Feeding tips.

[jovamabob]

I have eight 4 month old babies who i purchased on the 10th of this month. Four of them are in shed so they won't be fed till this weekend to make sure they're settled in and finished shedding. So since i have time to prepare i have a few questions to make sure i get this right.

1. Should be feeding them in their RUB's or outside of them? My sub-adult is fussy so i've never fed outside of a rub/tank. Would feeding outside the Rubs prevent them from being fussy or tank defensive?
2. If i feed them outside the tub i know i'll have to find somewhere i can put them down and not have them escape - is the bath ok? Its pretty much all i have where they won't escape!
3. How do i get them back into their rubs? Am i okay to just lift them back in?
4. I've also been given 50 pinkies, that look a perfect size. How often should i feed them?
5. I intend to use a vit/min supplement because i know that in the wild they'd naturally be eating much more varied prey and getting a wider range of vitamin and minerals. Should i use this every feed or every other feed though? I use it every other feed on my sub-adult but these guys have a lot more growing to do than him!

Thanks for any help, and sorry for too many questions - i just wanna get this right!
As a thank you i'll leave you with a picture i took of my little hypo just after he shed today :3

 

[pheonix]

I feed in tub...

Once a week or less. I'd say every 3 days is as little as you should go.

I think vitamins is a waste of time and money. Lol. They grow fine on just plain ole micies.

 

[Soulwind]

1) Either. Everyone seems to have thier own opinions on this, and everyone is pretty much correct. Do it whichever way works best for you. I know that most of the big collection folks feed in the viv as it's faster to get through a lot of snakes.

FYI: there's been no proven correlation between in-viv feeding and "cage aggression".

2) Put them in a bathtub, turn your back for just a second, and they'll be gone in moments. If you feed outside the viv, make sure you are either hand (tong) feeding in a bin -- one snake at a time, putting it back before getting the next out -- or that you get an escape proof feeding bin (the little plastic critter keepers work well for this and are cheap so you could get several).

3) When we talk about "don't handle them after feeding", we mean extended handling sessions. Gently lifting them up and putting them back in thier viv is perfectly fine. Although, to be fair, sometimes they can get caught up in feeding mode and get rather snappy if you try to pick them up after feeding, just depends.

4) For pinky stage hatchlings, every 5-6 days is recommended. I (and many others) feed via the Munson Plan (although I feed at the lower end of the plan)

5) Mice are complete nutrition. There's little to no need to use supplements. In fact, it's possible to over-supplement with the wrong vitamins and cause poisoning issues.

 

[yojoe05]

1. I personally feed in tubs that are never used for housing. It makes them fair less aggressive and defensive of their vivs.
2. If you have finicky corns you might have some trouble using the bathtub, especially once they get older. I'd invest in some large tubs and use those for feedings that way if you have a finicky eater you can leave them in there overnight.
3. I personally put our corn away after she eats, she's currently just over three months old and I pick her up about 2 inches before the bulge of the pink starts and let her lay loosely draped over my hand. She doesn't have to move around to get comfortable and does just fine and then I lower my hand into her viv allowing her to move off my hand at her own pace so she isn't stressed out by the movement.
4. At four months old it's best to be feeding them every five days and if they're 20 grams+ you can bump them up to two pinks per feeding if they're still hungry after their first pink
5. Like everybody else has already said there's no need for vitamin supplements. Mice will give a corn snakes all the nutrients they need no alternate prey or supplements needed. That's not to be said that some corns may enjoy alternative prey over a mouse every so often just for a change of pace.

 

[tspuckler]

Feeding them outside their tubs is completely unnecessary. I've been keeping and breeding Corn Snakes for over 20 years and always feed them in their enclosures.

Vitamin/Mineral supplements are completely unnecessary - whole rodents are a nutritionally complete diet. Vitamin/Mineral supplement may cause the food to be less attractive to the snake (because it doesn't smell right).

Frequency of feeding has a lot to do with the individual snakes. Every 5 days is the rule-of-thumb I use, but some snakes can eat more often than that and a few seem to take longer to digest their food, so I give those more time.

 

[jovamabob]

One of the little snakes of these guys are having some problems i was wondering if anyone can help with.

The others have had two successful feeds, but the little hypo (who was the largest of them all) has thus far refused. He shed a day or two after he arrived where he needed help getting the tip of the tail off and a week after they'd arrived i fed them all. He refused which was a little expected and just tried to run away. I left it in for him but he ignored it for 24h so i took it out. I left him alone for a whole 5 days till the next feed, only checking in on him and changing water. The second feed he started rattling his tail when i took the mouse towards him and went to hide. I left it in again but still no eating. I went to take it out after 24h and he instantly went to strike at me twice. He'd done a poop for the first time since arriving so i had to clean it and the mouse out, so i picked him up and he rattled/bit again but calmed down v. quickly once he was out. He was breathing a little fast - not as fast as the scared ones got but fast all the same.

Should i offer him another feed now or wait till Tuesday on the next group feed? He hasn't fed since the breeder fed him on the 4th.

 

[yojoe05]

Give him a few days off, Tuesday should be fine and maybe try some of the other feeding tricks. Try boiling the pink in chicken broth, the smell and taste may be enough for him to strike and latch on.

 

[diamondlil]

Try pouring boiling water oover the pinky, until it goes pale and rubbery, then put it in a feeding tub with him while it's still hot, leave overnight with the tub inside his viv. The little plastic tubs takeaways come in (or you can buy them in Wilkcos)with air holes are ideal. Good luck

 

[epicdoom]

I feed outside there home tank I use small 4Qt tub or deli cup for larger I use a larger tub even a card board box will do but I prefer something with a lid. I don't know if there is any merit to feeding outside as apposed to in its just the way I have always done it and it works so I refuse to change. You can just gently lift the snake from his feeding tub to his home tank but wait till the lump has gotten to the stomach. If I feed in a deli cup I just place it back in the tank on its side and let them crawl out on there own. you will not want to play with them after they have eaten put them straight back into there tank. I personally think 3 days is to soon to re feed even 4 days is to soon IMO, but it can be done if conditions are rite. I prefer 7 days with a min feed time of 5 days. I have done 4 under certain circumstances, But I'm on pins and needles Praying all goes well. I don't use and Vite's

 

[jovamabob]

Aha! The little hypo has eaten I did the whole covering his rub so it's nice and dark, dipped the mouse in boiling water and then waved it around a for about 30 seconds. He wasn't interested so i left him to it and he ate it over night. I've also decided on a name for him - Sir Londo Tobias, because he is indeed a sir.

 

[epicdoom]

Awesome !! happy to hear he ate. They sure can be picky little buggers. Good Name

 

[diamondlil]

:dancer::dancer::dancer: Excellent! (and a great name too!)