Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What size food do you guys use for ATBs? Sometimes mine gulp it right down and sometimes they seem to struggle with smaller food. One of mine is as thick as my pinkie and the othek is as thick as my pointer. I know that is kinda unspecific but i don't know what else to compare it too. I'm 6'1" if it helps. My hands are pretty large. Both have great feeding responce (and love to go after my fingers too) but feeding time is a pain. Of my 16 snakes those 2 take by far the longest to feed. Not only because i feed them multiple small items, but also b/c they are so darn slow to finish each feeder.
BTW- the pinkie size one is pencil thick at his narrowest point and the pointer guy is pinkie thick at narrowest

I use the same rule with my ATB as i do with any other of my snakes. The thickest part of the snake is how thick the food item should be after thawing. I know the ATBs have a thin neck but they are totally fine for the most part. I have never had any problems with too large or too small of a food item.
Hope this helps you.

Thanks
Kyle
Kyle's Reptyles

I do the same as Kyle.
My baby atbs are on mouse fuzzies right now, the large adults are on weaned or small rats.

I just wanted to add that I only feed 1 item at a time to ATBs per feeding. They seem to be a little delicate sometimes with multiple items and might regurg.

-April

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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

ATB's are like every other snake, they can eat a variety of sizes, including much bigger than you would think they could. If you think you are feeding too small just up the size each week till your happy.

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Jason

He actually ate the food intended for his cage mate's (I know keeping them seperate is better)food the other day. It was way too big. But by the time i noticed it mas too late for me to try to stop it. He tryed all night and regurged the next day. But with as far as ge got, I think I can bump him up a size or two. On a different note, he is having a horrible shed. The humidity in the whole room is 55. I mist them twice a day. I was running a mister but it was soaking the substrate (aspen) and i was afraid of mold

switch the substrate to something better like cypress mulch, or even potting soil. Potting soil is cheap and works really well, I've always microwaved it for 10-15 before putting it in the cage.
Feeding two atb's in the same cage can be a pain. Maybe feed one in a separate container next time.
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Jason