• 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.

Snake growing quickly, shedding once a month

J

JjSnake

New member
Does it indicate a problem if the snake is growing quickly and is shedding about once a month? I got him as a hatchling in early January, and he's already shed 4 times. I'm surprised at how fast he's growing! Well, this is my first snake too, so maybe I just don't know that they grow quickly.

I think I'm feeding him the right amount. I used to feed him just once a week, but then I started noticing that I could see his spine, like as if he's too skinny. So then I started feeding him 2 pinkies instead of just 1, and it seemed to help, but it still seemed like his spine was still protruding. So then I started feeding him 2 pinkies about once every 5 days (that was about a month ago), and now his back looks healthier (at least to my novice eyes).

The temperature in his cage stays near 76-80 at the surface.

Thanks for any advice! :)
 
What does he weight now? My lil caramel I feed her 1 pinkie rat every 7 days and she is perfectly plump. Give that a try. Honestly I wouldn't worry about it shedding every month. A growing snake is a healthy snake. Could be a growth spurt.

Any pics?
 
Charlotte, I have an adult bull snake that sheds once every 2-3 months... depending on if it decides to or not... It has been about 3 months since his/her last shed.
 
I've read 2 books about cornsnakes, and I got the impression that the adults shed about 4 times a year on average. I didn't realize that the younger snakes shed more often, but I guess that makes sense if they're growing at a quicker pace.

Here's a picture of the guy:
IMG_3557.JPG


I have never weighed him. Is it important to weigh him every once in a while?

Does he look okay? :)
 
He looks like a healthy baby to me. Very pretty little one too. Weighing is good if you decide to go with the Munson Plan http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118271&highlight=Munson+Plan. That link should help a little with the weight of snake vs weight of food. That is one of the reasons that most people weigh their babies. Now there is certain weights that adults need to be in order to safely breed them, that is another reason to weigh them... Also, it is good to see that your snake is continually growing, if you aren't like me and keep a good schedule in which you can weigh them on a regular basis.
 
Yup, babies shed (about) once a month.
Your little guy is beautiful!
He's looking good.
 
Everything sounds good an he looks good to me. He could probably take bigger pinkies or even fuzzies. He's pretty! Personally I have never weighted any of my snakes.
 
Thanks a lot for the help and the info, everyone! :) I appreciate it.

I love my snake! They're so awesome. :) I'm so glad I got him.
 
I have 4 2011's the three smaller ones shed about once a month and the oldest sheds about once in a month and a half. I think he is slowing down a bit.
 
As everyone has said, one shed every 4-6 weeks is pretty normal for a hatchling. They shed less often as their growth slows down.

My adults shed around 4 times a year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top