Pinky or Fuzzy?

[DaBachelor]

Hello i seem to be at a stand still between feeding my corn 3 pinkies or 1 fuzzy. He is now about 7 months old and i recently noticed his increased agrsssive behavior towards the two pinky mice and i also noticed he is not full afterwards because his lump isnt really a lump. Now i looked at the fuzzies and they look too big for him however im getting mixed info as to whether it is or not. The rule of thumb i remember from research is no more than 1.5 times the thickest part of the body but this book i have says the neck. Im worried tht he may be under fed (i feed him 2 pinkies a week) and he may not be ready for a fuzzy right now. Any Advise? Thanks in advance

 

[Shiari]

My 8 month old corns have been on fuzzies since they were 6 months or so... started with really small ones, they're now on 'average' fuzzies.

Don't go by the neck. Go by the thickest part of the body.

 

[Tracee]

Shiari is right, the guideline is no more than 1.5x the size of the 'bodily' girth, not the neck, which is of course a lot smaller.

Can you ask the shop/person you get mice from for the smallest fuzzies they have, to give them a try? If you really think the smallest ones you can get are too large then you can stick to pinkies for a little while longer, but do try to move up as soon as possible, as fuzzies have so much more nutrition in them than pinks as well.

 

[measley]

I third the 1.5x the body rule...

Also- how much does your snake weigh? The easiest guide to follow is the Munson Plan: http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50106 Remember though, this is only a guide- not set rules...

I agree with Tracee with asking for the smallest fuzzies available at the store-

You can also cut slits in the fuzzies back... I've been told this helps with digestion and when I was switching my normal to fuzzies, even though I knew he was big enough, I was still scared but with the slits, I felt a little safer about it!!

good luck!

 

[Nanci]

I see you say you are feeding two pinks a week. If you can't find fuzzies that are small enough, you can move to two pinks every five or six days.

 

[DaBachelor]

Okay thanks everyone i thought it was the thickest part of the body. i guess im just a little nervous about the whole thing. Ill try to see if he'll take the fuzzy tonight and if not ill just do the 2 pinks every 5 days like Nacy suggests. Thank You EVERYBODY

 

[DaBachelor]

Sorry, "NANCI" lol

 

[Tracee]

Okay thanks everyone i thought it was the thickest part of the body. i guess im just a little nervous about the whole thing. Ill try to see if he'll take the fuzzy tonight and if not ill just do the 2 pinks every 5 days like Nacy suggests. Thank You EVERYBODY

Try the slits trick that measley suggested to ease your nerves a bit Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[DaBachelor]

HE ATE IT HE ATE IT!!!!!!!!! My son's growing up lol! Thanks everybody. I put slits in the fuzzie's back to help too so thanks Measley! I think his weight is gonna start picking up soon too. Thanks again everybody!

 

[Mark M]

Congrats!

I am in the same boat with my boy "Charlie Daniels" who is a 7 mo. old ghost. I just weighed him tonight and he is 20 grams. He has become a very voracious eater and will eat 3 small pinkies at once. Once he get's over 23 grams I will try the small fuzzies. It really is nice when they start eating regularly.

 

[tylercole2294]

Wow, I measured mine today and it said only 7.0 grams? However, she ate two pinks fine last feeding and a single pink is only a tiny bit bigger than her thickest part of body. Either way, I am definitley going to go back to one and see, although the bump in the body goes away fast. She is about 6 months old. Isnt that super small for her age. How can i get her back on track? Do you think maybe my scales wrong? Sorry for the thread hi-jack

 

[DaBachelor]

Congrats!

I am in the same boat with my boy "Charlie Daniels" who is a 7 mo. old ghost. I just weighed him tonight and he is 20 grams. He has become a very voracious eater and will eat 3 small pinkies at once. Once he get's over 23 grams I will try the small fuzzies. It really is nice when they start eating regularly.

Yeah, the situation is really nerve recking however when i realized that he could handle it like a champ his first time then it calmed me alot. Hes just about finished digesting it so id say it was a mission sucess! I suggest that you try to move him up soon because as stated earlier the fuzzies have much more nutrition than the pinkies and itll be good for him! By the way since are little guys are pretty close in age we should keep in touch to kinda compare! I have an Amel named "Neon"

 

[tylercole2294]

Can someone please help with my problem two posts above?

 

[sarcare]

Wow, I measured mine today and it said only 7.0 grams? However, she ate two pinks fine last feeding and a single pink is only a tiny bit bigger than her thickest part of body. Either way, I am definitley going to go back to one and see, although the bump in the body goes away fast. She is about 6 months old. Isnt that super small for her age. How can i get her back on track? Do you think maybe my scales wrong? Sorry for the thread hi-jack

I'd check the scale first. When I set the offset on mine I have to make sure that the container is exactly what I use when I put the snake in. If I set it with the lid on and then don't put the lid on when the snake is being weighed then it wont give me the right weight.

Some cornsnakes are that small, but some corns are that weight when they are born--I'd be surprised if a 7g snake could eat two pinkies and digest them in a couple days.

 

[tylercole2294]

yea i think i got the wrong kind of scale. i got it on ebay and its a pocket scale. i just messed around with it and measured my contact container and it said 8.3 g than i put the deli cup on and pushed tare, then put contact thing in and it said 4.0. so idk, then i just put my snake in eli cup and everytime i moved deli cup the weight changed. like the weight had to all be on the scale. shuld i get s new scale or what can i do?

 

[sarcare]

Personally I'd get a new scale--I got mine at Target and it is very easy to use!

 

[tylercole2294]

yea im just did another test and the weights were flying all over the place. from the deli cup from 1.4 to 12.7. Thats insane! Than i did another test and when i took the thing out of deli cup it said -2.1. that means after i tared the deli cup, it gained weight. WTF! I just emailed the company. UGH! I was really excited about the scale too. Now its feeding day again and I dont know what to do!

 

[claireree]

I use kitchen scales they are great for weighing snakes.

 

[Mark M]

yea i think i got the wrong kind of scale. i got it on ebay and its a pocket scale. i just messed around with it and measured my contact container and it said 8.3 g than i put the deli cup on and pushed tare, then put contact thing in and it said 4.0. so idk, then i just put my snake in eli cup and everytime i moved deli cup the weight changed. like the weight had to all be on the scale. shuld i get s new scale or what can i do?

I bought a pocket scale off of Ebay as well. It took me awhile to figure out to take the black lid off. It is very difficult to get an accurate weight on such a small scale. I will be looking for a kitchen scale.

Make sure you have the lid off and are weighing on the stainless steel top...

 

[tylercole2294]

Yea the lid was off but I have a plastic top. I guess that what I get for only wanting to spend $12. And the fact is was only $0.99 and then shipping. It isnt quite worth it for a refund. Thanks guys, I will be going to target to get a scale on friday when I get paid. Until then, should I feed her two pinks like last time or just one this time just to be safe? Maybe one and a half?