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size vs food

spleenchild

spleenchild

New member
Hi my wise Snake handling friends...

Quick question how do you know when its time to move up food size / quantity? I've had Lilith since Febuary, she's roughly 16 inches (40 cm) {as measured by dental floss and then put to a tape measure(anyone got a better way?)} and she's shed 3 times since i've had her. I'm currently feeding 1 pinkie about every 7 days.
She doesn't have much girth but after i feed her there doesn't appear to be a large bump in her belly where the mouse is. i was wondering if i shouldn't start feeding her more often or 2 at a time weekly, any suggestions?


Spleenchild
 
If there's no feeding lump even directly after feeding, I'd say you'd be fine bumping her up to either 2 pinks or maybe even a peach fuzzy. I would try the 2 pinks before the fuzzy, though. If the meal is too big, she'll regurge, and you DEFINITELY don't want that to happen. Good luck!
 
The Munson Plan!

Well, based on the fact there is no lump, I agree with robbie. BUT, what works best for me, since I dont want to just guess at it, is the Munson Feeding Plan. You can find it here: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50106
For some reason it didn't post as a link... I'm no computer genious. Or you can look under member forums inside Roy Munson's Serpent Lounge. It is stickied there.

I have heard some say the Munson Plan is a little aggressive of a feeding schedule. My thoughts are if that is true, you can use it as a good guideline and just feed on the light side of the plan. All snakes are a little different.

I am a worry wart when it comes to snakes regurging, so when it comes time to move a snake up, I do it slowly. Sometimes I'll go a couple of extra feedings at a feeding size before moving up. Better safe than sorry.

By the way, to use the Munson Feeding Plan you need to know what your snake weighs in grams. Walmart has cheap kitchen scales that work great. We got ours for $15 or $20.

Good luck!
Jimmy
 
Best judge is by her weight

Your best bet is to invest in an digital kitchen scale that weighs in 1gm increments and weigh her weekly. Weight or the size of the feed as compared to the size of the snake, is how to judge what to fed not by the length or age of the snake. Weight is easier, than guessing a meal that is approx. 1.5 times the girth of your snake. As was previously mentioned, if the snake is over fed, it will regurge and that is very stressful and hard on the snake! On here there is a gentleman who posted an guide to feeding based by weight of the snake and weight of the food. It is really useful, and when shown to my reptile vet, he recommended I continue as it was an excellent guide to feeding our corns and even our king. I will paste it in for you, but remember this has not been created by me it was created by Roy Munson.

The Munson Plan (Sample Feeding Chart): Revised 06/08/08
-When they're on single pinks (2-3g), I feed every 5-6 days. (Snake = 4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 6-7 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (20-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+) See below.

Note: Adult females are fed more frequently than adult males (especially following brumation). Adult females are fed every 7-12 days; adult males are fed every 11-14 days.

This is by no means scientific, and not all corns will cooperate 100% with the schedule. The weight ranges I gave for the prey and snakes are approximate.

Good luck, this will work great for you, my 3 corns and 1 king have done very well on it, and the Vet is very impressed with their growth and health. The only thing the Vet said to add was, calcium powder to the mice until the snake is regularly feeding on adult mice, as the other mice either have no bone or not enough to provide adequate calcium.
 
Ha, beat ya to it.

Sorry Asbit, I guess I beat you to it. Always nice to see someone else giving the same advice. Makes me think I must be doing the right thing.
Jimmy
 
RobbiesCornField said:
If there's no feeding lump even directly after feeding, I'd say you'd be fine bumping her up to either 2 pinks or maybe even a peach fuzzy. I would try the 2 pinks before the fuzzy, though. If the meal is too big, she'll regurge, and you DEFINITELY don't want that to happen. Good luck!
Click to expand...



AFter further review, she does get a bit of a bump further down the body, but she is getting there thanks for the reply and have a great day
 
my snake was eating pinkies twice a week but still was skinny
after that i tried feeding her more at one feeding and she ate 3 pinkies.
now i bumped her up to small fuzzies
 
Okay, but how many grams does it weigh?

Emmanuel.S said:
my snake was eating pinkies twice a week but still was skinny
after that i tried feeding her more at one feeding and she ate 3 pinkies.
now i bumped her up to small fuzzies
Click to expand...

Emmanuel.S, Maybe (hopefully) your snake is ready for small fuzzies. As said earlier in this thread, the best way to have a good idea if your snake is ready for that is to weigh it. Snakes are opportunistic feeders. They dont know when to say when. They dont know when they are full and will continue eating until they eat too much, leading to a regurge. On a young snake one regurge could start the nasty cycle and kill your snake.

Dont take this as me trying to tell you what to do with your snake, I just worry that if you dont know the snakes weight, you may not know if its time to move up to small fuzzies. I love to see my snakes progress by checking their length and weight and sometimes its frustrating because I wish they would grow faster. I assume about all of us feel that way, but I sure dont want to risk my snakes' health just to try to make it grow faster.

As said before, I think a cheap digital kitchen scale that measures in grams is an awesome investment. It gives a little piece of mind that your feeding according to schedule and it allows you to weigh the snake for tracking progress!

Good luck and if your snake is ready for small fuzzies, congrats on the move up.
Jimmy
 
I don't think calcium powder os necesesary for corns.. Thats more of a lizard thing.. There may be others out using calcium enrichment, but I am not sure how useful that really is.. Now the use of powdered probiotics may help with the digestion on the other hand..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
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