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Feeding too small of an item?

xStaticSnow

xStaticSnow

New member
Please forgive my rookie question, but this is my first time feeding a hatchling corn and I guess I'm feeling paranoid. I fed my 11g corn a pinky last night. The pinky was on the smaller side but definitely not a red. After feeding, the snake had a visible bulge, but nothing too large. It's been about 16 hours and I just peeked at him to see how he's doing and his bulge is 100% gone. Do you think I'm feeding a prey item that's too small? Since I just have one single snake now I was planning on just getting my feeders from the pet store rather than doing a big online order until he's big enough to be on adult mice (I also have very limited freezer space, so that's a huge obstacle). But that means I'm at the mercy of whatever size pinkies Petco/Petsmart has for sale.

The breeder who produced my snake told me he's been eating once per week and I think he has a good body condition for a hatchling. He was hatched August 8th so he's about 7 weeks old right now. Is 11g at 7 weeks seem like a good weight? Should I stick to the single pinky once per week until he's big enough to take either double pinkies or a fuzzy? Or, should I be thinking about feeding on a 5 day schedule? Thanks for any input!
 
If you are feeding pinkies up to 3 grams I'd feed every 4 or 5 days. I like to get my hatchlings moved up to fuzzies as soon as possible. Some recommend cutting the backbone of the pinkies in a few places to facilitate digestion. I do that for my very small hatchlings.

The 11 gram weight sounds good for a 7 week old, but a lot depends upon the hatching weight. I've had some this year that hatched at barely 4 grams, from a first time laying female. At 7 weeks old they are 9 grams, while I had some hatch at 7 or 8 grams, and were 14 or 15 grams when sold.
 
if your snake weighs 11 grams as you stated, you can feed a pinky that weighs about 1.2 to 1.4 grams. Best thing to do is weigh the snake and weigh the food item. A baby snake can eat about 12% of its body weight in food every 5 days. As it gets older and bigger, you can decrease the food item to 10% body weight every 7 to 10 days. And finally when the snake is full grown (about 3 to 4 years) you will feed 1 mouse weighing about 30 to 35 grams every 14 to 21 days.
 
Thank you both for your helpful answers! I'll start weighing the pinkies after I thaw them and figure out where to do from there :)
 
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