I was offered a rescue snake. Friend of a friend of a friend because I have balls. Guys, this snake was starving. Shes over a year old and weighs 111g. I have her on quarantine setup and finally got her to take a rat pinkie weighing 12 g. It took her an hour to kill it, we actually stabbed it after 45 mins because she just wasn’t strong enough to tighten properly. She has refused f/t and The bigger pup. Should I wait the whole week I do for my others or get her going on small meals every 5 days? I have been so worried about her, despite not looking to take in a rescue right now.
I have a rescue cornsnake in the same situation. 1 year old and looked like a skinny hatchling. I have been feeding every 4 days, started with multiple small pinky mice (2 or 3) that the snake did not really need to kill (a little gruesome when they eat one alive but for me the snake is what is important) i did this for 3 feedings with progressively bigger pinkies and noticed after the first feeding that the snake actually killed the mice. yesterday fed 2 fuzzies and he took them right down. I will probably stay on an every 5-7 day schedule and work up to progressively bigger food as the little guy grows. Once I am sure he is healthy I will vary the feeding schedule and look for signs that he is actually hunting in the cage and ensure he has pooped but for now I am feeding as much as he will take. Not sure if it is the by Hoyle way to do this but I have been rescuing starving snakes for a long time and it is what has worked well for me.
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Every 5 days should be fine for the snake. I wouldn’t do anymore often since they take more time to digest than colubrids do. I would see about offering a freshly killed rodent for her, and one that is bigger than a rat pinkie since they are just fat and not much else. Try a 20 gram fresh killed rat and see if she takes it, and try dangling it by the tail from tongs so it moves more. You could also go the safer route and try a 20 gram mouse. They usually get a better feeding response than rats.