help me please my cornsnake nicky is 7 months old now and he's still on 3 pinkies! he's olny about24-25 inches long. Someone told me that was very small for a 7 month old snake. I don't know if this is true or not nicky's about1cm thick or less he seems fine and all not losing weight just once and ahwile rufuses food. I was wondering Is 24ish inches long small for a 7 month old snake? By the time nickys 1 year old should he be on hopper mice? how thick is 2 thick the fuzzies at my pet store were 4cm thick and 6 long this seems to much for my 1.5 or so cm thick snake. plz give me your advice
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help snake to small for age!!!
- Thread starter nicky
- Start date
If he is eating 3 pinkies, you should switch him to two fuzzies. He can handle a lot larger food item than you might think. Try offering him a fuzzy and see what he does with it. My prediction is that he devours it. Does he have a noticable bulge in his stomach after 3 pinkies or is it just slight?
A 24" snake should be wider than 1 cm. That's a bit on the thin side. Two fuzzies every 5 to 7 days should thicken him up a bit. How many times has he shed?
I'll measure pumpkin's first and last shed and give you an idea of how much he's grown since we got him about 2.5 months ago. He has shed 3 times since we got him and I'm not power feeding by any means.
Peter
A 24" snake should be wider than 1 cm. That's a bit on the thin side. Two fuzzies every 5 to 7 days should thicken him up a bit. How many times has he shed?
I'll measure pumpkin's first and last shed and give you an idea of how much he's grown since we got him about 2.5 months ago. He has shed 3 times since we got him and I'm not power feeding by any means.
Peter
Last edited:
My baby corn, I was told when I got it, woz 4 months old back in January. Its now May so its 8 months old and only 15 inches long. It is approx 1cm in diameter and I have just moved it onto 1 fuzzie every 5 days. I think it must be a female cos it is not growing very quickly, eventhough I was feeding it 2 x a week on 1 large pinkie, so now its eating fuzzies, I hope it puts on a bit more weight.
Hm..after reading this I'm thinking maybe my corn is also small for his age..?
He's 9 mos and about 20 in. I don't really care about how big he gets but I do feed him 3 pinkies a week. I always thought that was enough. I thought about moving up to fuzzies but he still has trouble sometimes with the bigger pinkies..Plus I kind of have 100 pinkies in my freezer although I am planning to acquire a hatchling in June.
He's 9 mos and about 20 in. I don't really care about how big he gets but I do feed him 3 pinkies a week. I always thought that was enough. I thought about moving up to fuzzies but he still has trouble sometimes with the bigger pinkies..Plus I kind of have 100 pinkies in my freezer although I am planning to acquire a hatchling in June.
Matt L
New member
Nicky,
I think your selling your snake short--It should be able to handle the fuzzies with no problem. I am a little spoiled, with my own mice colony I always have a large selection of mice to choose from. If I see that one of my younger snakes is an aggressive feeder, I will step up to the next size. A good rule of thumb to go by is ---the lump should not show for more than about 48 hours. I personally do not think these are words to live by, because wild corn snakes are liable to feed when food is available. Corn snakes can stretch more then other snakes. You are very conscious of you corn snakes wellbeing, (I think it is great) but do not panic if your snake does not digest its larger meal quite as quick as you expected.
Matt L.
I think your selling your snake short--It should be able to handle the fuzzies with no problem. I am a little spoiled, with my own mice colony I always have a large selection of mice to choose from. If I see that one of my younger snakes is an aggressive feeder, I will step up to the next size. A good rule of thumb to go by is ---the lump should not show for more than about 48 hours. I personally do not think these are words to live by, because wild corn snakes are liable to feed when food is available. Corn snakes can stretch more then other snakes. You are very conscious of you corn snakes wellbeing, (I think it is great) but do not panic if your snake does not digest its larger meal quite as quick as you expected.
Matt L.
Doctor Mike
New member
If your corn is 7 months old, 24-25 inches long and 1 cm in diameter at the largest place, I don't think your corn is too small for his age at all. That's a lot larger than most corns I've seen at age 7 months, including my own.
However, I would agree with some of the other posters who recommend that you move up to feeding 2 fuzzies once every 5-7 days.
Fuzzies are much smaller than "4 cm thick and 6cm long" The ones I used were about 1cm thick [diameter] and 3cm long. The dimensions you described are closer to an adult mouse from what I've seen.
Absolutely relatively,
Doctor Mike
However, I would agree with some of the other posters who recommend that you move up to feeding 2 fuzzies once every 5-7 days.
Fuzzies are much smaller than "4 cm thick and 6cm long" The ones I used were about 1cm thick [diameter] and 3cm long. The dimensions you described are closer to an adult mouse from what I've seen.
Absolutely relatively,
Doctor Mike
Doctor Mike, I thought that sounded quite large for fuzzies too.
The ones available to me at my local shop that my friend owns are only about 1.5 times larger than the pinkies they offer. Going to 2 fuzzies from 3 pinkies isn't really that big a deal. It is just offering a slightly larger food item. I think that if a snake is eating 3 food items at a feeding then moving up to the next size food item and offering only 2 is not only good for the snake, but is also economical as well.
Kinda like finger sandwiches. Ever notice how most people can eat finger sandwiches and take a while to fill up, but if they eat 1 or 2 whole sandwiches they fill up right away. Bad analogy, but food (pun intended) for thought. Egads I'm awful tonight.
If a 24" snake is not thin at 1 cm in width, then how wide would a 48" snake be considered healthy at?
Peter
The ones available to me at my local shop that my friend owns are only about 1.5 times larger than the pinkies they offer. Going to 2 fuzzies from 3 pinkies isn't really that big a deal. It is just offering a slightly larger food item. I think that if a snake is eating 3 food items at a feeding then moving up to the next size food item and offering only 2 is not only good for the snake, but is also economical as well.
Kinda like finger sandwiches. Ever notice how most people can eat finger sandwiches and take a while to fill up, but if they eat 1 or 2 whole sandwiches they fill up right away. Bad analogy, but food (pun intended) for thought. Egads I'm awful tonight.
If a 24" snake is not thin at 1 cm in width, then how wide would a 48" snake be considered healthy at?
Peter
k than
well u guys say the pet store is giving fuzzies that are like jumbo hoppers or something rite? well now that I think of it one of the pet stores gave pinkies except they were larger then the normal ones about 3cm long and maybe a 1cm and a bit thick they told me they were pinkies but there fuzzies geez they were baby adult mice maybe I should swich to does?
well u guys say the pet store is giving fuzzies that are like jumbo hoppers or something rite? well now that I think of it one of the pet stores gave pinkies except they were larger then the normal ones about 3cm long and maybe a 1cm and a bit thick they told me they were pinkies but there fuzzies geez they were baby adult mice maybe I should swich to does?
When I got my first she was 8 months old and possible about 12inches big now she is 3foot and I have had her about 7month's, she was fed on pinkie's for three month then fuzzies for three month's and she has just recently started on small mice. I guess compared to what you are all feeding mine are power fed but Iam just going by what I was told (they are kept small till they are sold)
Just measured my ghost female using my plastic tube idea. She's slightly longer than a 10 gallon aquarium which is 20 inches long, so probably 22"-24" allowing for her not being completely straight. She eats two hoppers at a meal easily and is definitely bigger than 1 cm wide.
Just my experience...your's may be different.
Peter
Just my experience...your's may be different.
Peter
JaketheTick
New member
Ok, four of my corns are between 26 and 32 inches, weigh around 150-175 g(i think, scale is pretty crumby.) They handle full sized mice like its there job. Snakes know what they can handle, unless they are extremely starved, i trust the snake. I had one full grown thawed for a larger corn, he didnt want it, i decided to try on the smaller ones. Ive always heard go with about three times the size of the widest part of the snake, or something like that. This was more like five. The snake had absolutey no problem. Thats all i feed them now. There growing like friggin green beans. Corn snakes didnt stay around this long by killing themselves trying to overeat. Only humans do that. And some fish i think. And lemmings run off cliffs. Ok, thats enough. By the way, Im a new guy here, and this forum is one of the best things ive ever seen on the internet. Thanks to whoever runs it.
kenalotia
New member
What I've always heard about what size mice to feed corns is that the mouse should be about 1.5 times the size of the diameter of the corn at its widest point. If yours can handle much larger ones and still digest them within a few days, then it's probably okay. But if it takes them longer to digest, the food could start rotting in their stomachs and make them sick.