One pinky or two?

[HoldenBurn]

I am currently feeding my 3 week old corn 1 pinky every 4-5 days.
Should I be offering two? will feeding only stunt growth at all?

I have heard different things from different people. Is my feeding schedule OK or should I change it at all? Any help would be appreciated :shrugs:

 

[DAND]

One. A 3 week old corn may eat a second but you will most likely end up with a regurge. There is only so much room in their stomach and the second may not be able to go all the way into the stomach and could cause problems.

 

[KatieL]

I agree with Dave on only offering one for now. Its better not to get into the whole regurge thing with a snake so young, so I wouldn't risk it.

I think feeding every 4-5 days sounds good. I feed my little ones every five, and they are growing like weeds. However, the youngest one I started with was 6 weeks old, so four days would proabably be fine for a younger corn like yours for a few weeks.

 

[HoldenBurn]

Great, thanks of for that guys.
I'm glad I'm doing it right so far!

 

[oldhand]

I would also stick with 4 days till the snake can eat 2 pinkies or a fuzzie, then i would feed every 5 till it's onto small mice when it should be every6 days and so on.

 

[JTGoff69]

I would also stick with 4 days till the snake can eat 2 pinkies or a fuzzie, then i would feed every 5 till it's onto small mice when it should be every6 days and so on.

Every 5 days until small mice?? Isn't that borderline "powerfeeding"? Some of mine are on 2 pch fuzzies, some are on fuzzies, 1 is on hoppers, but I still feed them once a week. My '05 is on every 5 days. :shrugs:

 

[HoldenBurn]

Ok, now I'm confused. What should be my feeding schedule? Help guys.

 

[KatieL]

Okay, this is what I would do:
maybe go with every 4 days for the next few feedings, then switch to every five days.

I stuck to every five days until my biggest girl hit hoppers, then I bumped her to once a week. It seems to be working pretty well for us. It will be interesting to see what other people have to say on the issue.

Remember there is not one truely correct answer for this question, just a lot of different opinions, and a lot of advice based on what has worked for different people. So take all the advice (even mine) with a grain of salt. In the end its what works out best for *your* snake. So you can experiment a little. It seems like you are doing fine so far.

 

[JTGoff69]

I can see every 5 days until fuzzies (large), but after that, I think it would be overkill and powerfeeding. Think about the size of your snake and how long it would take you to digest the same size meal vs. body mass.

 

[oldhand]

I don't think it's power feeding, 5 days for a fuzzie works for me and my snakes, and every 6 days for a small mice, then 7 days for a medium mouse. if you want to feed bigger mice after than like large mice, every 10 days would be ok.

 

[larryg]

I can see every 5 days until fuzzies (large), but after that, I think it would be overkill and powerfeeding. Think about the size of your snake and how long it would take you to digest the same size meal vs. body mass.

When my snake poops two days after I feed it, that tells me all I need to know about how long, in fact, it takes to digest food.

 

[JTGoff69]

I'm sure it's digested after the 5 days, it just seems to me once they're eating fuzzies unless you're in a hurry to grow them up for breeding that's a bit much. :shrugs:

 

[DAND]

When my snake poops two days after I feed it, that tells me all I need to know about how long, in fact, it takes to digest food.

90% of mine poop within an hour after feeding, which tells me they can eliminate at any given time, even after a week since their last meal.

 

[larryg]

90% of mine poop within an hour after feeding, which tells me they can eliminate at any given time, even after a week since their last meal.

My point was that observations should be made about each INDIVIDUAL snake - not blanket 'rules' for snakes of all ages and sizes. Certainly not generalizations based on the digestive habits of MAMMALS, including humans. My Venus Flytrap takes about 3 days to digest its fly, for what that's worth (worth nothing, obviously.) It so happens that mine poop on a pretty regular schedule and usually only one time to correspond with one feeding, so I have to wonder if there is a difference in what we feed, how active the snakes are, constantly available water, or some other difference in conditions. My snakes that poop exactly 2 days after being fed are the small ones, in the case of my particular snakes - that increases with the age/size of the snake, up to 4 days in the case of my Okeetee. Yes, I do wait longer than 4 or 5 days between feedings sometimes (for the small snakes), so I would know the difference.

Personally, I question whether snakes that are intentionally underfed will ever achieve their full potential size. The "one pinky per week, so as not to be accused of powerfeeding" philosophy is misguided and in fact not the best thing for a young hatchling, certainly at this time of year. just my opinion.

 

[JTGoff69]

Personally, I question whether snakes that are intentionally underfed will ever achieve their full potential size. The "one pinky per week, so as not to be accused of powerfeeding" philosophy is misguided and in fact not the best thing for a young hatchling, certainly at this time of year. just my opinion.

I feed my hatchlings every 5 days, yes. And after they're a couple of months old, 2 pinkies actually. But once they are on fuzzies, I see no need to continue the 5 day feedings. JMO