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Feeding advice

A

amanda84

New member
So I just adopted a corn snake from someone I know. They were feeding him 1 pinky every Friday. He is 85grams. Someone just mentioned on here that 1 pinky once a week is not enough food. Personally I thought it didn't seem like a lot for his size.

They mentioned a hopper. I'm worried about the size of a hopper. I honestly haven't seen one but I can imagine it since I used to have rats. Granted mice are smaller... But I'm Still fearful.

I have three questions:

1) I already fed him a live pinky on Friday. I have two frozen pinkies in my freezer currently. Should I feed those to him now or just wait until Friday, feed him those, then next time get a hopper? I don't want those babies to have died for no reason. (I know, sentimental girl)

2) is frozen better than live? I hear it's a constant debate. I'm just not sure about the whole cutting it up for the snake.

3) if frozen, how do I know when to feed it to him???

4) a guy at the pet store recommended feeding baby rats because of more protein. Opinions??

Here is Samson. Not the best pic.
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Frozen is better for the snake and the mouse; it's safer and less cruel.

As for when to feed, I feed my babies/juvies every 7 days, and when they get onto adult mice they get bumped to ever 10 to 14 days, unless they are a breeding female.

I would stick to mice. They do just fine with mice. I'll bet that the rats are more expensive than the mice at the pet store.....
 
amanda84 said:
1) I already fed him a live pinky on Friday. I have two frozen pinkies in my freezer currently. Should I feed those to him now or just wait until Friday, feed him those, then next time get a hopper? I don't want those babies to have died for no reason. (I know, sentimental girl)

2) is frozen better than live? I hear it's a constant debate. I'm just not sure about the whole cutting it up for the snake.

3) if frozen, how do I know when to feed it to him???

4) a guy at the pet store recommended feeding baby rats because of more protein. Opinions??
Click to expand...


Megan is very well respected on this forum, I believe she wouldn't steer you wrong. But if you're nervous about bumping all the way up to a hopper, try maybe feeding fuzzies for a feed or two before trying it? I get nervous too, even though the experts know WAY more than me! But a feeder the size of your snake at it's biggest point should be absolutely no problem for it. Some books recommend anything up to 1.5 times it's size.

1) Wait until your next regularly scheduled feed, and then feed off both pinkies.
2) I'm curious what you're asking about cutting up a mouse? I feed frozen/thawed, and have never had to cut anything. I just feed the whole thing, defrosted of course. I also believe that feeding frozen/thawed is kinder to the mouse, and safer for the snake.
3) Feed frozen on the same schedule as if it were live, every week or so.
4) I don't know a lot about this, but I've read that rats are also higher in fat, and since you're feeding younger rodents, they might also have less calcium? I'm not really sure, but most people seem to agree on mice as the preferred feeder for corn snakes from what I've read.
 
If you see anyone talking about cutting frozen thawed mice, it is not like cutting it up into pieces. Occasionally, for a snake that has regurged (vomited) a half a mouse, or only the head is fed, but that is a very special circumstance. The other cutting that may be talked about is really slitting. Some people cut slits in the thawed mouse. This is usually done to either make the mouse more enticing for a problem eater; or on the theory that in the snake's stomach the digestive juices get inside the mouse more easily so it may digest more quickly. There is no normal reason to routinely cut a thawed mouse in any way. Snakes are designed to eat their prey whole.
 
Thank you everyone! So then my question is when it comes to thawing how do I know it is ready? Bring it up to room temperature? The pet store guy I spoke to has pythons. He said he puts his frozen in the oven for just a few moments to warm it up. Do I need to do that? I'm used to feeding live to my lizards in the past. I've never dealt with frozen.




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I defrost in warm tap water. I check that the mouse is fully thawed and warm with my fingers. I wash my hands before and after handling the mouse with my hands. This is important for cleanliness and to not have your hands smell like a mouse. Use feeding tongs so your snake is not confused that your hand is a mouse.
 
You can leave it out to thaw, or I put mine in a little sandwich baggie, and then put that into warm/hot water for a few minutes. You just want to make sure it's defrosted all the way through, and not still cold in the middle. I feel mine (through the plastic) to make sure it feels thoroughly soft and warm before I feed. Some people put them directly into the water as well.
 
Okay. Perfect. Thank you everyone for your help. I really appreciate it. I want to do good by Samson and feed him what he needs. I'll be getting him hoppers next time.

I've been putting the mice in a separate container and then adding him into the container. He did well with that.


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Okay. I'll do that first. I'll feed him the two I already purchased and then get some fuzzies. How long do they last in the freezer? Should I buy a months worth or is it better to just buy a little bit?


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I just talked to the person I got him from. Apparently he was on fuzzies for the past two months. Live. So should I stick with fuzzies or go to a hopper?


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Jumping from Fuzzies to Hoppers should be pretty easy.

I went to an Uncle Bill's pet store to buy single frozen fuzzies for my corn. The kid helping me kept grabbing large pinkies or barely fuzzy fuzzies. Assuming this person you got him from knows what a fuzzy is, you'd be able jump to Hoppers just fine. :)
 
They said he seemed to struggle with fuzzies as well. So I think the safe route is for me to get him fuzzies after I use these pinkies and then see how he does. Then goe for hoppers. Should I do two fuzzies or just one? And is live better than frozen or vice versa? He's been on live for two months


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By the time my snakes were the size of yours, I was feeding small hoppers, and I feel like I feed conservatively, so if he's already been on fuzzies, I would say go with hoppers and feed the smallest ones first. I buy about 3 or 4 months worth at a time, and double freezer bag them to keep them as fresh as possible.
 
Really?? Okay. I guess I'll try a hopper! I'll get him one soon. After these pinkies. So I don't waste them


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When I get fuzzies, I always ask them to make sure they are fully haired (I get from a local shop that orders frozen in bulk). Otherwise you can end up with some deviation in size, but that may be fine depending on what you need to feed. I have one snake on double pinks who may be able to take smaller fuzzies soon, and two snakes on fuzzies who could benefit from the mixed sizes. I recently found 3 packs of hoppers at Petco (after searching FOREVER), and my three I had been feeding double fuzzies to did very well with the hoppers. (Cheaper, too, as one hopper is cheaper than two fuzzies, and a single hopper is less likely to regurge vs two fuzzies.) I wouldn't recommend doubling anything bigger than pinks in general, but mine did well on that. A single fuzzy was just not cutting it for them, but the next size I could get was small mice.

I go with the 1-1.5 times the width of the widest part of the body rather than strictly weight based, and avoid pushing them up sizes too quickly.

From the looks of your photo, your snake can definitely take fuzzies, but if he was struggling with them, I'd continue with fuzzies rather than going up to hoppers just yet. As far as nutrition, pinks don't have much to them, and growth spurts really get noticble when bumping up to fuzzies. Now that I have a source of hoppers, I hope to see those three snakes (two corns and a king) start taking off again in growth.
 
Define 'struggling'. People not accustomed to how much snakes can stretch can consider taking longer than 15 seconds to be a 'struggle'.
 
Here are some pictures to show snakes with appropriate prey sizes and how big the meals look... and then a picture of a snake the same size as yours with a fuzzy (he took about a minute to eat 3 fuzzies last meal as I am out of hoppers).

Blizzard, getting 2 large pinks. He'll move up to fuzzies soon.

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Hematite, getting her fuzzy.

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Ms. Moose, with the first of her two pinkies.

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Nessie, with her fuzzy.

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And here is "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" (ICBINB) with his too-small-for-him fuzzy

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Okay. So I think next round I'll get fuzzies, take pictures of him eating and then post here so that you guys can all verify it'll be fine for him to go the next step up.

Thank you for those pictures that really helps. I suppose you think of pythons which eat deer at times. Makes sense they could eat bigger.

How do you know if your snake is still hungry? How will I know if he is satisfied?


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