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Hatchling found after escape 2 months ago - advice please

T

Thrall

New member
Hi guys, I'm not sure if this should be here or in the Health/Feeding Problems section - sorry if this isn't the correct place.

Basically, about two months ago we had our hatchling corn snake escape. We did all the usual things - left out food overnight, left his hides out, tried plastic bags around the edges of the rooms, and of course searched like mad. After about two weeks of this I gave up. I have two cats and a dog, and while they aren't allowed in the snake room, I had torn the place apart and was positive he was no longer in there. I more or less assumed that he'd gotten under the door and one of my cats had eaten him. He was about 3-4 months old then, and was small enough that he was still on fuzzy mice.

Anyways, three days ago my boyfriend shouts that he's found Thrall, and there he is in the middle of our living room floor and both of my cats are staring at him like he's a monster (they're terrified of the snakes). So we found his tank, cleaned it up and put him in. He immediately went to his water dish, gulped water for a minute or two, and then took a big poop, and went into a hide. I'm not sure if the fact that he pooped means that he'd eaten something (I have no idea what he could have eaten in our living room though ...) or if he'd just held it in all this time. Anyways, we fed him a pinky the night we found him - figured we should start small since it's been so long since he's eaten.

Now finally, my actual question - sorry for the rambling. He's about 6 months old now, and he still seems extremely small to me. I know that all snakes grow at different rates, etc. However, I have no idea what size I should be feeding him now. Should I slowly work him up from pinkies again, or should I start right back where he was? And how big (I realize you can only give me general answers) should he be? I'm just not sure exactly how undersized he is. I have one other corn, but he's an adult - I purchased him at 4 years of age. And the only snakes I've raised from hatchlings are ball pythons.

Thank you very much for any help you can give me - and thanks for reading through my little novel = / I can try to get a measurement of his length, and weigh him here shortly. Also I can post a picture if needed to judge his size/health.
 
first off! a HUGE Congrats on finding your baby!! :D he's a trooper!

I would probably keep him on pinkys for a couple feedings and then move him back up to fuzzys since that's what he was already eating.. good luck!

a weigh in would really help in figuring out what size feeder to use,

I hope this helps! and once again Congrats! you must be soo relieved!! :eek:
 
Thrall said:
He's about 6 months old now, and he still seems extremely small to me. I know that all snakes grow at different rates, etc. However, I have no idea what size I should be feeding him now. Should I slowly work him up from pinkies again, or should I start right back where he was? And how big (I realize you can only give me general answers) should he be? I'm just not sure exactly how undersized he is.
Click to expand...
Great find! How lovely to have a happy ending :)

In your position, I'd start by treating him as a completely new arrival. No feeding or handling for at least a week. That fact that he's pooped means that he found something to eat recently, so he won't take any harm from waiting. Just leave him in peace to go through his settling-in routine again.

I'd then start small on one pinkie every 5 days for a few feeds, just to get him eating reliably.

As far as what size food he ought to end up eating, I go by a rough guide of making the food 1.5 times the width of his body. If it no longer leaves a lump in his belly 24-48 hours eating, then you can try the next sized food up.

I think in this situation I wouldn't be in a rush to increase food size if you think he should be on something bigger than pinkies. The priority is to get him settled in, then eating to begin with, then review.

But - Yay! He's home!! :) :)
 
Congratz!!!! I second bitsy and justine. Wait 5 days to a week and start small, working your way back to a normal size meal for his girth. I wouldnt worry to much about his "size", he will get to the size he is going to be, when he gets there. It could take 2 years or 5 years. Just be thankful he decided living in the house was a bad idea lol .... I would make sure he has plenty of water, even kinda of place him in his water dish to see if he will drink for ya....

:) :) Congratz on the find!!!!

Buzz
 
Alright, here is a picture of him. He's all of 30 grams =S

photo.jpg


I just want to make sure that he isn't malnourished or anything xD He just seems so small to me still - I'm used to my BPs who grow like weeds.

Thanks for all the advice though! I will definitely do a pinky every 5 days for a few feedings, and then slowly start moving him up. Hopefully you guys can give me some feedback what with the pic and the weight.
 
He's in absolutely fantastic condition! Definitely not underweight. I wouldn't ask too many questions if the neighbours are missing pet mice... :) That is not an underfed Corn by any means. No catching up to do there!

A BP isn't a good comparison really. A Corn should never get to the same bulk or proportions as a BP. Corns will be a fraction of the size and a much slighter build overall. I wouldn't bother even beginning to compare them.
 
oh! he looks good to me! I can't see his spine or ribs, and dose not look to be dehydrated either..

But keep in mind that I'm still learning..

and as for his weight, that sounds good to me.. my corn just turned 7 months and he's only 33 grams. so not much bigger! but like Buzzard said all snakes grow at their own pace. :)

but he looks great to me! he's a lucky boy!
 
Oh I know they can't be compared! :) That's just what I'm used to, so he always seems so small to me, especially since I've never had a young corn before him. I have no idea what he could have eaten = / I'm glad that he's in alright condition! 30 grams isn't bad for his age?

Thanks guys :D
 
Just saw your reply Justine! Glad to know he's a similar weight to yours! Thanks :) I feel much better now :D

I'm so happy that he's back, and healthy - and not in my cat's tummy.
 
There are no hard-and-fast rules about size vs. weight as they grow at such different rates. Even clutchmates can become significantly different sizes on exactly the same feeding regime.

It's more about his body shape, proportions and condition. With an underweight Corn, the head would seem disproportionately large for the body - if anything, your chap is going slightly the other way. Also if they've lost a lot of weight the skin can appear saggy and wrinkled rather than taut, and they feel flabby when you pick them up.

He's in great shape!
 
ahaha! no doubt! I'm happy for you guys! :)
and yeah I wouldnt worry about his size, or weight.
he's looking great!
 
Wow he's lookin' good for an escapee!

But hmmmm if that were my house, I'd wonder what the heck he had eaten?

Is there any chance of rodents around, maybe they got in from the outside, maybe you breed rodents and had another escapee you didn't know about?

I would keep a very close eye just in case there was a chance he ate a wild rodent (I'd think about maybe getting a fecal done at the vet just in case) or a rodent that maybe your neighbors tried to poison.

If you breed your own rodents, disregard, as that's probably what he found :)

Also, there's always a chance that he didn't eat and just decided to do a doodie in his nice clean tank, but I'd keep a close eye just in case.
 
We're in a second story apartment and there's definitely not a chance of him getting a wild rodent. I honestly can't think of a single thing that he would have been able to find to eat. Maybe he was just fat and I didn't realize it before he escaped -.-

I do breed my own feeders, but I just started and we got our first babies about a week before we found him. They definitely couldn't have escaped.

Oh well, he's doing great still though :) I'm keeping a close eye on him regardless though.
 
Thanks guys! We're super happy to have him back safe and sound :) He's definitely been enjoying his food xD
 
That looks like one healthy little snake to me! If he'd been lost in my house, I'd be sure he'd been feeding himself during his vacation (we live in rural Ireland and have to deal with the occasional rodent incursion).
It certainly won't hurt him in the least to start again with pinkies and increase the size just to be certain, but to be truthful, I'm not sure I'd even bother dropping from what he was eating before - he hasn't shrunk, after all, and it's not abnormal for a cornsnake to go a couple of months without eating at a colder temperature (I'm assuming room temp in your house is cooler than in his viv?) and then go right back to eating normally.

Wouldn't worry about his growth rate at all - he's well-proportioned, healthy looking, and if you've been feeding him fuzzies every 5 days or so at that age (before his adventure), then he's been getting all he needs. As has been mentioned, growth rates are really individual, and not even related to how big the snake is going to be when he reaches maturity... "final size" (or at least size when the growth drops down to bare minimum, since they'll grow slightly all their lives) is purely genetic. It's just a question of how long he'll take to reach mature size - some do it in two years or less, some take longer, depending on both heredity and feeding frequency. A lot of snakes have a massive growth spurt when you switch them to fuzzies - the better nutrition from the more developed mouse, more calcium and such, probably helps, but I think also fuzzy-eating size is just the snake equivalent of adolescent growth-spurt time. But some boys shoot up like weeds at 14 and some stay small until 17 and turn into giants overnight, and snakes are just as variable.
 
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