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Can I feed 2 adult mice?

rickyrivers

rickyrivers

New member
Hello,
My cornsnake is almost 2 years old and she has been eating an adult mouse (not jumbo). I don't know how much she weights, but she's 3 feet long and is not obese or skinny.. she looks just fine. I've had her for 6 months now and when I got her from the petstore they were feeding her hoppers. Right away I stater giving her an adult mouse and notice that the lump was gone in 48hrs , everytime I feed her she would go to her cave and stayed there for 2 days. Now when I feed her she wonders around like she's looking for more food. The store I buy my frozen mice do not carry Jumbo mice and to be honest the adult mice they sell seem pretty small to me,, so I was wondering if I could feed her 2 adult mice instead of just one now that she seems to want more.
 
Well, all of mine stay in "feeding mode" for a period of minutes to hours after feeding- that's natural; they want to hunt as much as possible before settling in to digest. It's not a reliable method of determining meal size. Does she have a lump after 24 hours? What interval do you feed at: five days, seven days, ten days or longer?
 
Might help to get scales and see if your snakes is increasing in weight after every second feeding. I usually weigh my snakes on the fourth day after they have eaten, because they have usually defecated by then. If your snake ( 2 year old) is increasing in weight, then I would think one adult mouse is fine. Two days is normal to see the bulge from its food disappear or at least decrease signifigantly in size, but I agree with Nanci, check it after 24 hours.
 
One mouse at a time is normal for an adult Corn, at a 10-14 day interval. As Nanci says, their instinct is to keep looking for more, as in nature they'd probably find nests or colonies of rodents and have to eat all they could in case they didn't find more for a couple of months.

I only ever feed two at a time to my breeding females, until they've recovered their pre-mating bodyweight after laying.

If you're happy with the size and weight of yours - and it sounds like you are - then I can't see any reason to feed double the normal amount. An overweight Corn will have a potentially short life with the risk of associated health problems.
 
Nanci I don't know if she has a lump after 24hrs. because I leave her alone in her cave for 2 days. But next time I feed her I'll check. If I don't see a lump what do I have to do?

To answer your other question, I feed her every saturday.
 
I feed her every saturday
Click to expand...

I think two adult mice a week would be far too much. One mouse a week is probably overdoing it a bit. One every ten to fourteen days is about the norm, although this can be tweaked for each individual.

Once they're fully grown, there's no value to feeding them more than usual - they're just likely to get fat and ill. I know yours is only two years old, but at one adult mouse per week, she may have reached her adult size already.

If the only reason you're looking to feed more is because "she seems to want more", then I think you may just be misinterpreting her behaviour. You need to regulate her feeding in captivity, as in the wild, they don't have a mechanism for doing this.
 
bitsy I know is 4 days late but I wanted to thank you for your reply, it really hit the nail in the head...my corn seemed to want more and that was the only reason I wanted to feed her more. Thank you again.
 
Glad I could help ricky. Sometimes it can be a hard job to resist all that patrolling and the hard stares!

Being an unofficial Weightwatchers group leader, is one of the tougher joys of Corn ownership.
 
CORNSNAKES

Corn Snakes have a diet primarily consisting of rodents, mostly mice and rats . Frozen mice are usually preferable. After feeding and swallowing has been completed, all but minimal handling is avoided for a full 48 hours and no lump can be seen in the snake's belly, to ensure proper digestion.
Snakes that have refused to feed more than two times, can be enticed into feeding by having the prey item slightly warmed, either by a heat lamp or soaked in water warm to the touch a few minutes before feeding. Feeding a prey item that is too large, snake may regurgitate it.
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Lonet

Guaranteed ROI
 
lonetcrystal said:
Corn Snakes have a diet primarily consisting of rodents, mostly mice and rats . Frozen mice are usually preferable. After feeding and swallowing has been completed, all but minimal handling is avoided for a full 48 hours and no lump can be seen in the snake's belly, to ensure proper digestion.
Snakes that have refused to feed more than two times, can be enticed into feeding by having the prey item slightly warmed, either by a heat lamp or soaked in water warm to the touch a few minutes before feeding. Feeding a prey item that is too large, snake may regurgitate it.
----------------
Lonet

Guaranteed ROI
Click to expand...

You should always warm your frozen mouse before feeding it to your snake. Don't try feeding it a frozen mouse. Thaw the mouse in hot water until it is nice and warm and then try feeding it to your snake. If your snake refuses, there are many different methods people use to try to get picky eaters to eat. Do a search on feeding refusal to find out different methods.
 
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