Feeding adopted 2yo corn for first time -- what size mice is best?

[jennixnay]

Hello, All :

We've just adopted a 2-year old female corn. Her former owner said she's been eating "one f/t adult mouse" every 7-10 days -- but now that I go to order her frozen dinners, I see that the adult mice come in small, medium, large. Should I start with small to be safe, & offer a second if she still seems hungry? How will I know if she's still hungry? I'd rather go small than risk her regurgitating...

I don't have a scale to weigh her yet, but here's a pic:

Thanks for any advice!

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

Get a look at frozen mouse sizes in a store (Petco has many sizes, even sm, md, and lg rats too), and then order what's closest to her thickness, but a little bit thicker.

Actually, if you only have one snake, you should just buy your mice at a pet store. The cost of shipping doesn't make it worth ordering mice, really, unless you have a lot of mouths to feed.

Looking at her, I would think a medium mouse every 10 days or so would be good.

 

[bitsy]

With your current supply and a new snake, I'd start with a small mouse and see how that goes.

As a rough guide, the food should be about one and a half times the width of the snake's body (not the head or neck) an should leave a bump in the snake's belly for 24-48 hours after eating. When the lump disappears faster or there's no lump immediately after eating, then the next size up can be tried.

Don't offer more food if she "seems hungry" after one. Some will go into hunting mode instinctively - it doesn't mean they need more food, just that they're programmed to do that in the wild as they don't know when they'll next find food. One appropriately-sized mouse at a time, at a good interval will be fine. 7-10 day intervals sound fine for small-medium mice and I go to 14 days when they reach large.

Even with a small mouse as a trial, I still wouldn't offer an extra one. Just feed again 7 days later with the next size up if she needs it.

 

[Skully23]

Gratz on the new snake. For the record, female snakes can eat every 7-11days and males eat every 11-14 days. Females need to eat more often because they produce eggs and then end up laying them or absorbing them in her body. She will need fed more than 14days because it takes work being the female. Don't worry, you shouldn't have problems.

I'd get a scale whenever you can if you want to make sure. Check this link, http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50106

That will help you in the future if you decide to get more snakes. I am sure she can take down an adult mouse.

Good luck and remember if you just brought her home..wait a week before handling or feeding.

 

[jennixnay]

Thanks to both of you!

Re: ordering: the pet store near me only sells live mice, & the Petsmart only does frozen via web mail order. There isn't a Petco nearby, but I'll see how far the closest one is, maybe it's worth a pilgrimage? Although if it's far enough away, it might be worth the convenience to order them online & have a ready supply in the freezer for the next several months...

There's no *harm* to starting with a small mouse instead of a medium, is there? I don't want to starve her, but I especially don't want to hurt her.

 

[Skully23]

Thanks to both of you!

Re: ordering: the pet store near me only sells live mice, & the Petsmart only does frozen via web mail order. There isn't a Petco nearby, but I'll see how far the closest one is, maybe it's worth a pilgrimage? Although if it's far enough away, it might be worth the convenience to order them online & have a ready supply in the freezer for the next several months...

There's no *harm* to starting with a small mouse instead of a medium, is there? I don't want to starve her, but I especially don't want to hurt her.

She is pretty much an adult. If you want to be super sure then feed a small but like someone else said, I think she can eat a medium.

You can order online if you want. You can also get some more snakes If you rather not waste gas or money then you can buy live mice and kill them..:sobstory:

But if you order don't order all small if possible. Try to get some of each size or just get medium/normal. I don't think you need to be too worried Ordering would end up in the end saving you the gas millage/money you would have had to use to go get them.

 

[jennixnay]

Thanks, Skully!

Good luck and remember if you just brought her home..wait a week before handling or feeding.

Yes, I know to give her time to settle -- she's in the tank she's accustomed to, but I did add a second hide (she only had one) & some Aspen bedding (which she LOVES burrowing through). I only let my kids hold her while I set up the UTH heater (previous owner was using a heat lamp, which I learned from this forum is not recommended) & made sure temps were right (currently 83 on warm side with UTH, 70 on cool side), & filled her water bowl with filtered water. I took lots of photos of them holding her so they can look at those while we wait before handling again.

She hasn't been fed since Thursday of last week -- should I wait a solid week before feeding her again? I was going to feed her Sunday, which will be 10 days since her last feed, & 5 days of settle-in time.

 

[bitsy]

There's no *harm* to starting with a small mouse instead of a medium, is there? I don't want to starve her, but I especially don't want to hurt her.

Absolutey no harm at all. Adult Corns are designed to go without food for weeks or months as they sometimes have to live through periods when their natural prey isn't available in the wild e.g. in times of drought.

It would take a healthy adult Corn many weeks or even months without food to starve - a slightly smaller meal than usual for one feed will have no impact whatsoever.

In my view, while there's a margin of error either way, feeding too little is far better than feeding too much.

 

[Hypancistrus]

It would take a healthy adult Corn many weeks or even months without food to starve - a slightly smaller meal than usual for one feed will have no impact whatsoever.

I agree. I have male king snakes that will stop feeding soon (usually around February) and one didn't get back to eating until well into July!! He lost only a bare minimum weight (30 grams in a 300 gram snake) and that was mostly because he spent all that time cruising his viv, actively seeking "ladies."

Snakes can go an amazingly long time without food-- they're incredible animals.

In addition to mice, you may want to check out rat pups. Most of our adult corns are eating rat pups at this point, and I have to admit, they do seem "healthier" after the switch.

 

[Skully23]

She hasn't been fed since Thursday of last week -- should I wait a solid week before feeding her again? I was going to feed her Sunday, which will be 10 days since her last feed, & 5 days of settle-in time.

That should be fine if you know by the other owner that she ate well.

 

[jennixnay]

Thanks so much for all the advice!

After a bit of calling around, I actually found a new Petsmart had opened quite close by, & they sell frozen feeder mice & rats. Will start her on mice since that's what she's used to, but I'm interested to hear that rat pups seemed to make Hypancistrus's snakes "healthier" & will look into that as well.

She seems to be settling in -- she loves the Aspen & has been busy making burrows. This morning I rinsed out her water dish & filled it with fresh water (we have a PUR filter on our faucet for drinking water), & she initially coiled into her cool-side hide, but then when I was replacing the dish & fluffing the Aspen around it, she poked her head out & moved over to my hand, & started flicking her tongue at me. Will still wait until feeding time (Sunday) before we handle her, to avoid stressing her out.

Another question: she came to us in her existing home, a 15 gallon tank. I want to move her into something larger -- a 20 gallon long, I guess? -- but am not sure how long to wait before doing so. She's just had a major change moving households, & I don't want to scare/stress her. Thoughts?

& thank you for all the advice!