How Often?

[shootingstar777]

I bought a corn last wednesday. I was told to feed him friday and then not feed him again for 2 weeks. Bearing in mind he seems really small and he's about 12 inches long. I was told he was 12 weeks old. I fed him on friday anyway, and after 24-48 hrs there was no visible lump at all. Do you think he should be fed more often?
Cheers
Jess

 

[Velvet]

I have never had Corns that young but I have read that you should feed them small pinkies more often...perhaps someone could back this up? Something like two small pinkies a week...one every 4 or 5 days or something...

My guys are bigger so I usually follow the "once a week" feeding rule and they are doing very well, growing like weeds! :santa:

 

[bitsy]

One pinkie every 4-5 days is usual. I wouldn' go to fortnightly feeds until they reach adult size food.

Having said that, I do know of a breeder near me who feeds his hatchlings every 10 days and his Corns are top quality. I have one of his that has just moved up to medium mice at the age of two and a half, as an illustration.

Taking longer than 4-5 days between won't do any harm as long as you're ready for a very gradual growth rate.

I decrease the frequency of feeding as the size of the food increases. Something like this:

Pinkies: one every 4-5 days
Fuzzies: one every 5-7 days
Small mice: one every 7 days
Medium mice: one every 10 days
Large mice: one every 10-14 days

 

[shootingstar777]

I thought it was a little extreme, and s/he seems so small compared to other pictures of snakes i've seen. I'll try her on another pinky in a while, and see if s/he'll eat it. Has anyone got a snake growth chart they could email me so that I have something to compare her to?
Jess

 

[dwyn127]

I thought it was a little extreme, and s/he seems so small compared to other pictures of snakes i've seen. I'll try her on another pinky in a while, and see if s/he'll eat it. Has anyone got a snake growth chart they could email me so that I have something to compare her to?
Jess

While feeding practices will influence growth rates, most snakes are going to grow at their own rate. I have 3 yearlings, one is 80 grams, a second is 172 grams and the third tips the scales at 200 grams. All these snakes eat every 7 days a rat that's about 1 to 1 1/2 times the size of their widest point.

To add to bitsy's point, I also feed every 5 days while their on pinkys and peach fuzzies. I go to 7 days when I start them on rat pinks.

 

[bitsy]

Growth rates are a bit difficult to generalise about, as each Corn will be fed at slightly different rates and be moved up food sizes at different times.

The only reliable "average" I can think of, is that most Corns will reach an adult-type weight of 300g, around the age of 3 years.

Although I can't see my 2 and a half year old attaining that, so there are always exceptions.

 

[shootingstar777]

But technically if she wasn't hungry, she wouldn't eat right? She ate another pinky about 10 minutes ago, and as soon as I put it in there she was trying to force it down her throat lol. So I guess I will feed every 4-5 days now. Cheers for the advice
Jess

 

[kimbyra]

Whoever told you to feed every two weeks should be kicked in the butt! Every 5-7 days is normal for feeding a hatchling. Every 5 days is good, so you're on the right track! It's not true that they wont eat if they aren't hungry. (Goldfish and puppies are proof of that.) They need a few days for the digestive juices in their tummies to build back up, or they could regurge which could cause you serious problems.
Congrats on your new snake! Post a pic if you can!
:cheers:

 

[snakemanone]

an easy guide is to feed your corn the day after it poo's

 

[jenkva]

I agree with bitsy about the feeding.
Don't forget that when you increase the size of the food item, you first need to go to two of the current size but add 1 day between feeding. So if you go from Pinkies to Fuzzies, if you initially give 1 Pinkie every 5 days, you first need to give 2 Pinkies every 6 days and then you can go up to 1 Fuzzie every 6 days.

dwyn127 is right, I have 1yr and (supposedly) 2yr and she is shorter but thicker and he is longer but thinner so you do not have an exact guideline as to which size they should be at what age, it is like people, we all grow at different rates.

an easy guide is to feed your corn the day after it poo's

I would disagree with that point as if I was doing that I would be feeding my year old every 4 to 5 days when she is on 2 big hoppers which is not enough gap between the feed!

 

[bitsy]

But technically if she wasn't hungry, she wouldn't eat right?

As I understand it, that's not quite the case.

In the wild, they're opportunistic feeders, because they don't know when they'll next eat. If a Corn comes across an unguarded group of baby mice, it'll eat as many as it can in case it doesn't find anything else for a couple of weeks. It won't stop eating them just because it isn't hungry any more.

In captivity, Corns don't lose that instinct. If you put food in front of a reliable feeder, chances are it will go down the hatch regardless of whether or not the Corn is actually hungry.

It's really easy to overfeed Corns in captivity, because humans tend to interpret hunting behaviour or voracious feeding as symptoms of hunger. In reality, it's just natural for a Corn to be on the lookout for food the whole time and eat as much as it can.

An over-fed and overweight Corn will have a shortened lifespan, so we need to regulate their intake carefully.

 

[rushrulz]

*hijacks*

Does that 5-7 days rule apply to a snake coming out of a regurge? I waited 10 days and gave him a pinkie head. So assuming he keeps that down OK, should I feed him a whole pinkie (or the headless one ) on a normal 5-7-day schedule or give him more time?

Also, I was wondering...I know corns are often out on the prowl, even when they really don't "need" to be eating. And of course, we can't feed our snakes every time they look at us with those little "puppy dog" eyes or they'll end up as a mound of scaly blubber. But does anyone withhold food if the snake isn't on the prowl? I mean, if you're on a 7-day schedule, but you come by on the 7th day and the snake seems content to hide all evening, could you skip the feeding? I seem to see a lot on here about snakes refusing meals while they're in shed, etc., so it seems pointless to try if there's a good chance the mousey will just end up in the trash. (And yeah, they're pretty much all "mousies" to me.) I mean, a snake that's not on the prowl is presumably either a) not hungry or b) feeling bleah for some reason.

On the other hand, you could have a snake who takes that "opportunistic feeder" thing to heart and eats it even though he's not hungry, which could lead to obesity. I guess what I'm saying is that I see a lot of "every 5-7 days" or "every 10 days," but I'd think there'd be more factors than just the days, right...?

 

[kimbyra]

*hijacks*

Does that 5-7 days rule apply to a snake coming out of a regurge? I waited 10 days and gave him a pinkie head. So assuming he keeps that down OK, should I feed him a whole pinkie (or the headless one ) on a normal 5-7-day schedule or give him more time?

Also, I was wondering...I know corns are often out on the prowl, even when they really don't "need" to be eating. And of course, we can't feed our snakes every time they look at us with those little "puppy dog" eyes or they'll end up as a mound of scaly blubber. But does anyone withhold food if the snake isn't on the prowl? I mean, if you're on a 7-day schedule, but you come by on the 7th day and the snake seems content to hide all evening, could you skip the feeding? I seem to see a lot on here about snakes refusing meals while they're in shed, etc.,

QUOTE]

Q#1: Feed a whole one again. Make sure its not too big.
Q#2: Actually corns hide and are just chillin' most of the time. Always try and feed them on feeding day. My snakes almost always feed when in blue/in shed.

 

[rushrulz]

#2: True. But I'd noticed Sev was really cruising there for a while. I had been planning to feed him his head on Saturday night, and it ended up being pretty early because he was already up when I got home from the store.

 

[Beothon Lover]

for the differences in growth in corns i have 2 '06 hatchlings, a female normal and a male sunglow...my normal is shorter and thinner than my sunglow who is both thicker and longer than my normal....and both around the same age...i feed them a pinky every 5 days...their last feeding(the 9th) ..Terra(the normal) had a nice sized lump from the pinky but Serg(the sunglow) barely had a lump...now these pinkys were pretty small but it was interesting to see the difference between the two. So like others have said each corn grows at a different rate from other corns.




Beothon Lover

 

[snakemanone]

i thought you were talking about young snakes,my adults are fed once a week as i dont like the idea of them have a full belly for days on end,1 adult mouse every saturday seems to work for me as the snake will only take about 48 hours or so to digest

 

[ADevil]

an easy guide is to feed your corn the day after it poo's

Mine always poo 2 days after i feed them so i wouldnt try that personally but i hear that most peoples snakes poo after 3 or 4 days after feeding :shrugs:

A. Devil

 

[Velvet]

I feed my guys once a week and they do just fine!

1Xmouse for Cornflake (about 80-90cms)
1xFuzzy for Battle (about 6mnths old and about 40-50cms) every saturday and they are thriving! Healthy, good weight etc etc.

:-offtopic but how much should a corn weigh to be big enough to breed? Thanks!

 

[jenkva]

I feed my guys once a week and they do just fine!

1Xmouse for Cornflake (about 80-90cms)
1xFuzzy for Battle (about 6mnths old and about 40-50cms) every saturday and they are thriving! Healthy, good weight etc etc.

:-offtopic but how much should a corn weigh to be big enough to breed? Thanks!

Hi Meg,
I would just like to point out that it is not polite to hijack someones thread with an issue which is not related at all with the original subject.
Usually it is best to start a thread with your question after having used the search function at the top of every page.
For your question, I would suggest to start the thread in the "Breeding/Egg Production & Care" section.
Just a note in passing

 

[snakemanone]

all my snakes poo on the 4th day after a feed,except my amel female,she poo on the 3rd day,but she is 11 years old