• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

sheding and feeding qustion

C

coralife205

New member
ive had my corn snake for three weeks ago today. its only 20 inches long. how do i know when it gets ready to shed? how often should a snake shed? once a month? also, is it normal for the snake to always be on the cold side of the cage?

im feeding my snake fuzzies. yesturday ive been feeding it once a week, useinng one fuzzie. i wanted to run an experment because someone at work fed our cornsnakes two fuzzies in a row and i decided i would do the same thing. i fed my snake two fuzzies yesturday...is this fine? i only did it to see if it would eat it because i figured if it was NOT hungry that it would ignore it.. aparently it ate both..im just curious.
 
OH ONE MORE THING ON FEEDING!.... my cousin suggested that i feed it feeder goldfish/guppies....is this good for the snake?
 
At that size, you will probably see a shed once every 4-5 weeks. Look for the eyes to go dull, opaque or blue in color (depending on morph). No feeder fish for corn snakes-- stick with a diet of frozen/thawed rodents. Mice or rats are fine, if they are of appropriate size (1-1.5 times the width of your snake)
 
I've heard of double pinks but never double fuzzies, seems to me it'd be easier to just make the jump from fuzzy to hopper or weanling. Does your snake even need it, or were you just trying to see if he COULD eat that much? Because if he's not missing the food lump after 24 hours, you're seriously risking a regurge by offering that much food. Also, corns' age and food needs aren't judged by their length, but rather by their weight in grams.
 
Pepper said:
I've heard of double pinks but never double fuzzies, seems to me it'd be easier to just make the jump from fuzzy to hopper or weanling. Does your snake even need it, or were you just trying to see if he COULD eat that much? Because if he's not missing the food lump after 24 hours, you're seriously risking a regurge by offering that much food. Also, corns' age and food needs aren't judged by their length, but rather by their weight in grams.
Click to expand...

Good advice. As an owner of only 3 snakes, though, if the snake was ready for the weight of 2 fuzzies, following the Munson plan, I might use up the fuzzies by offering double fuzzies, though. Is there any reason, as long as the food weight is correct for the corn's weight, and the food diameter isn't too big, why one couldn't do double fuzzies? Or double hoppers to feed a big corn snake if one is out of the appropriate retired breeder size mouse?
 
I read somewhere that it is actually better to feed total weight in smaller rather than one large item. I want to say it was said by Kathy Love but I am not positive so please don't quote me as saying she said it for sure.
 
yea im new, ive only had this snake for like 4 weeks...you guys are talking about geting the snake weighed and grams and such...im confused?
 
coralife205 said:
yea im new, ive only had this snake for like 4 weeks...you guys are talking about geting the snake weighed and grams and such...im confused?
Click to expand...

Yes, the best way to figure out what to feed your snake while s/he is still little is to weigh him & pick the size of food based on his weight. Search "Munson plan" on this forum & you will find all the details.
 
2 fuzzies may have been too much, or not. You feed a snake based on its weight to determine how much food they need. You can get a scale that weighs in grams from walmart pretty cheap and weigh your snake monthly. I personally eye it for the most part though but if your unsure its the way to go. I do double fuzzies before hoppers myself so theres nothing wrong with that if your snake is ready.

If your snake is always on the cool side check your temps you may be running too hot- how do you measure your snakes temps and what are you using to provide a warm side i.e UTH, thermostat, rheostat...?
 
danielle said:
If your snake is always on the cool side check your temps you may be running too hot- how do you measure your snakes temps and what are you using to provide a warm side i.e UTH, thermostat, rheostat...?
Click to expand...

Danielle is right. If the warm side is too warm... So you have to check the temps & those little stick on dial thermometers are no good. A tiny cheap digital thermometer with probe is about $5 at Petco so that part's easy to solve. If you are using a UTH withOUT a rheostat or thermostat it WILL be too hot. I have 3 different UTHs on 3 vivs & they all run 100F or higher without.

Also, some snakes like a particular type of hide so much they will stay in a temperature that is too hot or too cold because they like the hide. So that's another variable to check. For a hatchling, you could take a toilet paper tube, cut it in half the long way to make two small "half log" hides & put one on each side so the snake can't choose the "better" hide instead of the proper temp.

That said, some snakes are weird. My Humphrey is almost always on the cool side. I check temps almost every day, warm side runs 80-85F (it's on a rheostat so varies), cool side runs 66-72 (household temps). I've rearranged the hides to make sure Humphrey has the type s/he likes on both sides. STILL s/he is almost always on the cool side. I figure s/he knows what s/he's doing. If your set up is good, your snake just wants to stay on the cool side.
 
Very pretty classic cornsnake!

Set up looks good except is the heat supplied by the lamp? Corns do better with bottom heat (like a UTH) according to the experts. And is there a temp gradient? 85F is good for a warm side, but they need a cool side too.
 
the heat i comeing from the lamp (20 gall0n long 75 watt bulb) and also a heating pad under the tank. yes the temp on the left side is colder. but the snake seems to prefer the colder side for some reason, and always tends to hide under the aspen.
 
is this snake too small to be on fuzzies? it swallows them just fine...what is a good feeding sched. for it and what food and how much food should i give it?
 
coralife205 said:
is this snake too small to be on fuzzies? it swallows them just fine...what is a good feeding sched. for it and what food and how much food should i give it?
Click to expand...

According to the Munson plan a 38 gram snake should be on refular fuzzies weighing 7-9 grams each. every 6 to 7 days.

The way your snake is acting I would say the lamp is making it too hot on the heated side. I would ditch the lamp. Especially since you have heat from a uth.

Disclaimer, advice only and comes from what I have read and been told.
 
I agree no lamp it doesn't help with digestion, zaps humidity, and is just too hot. How is your heat mat regulated and how do you now its 85- whaat do you measure temps with?
 
@Danielle -- pics show a digital thermometer.
@coralife -- ditch the light -- I know from experience (yeah already) that you end up with a hot dry tank. According to the Munson plan fuzzies are just right for your snake, so if you snake is eating them easily they are probably just right! Hiding in/under aspen is quite normal for snakes, especially young ones. My little Attitude (an 09) burrows into it & has to be dug out regularly.
 
the heat mat is not pluged in to any kind of thermostat.
IMG_5803.jpg


IMG_5804.jpg



the people at the reptile store : http://www.stingersexotics.com/ said that i need a 75 watt bulb, and just heating pad. they said i did not need a themestat unless it reached near 90*. they said that the heat pad and lamp are suposed to work really well together. they also said that i do not need much humidity at all, also they said i do not need the red bulb at night. nor uva light... all i know about snakes is from that store. ive never had a snake before, this will be the 4th week ive had it... does it look healthy? or sick?

http://www.stingersexotics.com/

IMG_5803.jpg


IMG_5804.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top