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Feeding routine/growth rate?

Dude123

Dude123

New member
The growth rate of my corn seems to have slown down over the last little while. He was a tiny hatchling born in July if I remember correctly. Here are the measurements/weights.

Oct 9 07- 10 inches
Dec 10- 10 Inches

Oct 20-5 grams
Nov4-7grams
Nov19-8grams
Nov29-8grams
Dec10-8grams.

Is this normal, or should he be gaining more weight then this? I am feeding one pinky every 5 days, but they pinkies I currently have are very small, most around 1 gram, with a few pushing 2-3 grams. Should I be feeding larger Pinkies and/or doubling up on the smaller pinkies? Gotta head out to work, if any more info is required, I will add more later tonight, thanks in advance.
 
He really was tiny if he was still only 8g in October!
I'd only weigh once a month, before a feed, because when they're that small it'll make a big difference whether they've pooped or not.
So he can use all his energy for growing, I'd handle as little as possible, but 8g is a little small for 2 pinks IMO
 
If he is gaining that little weight on one pink every five days, I would be tempted to move up to one pink every four days.

I have a couple who obviously just had quite high metabolisms compared to the rest of them and didn't thrive on 5 day pinkies. Once they moved to four days, they grew on a bit, and once they moved to double pinks I put them back to every five days.
 
tbroaddus said:
I vote for 2 pinks every five days
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Personally, I wouldn't want to risk a regurge in an 8g snake, small (1g) pink 4-5 days should get it growing, unless there's underlying health problems.
If it was born in July, I'd have expected it to be around 15g by now.
 
Thanks guys. It was either born in July, or august, I will have to check my records to confirm. I always weigh before a feed. The weighing were somewhat random, I just grab the scale every so often.The breeder is pretty sure it was a twin from the same egg as another, and it was really, really small at birth, and took a while to start feeding, all contributing to small size. I don't believe there is any underling health issues, and I have good temps. He does have a slight kink about 1/2-3/4 of the way down his body, a little closer to vent then head.

Edit to first post: he was actually 12 inches when measured the second time, not 10. So thats 2 inchs of growth.

As you can see, he started out at 5grams, and grew well for the first little while, but has slowed down recently. I have never had a feeding issue with him since I have had him, but would not want to risk a regurge as was mentioned above. If I switch to feeding him every four days, would that one day make much of a difference, as opposed to every 5 days?

If not for this apparent stop in gaining weight, I think he would probably be close to 15g by now, at the rate he was going.
 
Dude123 said:
As you can see, he started out at 5grams, and grew well for the first little while, but has slowed down recently. I have never had a feeding issue with him since I have had him, but would not want to risk a regurge as was mentioned above. If I switch to feeding him every four days, would that one day make much of a difference, as opposed to every 5 days?
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It might not sound much but it's a full 25% more food ...

1g pink every 5 days = 0.20g of food daily the snake can use for growth/sustaining life
1g pink every 4 days = 0.25g of food daily the snake can use for growth/sustaining life
 
If you feed her every 4 days then leave her 2-3 days to get her food down that means there is not much time for handling your snake thats 1-2 days of handling!!! That is bad for your snake because he/she always has to be used to you handling her . As for feeding my snake is about 15-16 inches and i feed her every 4-5 days and im sure she is fine.
 
chuck1289 said:
If you feed her every 4 days then leave her 2-3 days to get her food down that means there is not much time for handling your snake thats 1-2 days of handling!!! That is bad for your snake because he/she always has to be used to you handling her . As for feeding my snake is about 15-16 inches and i feed her every 4-5 days and im sure she is fine.
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But surely getting a hatchling growing and eating healthily is more important than handling it... Afterall, Its not as if they get to 6months and then are impossible to 'tame'. Infact, just the actions of you getting them out of their viv and putting them into a tub to feed... and your hand being near them in the viv to change the water is helping with taming. Gets them used to you being near them without hurting them... Probably even better than grabbing them and pulling them out of the viv every day when they're still small!.

:shrugs:
 
chuck1289 said:
If you feed her every 4 days then leave her 2-3 days to get her food down that means there is not much time for handling your snake thats 1-2 days of handling!!! That is bad for your snake because he/she always has to be used to you handling her . As for feeding my snake is about 15-16 inches and i feed her every 4-5 days and im sure she is fine.
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I'd totally disagree with your viewpoint. In my opinion getting a hatchling feeding and growing comes well before enjoying handling time in priority.
The snake in question isn't a vigorously growing hatchling, which is the reason the OP posted here.
Once the snake is growing well, the handling can become more important.
 
I'm with AJ and J9... nutrition, health and growth are far higher priorities than socialization. It's not like the snake won't see you or be handled by you for years, or even months. You'll handle it every time you feed it, and it'll be well aware of your presence as you change out the water and do spot cleaning for poopettes. Once it's safely into the 20+ gram range, there'll be plenty of time for getting to know each other.
 
As an example, Ive got chompy on a 5day cycle..
Day1: Feed
Day2: Digest
Day3: Digest
Day4: Handle for a short amount of time, check him for mites etc.
Day5: Handle for short amount of time, Feed.

Rinse, Repeat.


:)
 
I have a corn about the same age as yours. I am feeding it 2 fuzzies every 7 days. Try bumping up the food and he will grow faster.
 
I am not worried about handling, as he is pretty tame. Aj's post threw me off a little. Would feeding every four days be this: Feed, digest,digest,feed. As in the first feeding counts as day 1, or feed,digest,digest,digest,feed, with the first feeding being day 0? I have been following the second pattern, feeding on days which end in 0 or 5, to make it easier to remember. for example, I feed on the 10th, then the 15th, then the 20th and so on.
 
Ah yeah sorry I guess to clarify i class my way as a 5-day cycle (Because feed 'A' i do in the morning, then the next feed i do in the evening.)

But yes, to clarify that would be a 4day cycle to normal people!. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Heck maybe I am not as "professional" as many of the breeders here are, but I find the mathematics irrelevant at least from my experience- that doesn't mean you're wrong of course! But I simply can't bring myself to make an equation out of my snakes... I'll try and explain.

Snakes, like people, can be very hungry one day and than not be able to even look at food the other. If the snake swallows a pinkie and is obviously still very active and seeks out yet another one- he will have one. I do limit myself to the amount of pinkies I am willing to feed per time and if I see that the snake finishes digestion quickly, he shall receive his next meal a day earlier.

The human body, or an animal's is not an equation, at least not one you can predict accurately because there are tons of factors involved.

Also, some snakes are smaller than others and are supposed to grow slower than their siblings due to one reason or another- giving a smaller snake the same amount of food his significantly bigger siblings get is not wise in my opinion.

What I'm saying is this- tablets and guidelines are great, but that's exactly what they are, guidelines, that describe the general average. But no snake is "average" on the spot, they all diverge to the left or right.

Consult tables and numerals, but you should also consider the size of the snake, how active he is, how long does it take for him to defecate or until the "lump" from the food subsides et cetera.

Just my two cents' worth.
 
And only to make sure I got through in the manner I intended to- I was serious when I said I may not be as professional as some snake keepers are here. It was not a cynical comment.

Just making sure no one is offended when that wasn't my intent at all.
 
Kokopelli said:
And only to make sure I got through in the manner I intended to- I was serious when I said I may not be as professional as some snake keepers are here. It was not a cynical comment.

Just making sure no one is offended when that wasn't my intent at all.
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I thought you made some very wise points in your previous message. One lots of folks should think about.
 
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