Yearling Corn Sizes

Hello.

I just have a question. Are my corn snakes big enough for their age? I'm worried that they might become stunted. Everywhere I look, people's corn snakes are bigger than mine at the same age. 100g. 300g. Mine are just around 20-30g. Wondering if I'm doing something wrong here.

To start off, I've attached pics of my two babies. And here's their info:
Aurora
First picture
67cm long and weighs 30.8g
Dante
Second picture
61cm long and weighs 21.5g
Nickle for scale

I got these two back in April of this year. The breeder told me they were born a month from each other around Aug/Sept/Nov. (He seemed to have had trouble remembering which clutch each were born in. He showed me pictures. I believe he breeds alot of snakes.)

From the day I first got them I've followed a variation of the munson plan, 2 sm pinkies every 5-6 days. Sometimes every 7 days. I am currently feeding them 4-5 g peach fuzzies every week for about 2 months now.

They digest amazingly. Defecate well. I have their temps at about 75-80 F on the hot side. Each shed has been whole and beautiful.

I just want to know if this is normal. Are they possibly younger? They would both be about a year old by now.

(Also, an extra question, I'd like to "kill two birds with one stone" and ask what you guys think their morph is. I know. There's a thread for it. The breeder told me Dante was sun-kissed het orchid and Aurora was an ultramel het lavender. Do they look it, is what I'd like to know. Oh, and I know het isn't visible, I'm just saying.)

Would love your input either way. Please, should I decrease the time between feeding? Do something different? I'm lost here.

:welcome:


What did they weigh when you got them in April ?

I think 20 to 30 grams is definitely a bit small for yearlings. However, their body condition looks good, not thin. Make sure to compare the size of the mice to the snakes. At their age, they should be eating mice that are about one and a half times as wide as the widest part of the snake. Your warm side temps could be a bit higher, but if they are digesting just fine you probably don't need to change anything.

As for the morphs, they look correct to me.

daddio207 said:

:welcome:


What did they weigh when you got them in April ?

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I lost my notebook that had their growth but I do remember Dante was about 8g and Aurora was 10g or so I remember that much since I was wondering how much to feed them. They started out eating one pinky each actually, I put in the post 2 pinkies ea. because they were on that stage for the longest.

You think maybe they were hatchlings?

I have a pic of them when I first got them. Brb.

These photos were taken mid-April.

o.So_Blu.o said:

These photos were taken mid-April.

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Size comparison of Tazo tea box to a nickle (yeah, this one isn't the same box but same design. I love Tazo chai tea.)

A full grown Corn snake could be 3 feet long and weigh 250 grams, on the other hand, a full grown corn snake could be about 6 feet long and weigh 900 grams.

Just like people, some guys barely make it to 5 feet tall, and a basket ball star may be over 7 feet.

So it's impossible to say what size a baby snake or a year old snake should be.

If you do everything "right" (care, housing, temperatures, feeding, handling, etc) than after a year, your snake will be whatever size it is. Some will be bigger or smaller. It is what it is. Genetics.

At 4 months old, my snake was 20 inches and weighed about 50 grams. At 1 year he was about 29 inches long and approaching 200 grams. Today he is about 19 months old, he's 38 inches long and right at 300 grams.

Is he big, small, or average? Ummmm..... YES!

He's not fat. He's not skinny. He's healthy, happy and fine.

o.So_Blu.o said:

I lost my notebook that had their growth but I do remember Dante was about 8g and Aurora was 10g or so I remember that much since I was wondering how much to feed them. They started out eating one pinky each actually, I put in the post 2 pinkies ea. because they were on that stage for the longest.

You think maybe they were hatchlings?

I have a pic of them when I first got them. Brb.

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Correction: Dante was 8g Aurora was 13g.

Corn snake hatchlings are usually about 4 inches (smallest) to about 11 inches (largest). You could say an average hatchling would be about 7 or 8 inches.

Karl_Mcknight said:

Corn snake hatchlings are usually about 4 inches (smallest) to about 11 inches (largest). You could say an average hatchling would be about 7 or 8 inches.

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In April, they would be have been 7 months from what the breeder told me. He actually seemed more interested in telling me their genetics more than actual info on them and seemed confused.

He didn't record their last shed, last weight, nothing. All he could tell me was that he assumed they were born between August and Nov. Now that I'm looking at their pics from when I got them, they seem younger. I wonder if he got the clutch date wrong. And I remember thinking that the clutch that Aurora came from looked nothing like her as he showed me a pic on his phone.

I'm sorry y'all. I think I'm coming to a realization here.

I wouldn't be concerned. Keep up with what you're doing. You basically started with 2 hatchlings in April. They could very well of hatched in Sept-Nov and the breeder was probably maintenance feeding them. They are getting to a size that with the larger prey size they can take that they will gain weight much faster than the last few months.
They are on the small size but their growth since April has been ok and their weight gain should pick up going forward.
No worries

o.So_Blu.o said:

In April, they would be have been 7 months from what the breeder told me. He actually seemed more interested in telling me their genetics more than actual info on them and seemed confused.

He didn't record their last shed, last weight, nothing. All he could tell me was that he assumed they were born between August and Nov. Now that I'm looking at their pics from when I got them, they seem younger. I wonder if he got the clutch date wrong. And I remember thinking that the clutch that Aurora came from looked nothing like her as he showed me a pic on his phone.

I'm sorry y'all. I think I'm coming to a realization here.

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Oh and their length was about a little less than a foot.

My daddy was a salesman for 40 years for a nationally known company. He did quite well. He won lots of awards and made lots of money.

He always told me, "Son, a good salesman is a person that can talk you into buying something you don't want or need."

Remember, there are people like you and me that love pet snakes, and there are people that Sell them to us.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

daddio207 said:

I wouldn't be concerned. Keep up with what you're doing. You basically started with 2 hatchlings in April. They could very well of hatched in Sept-Nov and the breeder was probably maintenance feeding them. They are getting to a size that with the larger prey size they can take that they will gain weight much faster than the last few months.
They are on the small size but their growth since April has been ok and their weight gain should pick up going forward.
No worries

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Thank you. I'll do my best. Reading yalls posts are making me feel alot better. I shouldn't be worried but I am.

Karl_Mcknight said:

My daddy was a salesman for 40 years for a nationally known company. He did quite well. He won lots of awards and made lots of money.

He always told me, "Son, a good salesman is a person that can talk you into buying something you don't want or need."

Remember, there are people like you and me that love pet snakes, and there are people that Sell them to us.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

Click to expand...

Very true. Well. I may not know the exact age of my snakes anymore. But at least I know it's OK. Now I know not to assume anything he told me. Prob going to go to a herp major to sex them when they're older. It would be some crap if my Aurora was actually a male. O.O

LOL...... "All Snakes" are males until they lay eggs. (That's an old snake Joke).

But it's not unheard of for a "Sexed Snake" to be sexed wrong.

daddio207 said:

I wouldn't be concerned. Keep up with what you're doing. You basically started with 2 hatchlings in April. They could very well of hatched in Sept-Nov and the breeder was probably maintenance feeding them. They are getting to a size that with the larger prey size they can take that they will gain weight much faster than the last few months.
They are on the small size but their growth since April has been ok and their weight gain should pick up going forward.
No worries

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I know this is newbish but you think I should up their prey size? My current stock is anywhere from 4g-6g. I breed my own mice. I'm following the plan I picked up but there's always room for change. At what stage would a corn grow the fastest?

o.So_Blu.o said:

I know this is newbish but you think I should up their prey size? My current stock is anywhere from 4g-6g. I breed my own mice. I'm following the plan I picked up but there's always room for change. At what stage would a corn grow the fastest?

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You could move up the larger of the 2 snakes to 7-9 gram fuzzies but I'd keep the smaller one on the 4-6 gram fuzzies until it also hits 30g.
I'm not a keeper/breeder that is always weighing snakes and prey. I just got to many and it is pretty easy to eye the girth of a snake and feed accordingly. 1 to 1.5 times the snake's girth is recommended but I prefer to stay at the low side. I'm not one the needs my snakes to grow quickly to get to the next breeding season with possibly unhealthy adults just to procreate them.
I guess once a snake is taking fuzzies to hoppers they really start growing exponentially to the prey size.
Not all snakes growth are equal though. I got hatch mates that are a few years old and you'd swear that they mother and daughter instead of sisters.

daddio207 said:

You could move up the larger of the 2 snakes to 7-9 gram fuzzies but I'd keep the smaller one on the 4-6 gram fuzzies until it also hits 30g.
I'm not a keeper/breeder that is always weighing snakes and prey. I just got to many and it is pretty easy to eye the girth of a snake and feed accordingly. 1 to 1.5 times the snake's girth is recommended but I prefer to stay at the low side. I'm not one the needs my snakes to grow quickly to get to the next breeding season with possibly unhealthy adults just to procreate them.
I guess once a snake is taking fuzzies to hoppers they really start growing exponentially to the prey size.
Not all snakes growth are equal though. I got hatch mates that are a few years old and you'd swear that they mother and daughter instead of sisters.

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OK thank you.

It sounds like their growth in your care has been fine.