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How many owners continue to offer food mid shed?>

habistatman

habistatman

New member
Just wondered about this and what is the typical feeding response. If the snake did eat would the distention of its body cause any 'complications' when shedding occurs such as a shed in two sections. Your views would be great to hear.

Kindest regards

Habistatman
 
I offer regardless and have only ever had one problem - snake started shedding immediately after eating and had to be helped out of the old skin, which got stuck on the mouse bump.

Never had a regurge related to feeding during a shed cycle.
 
I usually skip the meal if I see a snake is in shed. If I feed it's a smaller food item that won't leave a big lump.
 
I don't feed when the snakes are blue. Nearly all the regurges I have had have been due to feeding the snake when it was blue.
 
I will feed if in blue, and have never had any issues. I just fed three snakes in blue last week and they shed/digested just fine. But, that doesnt mean problems cant occur (see Nanci's post). I usually prepare food before checking bins and then realize they are in blue. If they refuse the food, I either toss it or give it to another snake. If I have the foresight to check bins before I prepare the mice, I tend to not feed if they are in blue, mostly because Im afraid they will refuse and I will have extra mice.
 
I have never learned how to tell for sure when our snow is in shed and therefore just not worried about it. I will probably continue the same practice with our hatchling unless a problem comes up.
 
ratsncorns said:
I will feed if in blue, and have never had any issues. I just fed three snakes in blue last week and they shed/digested just fine. But, that doesnt mean problems cant occur (see Nanci's post). I usually prepare food before checking bins and then realize they are in blue. If they refuse the food, I either toss it or give it to another snake. If I have the foresight to check bins before I prepare the mice, I tend to not feed if they are in blue, mostly because Im afraid they will refuse and I will have extra mice.
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I do pretty much the same. If I've remembered to check them before preparing the mice, I don't offer when they are blue. Depending on the individual snake and what stage of the cycle they are in, sometimes they refuse. I haven't had any problems other than occasional refusal when a snake has eaten in blue though.
 
It often depends upon where the snake is in the shed phase as well as the specific snake. I have some that I know simply will not eat if even close to shedding so I don't feed those. There are some that I know will eat anything I offer no matter what phase of blue they are. The age/size of the snake is also a factor. Larger and older snakes would be fed while blue more often than a younger hatchling as I have had a few younger snakes regurge while blue. It took me awhile to make that connection, and then, there are some hatchlings that I know will be just fine if fed while blue.

So basically what I'm saying, it's based more on the individual snake than anything else, but if you don't know how your snake will react to eating while blue, it's better to be safe and not feed, than take a risk and feed while blue.
 
jessicalb said:
I have never learned how to tell for sure when our snow is in shed and therefore just not worried about it. I will probably continue the same practice with our hatchling unless a problem comes up.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean with small cornsnakes especially morphs such as the Amels it is not an easy job to say for certain sometimes.

Kindest regards


Habistatman
 
I have fed some blue in the past without any problems, but I stopped offering if they're in blue, & I have had a couple regurges from snakes that I have fed in the clear phase, so I check everyone carefully before thawing out micicles, & skip those in any part of the shed process.
 
One way to tell if a light-colored snake is blue is to simply observe it. Has it been out in the evening, or have you not seen the snake for several days? Also, babies shed roughly once a month. If it's been a month or longer, AND you haven't seen an active snake, you can bet the snake is blue.

It might seem like a regurge is not such a big deal. Yes, it is very frightening the first time it happens, but you will get plenty of advise on how to treat your snake after the regurge to make sure it recovers. But the cost of the regurge and recovery to the snake is great. I got two lavender clutchmates last summer. They weighed the same when they arrived. One of the sisters had a regurge when she was fed in the clear stage- she didn't look blue, but when I smelled the regurge a day later I found both the rotting mouse _and_ a shed. She underwent the regurge protocol- feed a mouse half the size of what she regurged, increase the prey size cautiously until she is back at the usual size for her weight, don't feed in blue. Seven months later, having made an easy, normal recovery with no further complications, she is half the size of her sister. 55 grams versus 110. So it _is_ a big deal even though you may not see the cost to the individual snake if you don't have an identical snake to compare it to. This is why I am very, very cautious about feeding while in blue.
 
I typically don't feed in blue. I didn't worry about it too much at first, but I've had two snakes now regurge after being fed while in blue, and it's just not worth it to me...I'd sooner have them skip a meal or two than have to go through the weeks of regurge protocol to make sure that it's going to be okay.
 
I don't feed when they're in blue. Thankfully they aren't all on the same cycle (haha), so someone is always willing to eat what's been thawed if I didn't notice beforehand.

I have a blizzard that is *extremely* hard to tell when she is in blue, so that makes it difficult...
 
for the last shed, i didn't realise she was starting to turn blue till after i had thawed and offered the first pink, but she still ate both and had a lump for a day or two. and 2 days after that, she turned clear, her skin looked really wrinkly and loose though lol. she shed a perfect shed for me :)
 
If I notice they are in blue before I thaw mice, then I won't feed them. If I have mice thawing and then notice they are in blue I will usually still feed, but give them one of the smaller mice. I haven't had any problems.
 
habistatman said:
Just wondered about this and what is the typical feeding response. If the snake did eat would the distention of its body cause any 'complications' when shedding occurs such as a shed in two sections. Your views would be great to hear.

Kindest regards

Habistatman
Click to expand...

i do, no matter what i always have atleast a few animals in shed at any given time. i feed once a week and just thaw out the same number of feeders. i have never had a corn snake refuse food while they were in shed, not even when i first got them. all of my boas will eat in shed also, my retics always ate too, so im not sure where the "dont feed while in shed" rule comes from...i think some snakes may not eat while in shed, so maybe someone just came up with that "rule"??? i have never had a problem in over 23 years of keeping snakes, so i would say,"if your snake will eat in shed, and you wanna feed it....feed it." it would be a huge pain in the butt if i fed all the animals not in shed, and went around one by one feeding the ones that come out of shed....ide be feeding someone almost every day!:eek1: jeez, that would not be fun, and fun is why i keep the animals i keep!
 
...and i have never had one have a problem shedding after eating either. i could see a possible issue if you are feeding a huge food item, but proper sized food items will cause absolutely no problem. i dont think a snake in the wild would let a prey item just walk by because they are in shed...unless they just miss their oportunity. there is always an exception, some snakes may not want to eat in shed.
 
Nanci said:
One way to tell if a light-colored snake is blue is to simply observe it. Has it been out in the evening, or have you not seen the snake for several days? Also, babies shed roughly once a month. If it's been a month or longer, AND you haven't seen an active snake, you can bet the snake is blue.

It might seem like a regurge is not such a big deal. Yes, it is very frightening the first time it happens, but you will get plenty of advise on how to treat your snake after the regurge to make sure it recovers. But the cost of the regurge and recovery to the snake is great. I got two lavender clutchmates last summer. They weighed the same when they arrived. One of the sisters had a regurge when she was fed in the clear stage- she didn't look blue, but when I smelled the regurge a day later I found both the rotting mouse _and_ a shed. She underwent the regurge protocol- feed a mouse half the size of what she regurged, increase the prey size cautiously until she is back at the usual size for her weight, don't feed in blue. Seven months later, having made an easy, normal recovery with no further complications, she is half the size of her sister. 55 grams versus 110. So it _is_ a big deal even though you may not see the cost to the individual snake if you don't have an identical snake to compare it to. This is why I am very, very cautious about feeding while in blue.
Click to expand...

i need to start reading all the posts before i respond! i was not aware that corns would regurge when fed in blue! i have not had a problem yet with any of mine, but i have been keeping corns for only a few months, pythons and boas have been what i have worked with for a couple decades, so i would listen to those with more corn experience than me for sure, i apologize for posting before i read all the posts:blowup:....i desearve that!
 
I have always fed in blue except my King. She very flighty as it is, so she just freaks if you even open her tank while she is in blue. So I don't even try with her because I don't want the stress to cause her to regurge.
 
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