What types of records are we supposed to keep for snakes?

Question

you mentioned in another answer to a question that there are some things to remember when keeping a snake. feeding, stress, RECORD KEEPING, breeding. and i just wanted to know what are we suposed to write down? also i read in another website that some people force feed their snake to make them big. but if you wanna keep your snake at around 4 feet you should feed them s decent sized mouse every two weeks. is that true, and is that even healthy for the snake?

Answer 1

The only records I keep about my snakes are their health and age.  As for feeding it is not good at all to force feed a snake to make them bigger, because all it will do is make them fatter.  A snake is gonna grow at the rate a snake is suppose to go.  Look at most Americans they are not growing faster, most of them are just downright fat.  I feed my four foot ball to regular mice every Saturday.  Slowing their feeding will not slow their growing it will eventually make them under nourished, which could lead to bad shedding, and health issues.  If you do not want a big snake, then buy one that naturally does not get big.  Ok  Good Luck

Answer 2

I have not heard of people force feeding snakes to make them bigger.  Force feeding them because they will not strike, yes, but not to make them big!!  I personally don't keep any records about my snake, partly because she hasn't shed since I've had her and I don't feel I need to keep a record of when I have fed her.  It's once a week or maybe 6 days so it's not hard to remember that!  You will know when your snake is hungry anyway, mine comes out more often and is more active - she is on the hunt and doesn't stay in one place for very long.

What do you consider a decent sized mouse?  That will all depend on the size of your snake.  As your snake gets bigger you can increase the size of the mouse and leave it longer between feeding.  If you don't want a snake that gets bigger than 4 foot long then I suggest you find a species that doesn't normally get bigger than that.

Answer 3

i think the record they are talking about is to note when he's shedding and eating. because feeding once a week can be easy to forget for some one ,especially kids.

for fun i like to weight my snake sometimes .it  helps me seeing it grow.but it's not necessary.

it's true that some are feeding more their snake to make them grow faster .it's often because they want to breed them.i think it's probably not the best for the snake.

the lenght of the snake depends of himit's not true that it will stay 4 feet if you feed it less .i think it's not good not fedding it enough for it's health it can become more agressive because it's hungry.

on that website therer is a chart (in the middle of the page ) that tells the frequency the size of the mice you should give link to the weight of the snake:

http://www.answers.com/topic/corn-snake-...

Answer 4

never force feed you snake !!! its hard to get them back feeding once you start this if you have any problems then please take it 2 a reptile center they should be ale to help you but normally at a cost but reamber if your snake turns away from food it could be for many reasons don't get in a panic they can go for awhile with out food in the wild.

you can not restrict the size that your snake will grow, either way you snake will grow. Dependant on the age on you snake depend how large it is will depend on what of size you feed it, the size should ruffly be the same size as the widest part of you snake.

As for keeping records i keep a feeding record and a shedding record just so then i can keep track of how they are doing.

Answer 5

Record keeping is especially useful when you have several animals in a collection, hatch date, feeding, shedding, regurgitation and anything else of note can help keep track of an animal's health and breeding status.  It is also important info for anyone who may want to buy your snake. People don't usually have to force feed for growth as snakes are opportunistic feeders and a healthy snake will pretty much take food whenever it is offered. Some breeders will "power feed" though which is very frequent feeding to bring a snake up to breeding size quickly. It is not healthy for the animal.