Someone out there in internet land asked to see Chipo, and updated photo. Here she is! She looks exactly like she did 6 months ago.
Small.
WHY???
It's not like I don't offer her food, water, a place to sleep, and a comfortable temperature....
She is one of my developmentally frustrating snakes. She has not eaten in a few months, which is still fine for her, but not something that is conducive to growth.
I've tried several different food types, food sizes, etc. I've moved her around the rack, moved her into a different tub, but to no avail. So... we now just wait.
And she is not the only one. Here are my girls...
My Pied from 08'. She is smaller than some of my 09's!!!
She is only 488 grams as of today, and it is extremely frustrating, as she is my oldest female Pied, and one I was looking forward to using next year, but if she doesn't pick up, she will be in the hold off rack.
And my 08' Spider female...
This girl has been driving me BONKERS, and this is a reason to keep your animals in and on ONE food source for the entirety of their lives.
Apparently, this female, as well as the Mojave below her, are mouse eaters.
Mouse eaters are frustrating to me very much, as I do not feed mice unless I know for a fact that the snakes ONLY eat mice. I have a few in the collection, but I try to avoid mouse only eaters as much as I can.
So... I have made the effort to feed these girls rats, but to no avail. These 08' girls are less than 400 grams each cause of my lack of mouse feeding.
Now, I am giving mice to these gals, reluctantly. But, if it gets them bigger and eating, I can't complain that much, right?
Now I know that you guys are wondering, why are you concerned only about girls eating? Well, gals need the size much more than any male does, so when males are not eating much, it is less of a concern.
So, we will trudge on, enjoying the fruits of my labors in growth of other females, but being constantly reminded by these gals that not all females eat well, and that there are times when plans do not go as well as you had hoped.
Have a great week, my friends.. It's MONDAY!
5 comments:
Chipo's head looks almost normal compared to her older pics. She even looks different from how I remember her looking in Anaheim... has her head plumped up?
I have a few of those myself. Picky eaters are no fun, especially when you see others that are the same age growing 4-5 times their size. For me it puts my het Piebald breeding off at least another year, probably when Pieds will be as numerous as Pastels.
:-(
Heather, Why is it that most BP keepers tend to WANT to feed rats instead of mice..?
I am aware that rats obviously get bigger therefore we're able to feed larger food, and that rats have a higher fat content but is there any other scientific/developmental purpose?
Chad
Chad,
I think I touched on this in a previous blog, but I'll go over it quickly now.
I HATE having to wait to feed several mice at a time. We are talking for an adult ball at least 4 or 5 mice in a sitting. I greatly dislike waiting and doing that, so I prefer the one shot of a rat. One rat, one meal, one time. BAM!
As I understand it in terms of food sources, there is not much difference in mice and rats in terms of nutrition. I would say that mice have more calcium (more mice, more bones, more calcium), but that is just a hypothesis and not backed up by any science I have done.
So... basically, it is my own laziness that prevents me from wanting to feed mice.
I've heard that about mice and calcium, too, somewhere.
I wish we could feed them chicken eggs. Think of the money we'd save!
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