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Crazy for food

T

Tick-Tag

New member
About 6 month ago I started feeding my two corns day old chicks. I have cats that get the chicks as a supplement, so I buy 1.000 at a time, so I wanted to try and feed them to the snakes because it would be so much easier, because I always have chicks in the freezer.

I went really well. They never had lose or smelly stools like some snakes will get and the ate them without any problems. As time went by they got more and more excited when it was time to eat. And by now they go totally crazy when I feed them.

When I fed them mice they had two mice at a time and they would strike the first one, but not the second one, but they would eat i anyway. Now when I put them in their feeding box, they go nuts and I have a hard time keeping them in the box, because they want their chick and they want it NOW! The same goes for no. 2 - and the last time I fed them I wondered if I should try and give them more food (both of them are slender) so I tried to give them both a third one - and they went just as crazy as they did with the first one.

Well, not that big of a problom. But it worries me a bit that every time I open the door to the viv, the male comes crashing to get out and he wants food! Normally he would just come around and be currious, but now he's like a train, trying to get by me and it's really hard to keep him in there - he is fast! He doesn't strike, but he is clearly agitated as soon as I come near the viv and he goes for the door immidiately with hopes that I will open the door. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it's almost like chicks is a narcotic to him.... The female is a bit like him, but not as bad as him at all.

They never did that when I fed them mice. They are almost 6 years old and I had them for 3 years. None of them have ever tried to strike me and they are very confident and I have never seen them stress over anything. They have a very big viv with lots of hidings and they use all of them, but also enjoy spending a lot of time out in the open resting, sleeping and climbing around. They never refuse a meal, they have perfect shedding and none of them have ever regurged. So I would say that they are perfectly happy and healthy snakes - but developing into a couple of chick loving monsters ;-)

I would like to stay with the chicks, but I'm a bit worried and I'm not sure if I should switch them to mice again. I would hate it, because they like the chicks so much, but I don't want them to develope into snakes that are aggresive.
 
I think they will be fine! I have one corn that will strike the front of her cage everytime I walk by, totally out of feeding response. I just get her out with a hook and then she calms down.
 
AliCat37 said:
I think they will be fine! I have one corn that will strike the front of her cage everytime I walk by, totally out of feeding response. I just get her out with a hook and then she calms down.
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My Brooks King does that, well doesn't strike but she stares me down and follows me across the glass....lol
 
Tick-Tag said:
They have a very big viv with lots of hidings and they use all of them, but also enjoy spending a lot of time out in the open resting, sleeping and climbing around.
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This line worries me; it sounds like they are in the same viv. If this is the case and you have read all the warnings of why it is a bad idea (http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118184) but are throwing caution to the wind, my guess is that they are fighting for food. Even though they are older, if one is trying to get to you first, he is thinking he is in competition for the meal. They are opportunistic feeders, they don't know when their next meal is coming so they eat as much as they can. I can see where this would cause them to become food aggressive.
 
smigon said:
This line worries me; it sounds like they are in the same viv. If this is the case and you have read all the warnings of why it is a bad idea (http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118184) but are throwing caution to the wind, my guess is that they are fighting for food. Even though they are older, if one is trying to get to you first, he is thinking he is in competition for the meal. They are opportunistic feeders, they don't know when their next meal is coming so they eat as much as they can. I can see where this would cause them to become food aggressive.
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Yes, they are in the same viv (118 gallons) and have been all their life. They are not competing for food and I always feed them in a box separately. I only see this behavior when I give them chicks, when I give them mice, they are calm and don't eat nearly as much, so it clearly has something to do with the chicks.
 
I disagree, it clearly has something to do with cohabbing. Because it is a different meal, they are getting aggressive to get to the food because they want to make sure they get it since it is something different than what they were raised on. They are not "crazy for food", they are stressed out by cohabbing.

PLEASE separate them, it doesn't matter that they have lived together all their lives, at any time (as proven) they can turn cannibalistic and eat one another.
 
smigon said:
I disagree, it clearly has something to do with cohabbing. Because it is a different meal, they are getting aggressive to get to the food because they want to make sure they get it since it is something different than what they were raised on. They are not "crazy for food", they are stressed out by cohabbing.

PLEASE separate them, it doesn't matter that they have lived together all their lives, at any time (as proven) they can turn cannibalistic and eat one another.
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That makes absolutely no sense what so ever :)
You have no idea if my corns are stressed, but I do.

I don't know why I should defend myself, but if you insist.

I bought these guys when they were 3 years old. I didn't want two corn snakes, I only wanted one, but the seller wouldn't let me buy just one of them and frankly I couldn't leave one of them there. They were both healthy, but the owner clearly didn't like them and ripped them both - very annoyed from their branches and the viv was simply filthy.

I don't really have room for two vivs (remember I only wanted one) so I decided to continue to keep them together and watch them closely. These corns are some of the least stressed corns that you will ever find and I have never seen any signs of stress.

Recently I actually borrowed a second viv and separated them to see if that make any difference in their behavior. If there was a difference I would rehome one of them. I kept them separate for 3 month and everything was business as usual so they are now back together again.

We have a different approach to snakes in my country. We keep them in much larger vivs than you guys do and we don't handle them nearly as much as you do. I handle my corns when I feed them and besides from that maybe twice a year, so the stress level is generally much lower for them here. Because of that we don't see all the problems with regurging that you guys do or other signs of stress. Don't get me wrong - it happens but much more rarely than in the US.

My snakes have never ever regurged, none them have ever striked and they shed perfectly and they eat every time I feed them. Does that sound like stressed corns to you?

BTW there has never been one single case of cannibalistic behaviour in adult corns in my country, not one....

I know you guys is pretty single minded about this subject and I didn't come here to discuss it, but you clearly wanted to go there, so here it is.
 
Okay, are there any health benefits of feeding chicks over mice? I'm just wondering, if you're worried about them becoming aggressive over the chicks maybe it'd be an idea to nip the problem in the bud (so to speak) and stop the chick food.

If it's not that big of an issue for you then just be prepeared to expect that response in the future and make sure to up your reaction speed if the male's getting quick :)
 
Buzzbee said:
Okay, are there any health benefits of feeding chicks over mice? I'm just wondering, if you're worried about them becoming aggressive over the chicks maybe it'd be an idea to nip the problem in the bud (so to speak) and stop the chick food.
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No, not really. They are just about as healthy as mice. For me there are some benefits because I feed the chicks to my cats as a supplement, so I order 1.000 at a time and always have chicks in the freezer. There is no place near my home where I can buy mice, so I usually meet a guy in a parking lot, where hands me a bag with frozen mice and I hand him the money. Makes me feel like he's my pusher :D And he can only make it there the first Saturday every month.

Buzzbee said:
If it's not that big of an issue for you then just be prepeared to expect that response in the future and make sure to up your reaction speed if the male's getting quick :)
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He is extremely quick already and it can be very hard to keep him in the viv when I open the door. He will calm down when he is out and he will start searching for food. The girls seems to be easier though, she mostly tries to get out when she is hungry, but she is just as bad as him when I feed them. They used to stay nicely in their feeding box and wait for the mouse and now they both throw themselves out of the box as soon as I open it to get to the chicks. I might have to go back to mice if they get worse than this, but I feel a little bad about it because they are so exited for the chicks.
 
Meeting in a parking lot for a pack of 'mice' eh? Sounds dodgy to me ;) I'm guessing you've had no luck with the online sites (I don't live in Denmark so have no clue what sort of selection is available).

If I could draw then I would have a hilarious picture of a person with a baseball glove trying to catch a speeding snake.... but alas I can't so the image remains in my head :p
 
Buzzbee said:
Meeting in a parking lot for a pack of 'mice' eh? Sounds dodgy to me ;) I'm guessing you've had no luck with the online sites (I don't live in Denmark so have no clue what sort of selection is available).
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Haven't found anobody in Denmark that does that and I'm not crazy about buing from another country and I think it would be pretty expensive too.

Buzzbee said:
If I could draw then I would have a hilarious picture of a person with a baseball glove trying to catch a speeding snake.... but alas I can't so the image remains in my head :p
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Remove the baseball glove and and add middle aged woman doing crazy dance and you are just about there *lol*
 
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