for years with rattlesnakes in captivity, and possibly in the wild (I say "possibly" because the observsations are not controlled there). There is no doubt that individual growth rates differ dramatically in the wild among broodmates. This is "most likely" due to a combination of food access, environmental conditions and their relationship to individual behavior. The latter is the most unknown for wild snakes.

It is no surprise to me that a hatchling pyro could be eating fuzzies by now, and whether it is looking too fat or healthy depends on having good cage options and the choices it can make for itself.

The first thing you have to understand is, you have a reptile. Its ability to consume and digest its food is controlled by the enviornment(extotherm). Both temps and humidity are key, as well as mental stability(security) are important.

To judge how much a young snake can eat is very easy. Just look at it. All snakes normally grow long and slender, not skinny or boney, long and slender. If your charge is growing long and slender, then feed it all it will consume. Once your snake reaches sexual maturity, it will bulk out. Then you have to judge your feeding by other means and your goals.

If your charge is thick or fat, not growing longer, but instead getting fat, it means the temps are warm enough to allow feeding, but not growth. Instead of investing the energy into growth, its storing it as fat. In this case, the higher temps are marginal, the temperature range needs adjusting, increase the high end of the range.

I have often fed everyday even several times a time. If the above conditions are met. In these cases the offspring grow very quickly and healthy. Again, its the enviornmental conditions that can cause a problem, not the frequency of feeding. I often say in personal conversations, they are not eating donuts, which means, they are or should be consuming balanced foods.

Many keepers form a paradigm of schedules, which really have nothing to do with the snakes, its about them. Their conditions they set, they make statements, while these statements are fine for their conditions, they are not all inclusive. In other words, if they would change their conditions, they could change their schedules and vary their results. The old saying applies, its a F--l that does the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

A goofy analogy, in nature, if a watersnake was born to a pond with tons of baby fish and frogs and tadpoles, this watersnake could grow very quickly and be healthy. If that watersnake was born to a pool that had almost none of the food items i mentioned above, it would indeed grow very slowly and still be healthy. The key here is, in nature, they have a useful range of temps to acomplish their tasks, they normally can get as hot as they want or as cool as they want. In captivity, they can normally do neither, or none of that. They can only do what we allow them to do. The advanced answer is, what are you allowing your charges to do?

Reptiles are the ultimate conservation device. If food is scarce, they lower their metabolism and conserve energy as long as possible. In other words, move in slow motion, if food is plentiful, they increase their metabolism and do life functions are a much greater speed. Their lifes are spend going back and forth between these as conditions support.

Remember, in captivity, its a constant adjustment, your task is to monitor the individual snakes(in this case) and adjust conditions or food consumption as necessary. Necessary is based on your snakes potential abilities and your goals.

And yes, a pyro in both captivity and nature can consume fuzzies within a few months of hatching, under supporting conditions. I use the word support because, its normal and natural for reptiles to grow slowly or very quickly, depending on the quality of the enviornment(support), thats how you judge the quality of the conditions. Consider, its rare for nature to have the same support year after year, in fact, its constatnly changing, yet in captivity, some have it down to 1 degree and never changing, how natural is that? Good Luck, FR

Being lefthanded can be a be arch. Dang spelling. FR

Excellent post FR! You know, when you aren't taking shots at people, your brilliance really shines through.

Your post got me to thinking...I keep all of my snakes in one room with temps that vary from 84 degrees in the day down to 74 degrees at night. Most thrive in this environment, but I have not taken into account that I have a variety of species and sub-species that may each have individual temperature and/or humidity needs that I am not meeting with this set up. Something I will certainly look at ways to change.

Thank you for the insight.

Michael

Actually, the snakes I have studied, both wild and captive, benefit from temp choices nearing 100F, of course, 95F is fine, but surely you must allow them to escape to cooler temps.

The real point about higher temps is, they are rarely used, but when used, there is reason. So it should be provided.

About taking shots at people, do you know of any better animal to take shots at? surely you don't want me to take shots at snakes? I mean, some here say, that snake is better and this one is tougher, I would rather call the snake keepers boneheads. Surely its less harmful. FR

Thank you very much everyone for the excellent info. I am cutting back a bit on the feeding as its a bit to fat by reading these answers.
I enjoy feeding him and he so far enjoys eating . Not every day ofcourse but a lot.
I need to get a camera to post a pic of him to show his chubbyness. He mostly hides but comes out when he is "hungry" which is every few days and than I feed him .
I was feeding him as much as I did because afraid he would not eat for a few months as I read some do.
Thanks everyone