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Weight issues

ladyrepublica

ladyrepublica

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN
So I took Scarlet to the vet on Monday and the vet said that she's underweight (she's about 7.5g right now), but that's what I get for getting her from PetCo. I upped her feeding to 2 pinkies every 3 days which she gobbles up happily.:eatsmiley:
Buuuut....
She's going into blue now and she doesn't like to come out of her hide for feeding. To get her out, I have to poke her enough so she un-wedges herself from the upper crevice of her hide and there doesn't seem to be another way to get her out, which seems to be stressful to her. I don't want to stress her out so that she regurgitates, but she needs to be fed. Any suggestions?
 
That is a very aggressive feeding schedule. I don't think you should be feeding _anything_ on a three day schedule, much less double pinks to a 7g snake. If you feed every four days, I'd be feeding her small-medium pinks, and only one. I'd let her be blue and digest what you fed her three days ago and feed her again after she sheds, a more reasonable-sized meal.

Actually, I don't ever feed on a four day schedule. If you insist, I'd recommend smaller pinks until she is about 10 grams, then switch to medium. If you want to feed medium now, I'd do it at a five day interval.
 
I agree with Nanci! Two pinks, on such an aggressive feeding plan, seems to be a recipe for disaster. Not to mention, that 7.5 grams on a very young snake, is normal. What would be abnormal, is if she wasn't growing. Then you could consider an aggressive feeding plan.

I think you need to consider her age, how much you feed her and if she is growing, before assuming that she is underweight. JMO!

Wayne
 
Ok, sorry for the derp derp mistake, I meant that i'm feeding her 2 pinkies/wk, which is 1 pinkie every 3 days. Sorry!
 
she doesn't like to come out of her hide for feeding. To get her out, I have to poke her enough so she un-wedges herself from the upper crevice of her hide and there doesn't seem to be another way to get her out, which seems to be stressful to her. I don't want to stress her out so that she regurgitates, but she needs to be fed. Any suggestions?
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Get a different hide? If it's stressing her and you, then it doesn't seem to be the right thing.

There should be at least two in the tank - one at the warm end and one at the cool end. You can use kitchen towel tubes cut in half lengthwise - Mine love 'em. Plus they're disposable and cost nothing.
 
ladyrepublica said:
Ok, sorry for the derp derp mistake, I meant that i'm feeding her 2 pinkies/wk, which is 1 pinkie every 3 days. Sorry!
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Which is it...1 pinky every 3 days or 2 pinkies once a week? In either case, that is still an aggressive schedule for a 7.5 gram snake. I have several hatchlings around that weight and 1 small-medium pinky once a week is just fine. Now if the hatchling is much larger and truly thin, you still need to watc how you feed it as a heavy feeding schedule can still cause problems. A photo of the snake with something to gauge the actual size (like a quarter or a pencil) might be in order to better help us determine the proper feeding schedule for your snake.

An example from today's feedings:

7 gram pewter (hatched around 7/1/09) fed an average small pinky.
 
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Do you need to remove her from the hide to feed?

Mine stays wedged in his hide when he's getting ready to shed, but since he's a ghost he never goes "blue" but more "cloudy" and I haven't always been able to tell if he's actually in shed. Because I thought it was "shy" and not "shed" I'd take his hide out and put that into his feeding container to see if he eats, and he's never refused a meal. I've even had him shed the night after he's been fed, I guess I have assumed that he would refuse to eat if it was a problem. He was over 30 g the first time he did this, so may not have been an issue for him since he's larger. He's over 100g now and still eats that way.
 
Susan said:
Which is it...1 pinky every 3 days or 2 pinkies once a week? In either case, that is still an aggressive schedule for a 7.5 gram snake. I have several hatchlings around that weight and 1 small-medium pinky once a week is just fine. Now if the hatchling is much larger and truly thin, you still need to watc how you feed it as a heavy feeding schedule can still cause problems. A photo of the snake with something to gauge the actual size (like a quarter or a pencil) might be in order to better help us determine the proper feeding schedule for your snake.
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Hehe, ok, sorry I don't have gift of the gab today. I feed her 1 small pinkie every 3 days. She's a little bit over the girth of a pencil and she's about 13 inches long, if that helps. I don't want to stress her out by taking her out of the tank for a pic. I appreciate everyone's responses, though. I'll take a pic if she comes out.
 
bitsy said:
Get a different hide? If it's stressing her and you, then it doesn't seem to be the right thing.

There should be at least two in the tank - one at the warm end and one at the cool end. You can use kitchen towel tubes cut in half lengthwise - Mine love 'em. Plus they're disposable and cost nothing.
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I was thinking about getting a different hide. She has 2 - a cavey thing on the warm side and a tree thing on the cool side. Its the tree thing she wedges herself up in. I suppose I could also seal up that crevice, but I don't know if she'd be very happy with me ;)

2ndChildhood said:
Do you need to remove her from the hide to feed?

Mine stays wedged in his hide when he's getting ready to shed, but since he's a ghost he never goes "blue" but more "cloudy" and I haven't always been able to tell if he's actually in shed. Because I thought it was "shy" and not "shed" I'd take his hide out and put that into his feeding container to see if he eats, and he's never refused a meal. I've even had him shed the night after he's been fed, I guess I have assumed that he would refuse to eat if it was a problem. He was over 30 g the first time he did this, so may not have been an issue for him since he's larger. He's over 100g now and still eats that way.
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That's interesting. I suppose I could just put her hide in her feeding box.... good idea!
 
I was thinking about getting a different hide. She has 2 - a cavey thing on the warm side and a tree thing on the cool side. Its the tree thing she wedges herself up in. I suppose I could also seal up that crevice, but I don't know if she'd be very happy with me
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The problem will only get worse as she gets bigger. They shouldn't really have a hide that you can't get them out of easily. We've had people here have snakes get wedged and stuck in hides - happened to me. Resolution involved a vet with a chisel, and a pouty snake with permanently scuffed scales!

The way you describe those hides, I'd be inclined to swap both of them out.

So I took Scarlet to the vet on Monday and the vet said that she's underweight (she's about 7.5g right now)
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Sorry to go back, but why did you take her to the vet? Is there something that makes you think there's a problem or was it a general checkup?

I agree that 1 pinkie every 3 days is really pushing her metabolism. I stick to 5 days. If she's a recent hatchling, then she doesn't sound underweight or undersized. A slow-growing Corn will ultimately live longer than one that's pushed to grow faster than necessary. She won't be adult-sized for the next 2-3 years, so don't be in a hurry.
 
bitsy said:
Sorry to go back, but why did you take her to the vet? Is there something that makes you think there's a problem or was it a general checkup?

I agree that 1 pinkie every 3 days is really pushing her metabolism. I stick to 5 days. If she's a recent hatchling, then she doesn't sound underweight or undersized. A slow-growing Corn will ultimately live longer than one that's pushed to grow faster than necessary. She won't be adult-sized for the next 2-3 years, so don't be in a hurry.
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I took her to the vet for a general checkup since I just got her. I got worried after reading the horror stories about snakes with parasites that were purchased from PetCo, so I thought it would be a good idea to get a general checkup. She's neg, btw, for parasites. Vet said she's about 2 months old.

Thanks for all your help, btw. I'm completely new to this. I'm getting Kathy Love's book and it should arrive on Friday.
 
Was this an actual herp vet you took her to? She's not underweight and feeding every three days is just not healthy no experienced vet would tell you otherwise. Feed 1 pinkie very 5-7 days they need time to fully digest between meals or eventually you have a snake that regurges or gets too porky too quick. An obese snake isn't healthy o look up the munson plan here and follow that schedule which is considered an aggressive growth schedule, but what your doing now is powerfeeding and isn't good:)
 
I took her to the vet for a general checkup since I just got her. I got worried after reading the horror stories about snakes with parasites that were purchased from PetCo, so I thought it would be a good idea to get a general checkup. She's neg, btw, for parasites. Vet said she's about 2 months old.
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That's a really thoughtful thing to do - good on you.

However, I think the vet may have misunderstood her age. She sounds just the right weight and length for a 2 month old. I don't think you have anything to worry about if you stick to a 4-5 day feeding regime. Your snake certainly doesn't have anything to worry about, with a proactive owner like you.

Any chance of some pics? We do love to see 'em!
 
However, I think the vet may have misunderstood her age.
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Oops! Sorry, just realised that the vet told you that she's about 2 months old. In that case, I think he's misunderstood Corn Snake growth rates. My thoughts above still stand.

(Must sort out my Contributor status and get "Edit" back!!)
 
I agree with most here. 1 pinkie every 5 days. For a 2 month old she sounds like she is small, but not nessarily underweight. If she is eating everytime you offer food she should be fine. How long is the snake?..... And kudos for taking her to the vet for a checkup. Keep us posted....
 
I, too, agree with those who are telling you that your baby isn't undersized and that the feeding schedule you describe is pretty aggressive, more likely to cause problems than not.

Kudos to you for getting your new snake checked out by a vet - better safe than sorry -but I'd ask how many snakes this vet sees. It sounds like s/he isn't used to dealing with corns. The advice given is potentially dangerous.

There's no need to ever feed one while they're blue/cloudy. Some will eat then, some refuse then, but some will eat then and regurge. Since the snake's inclination in nature is to hole up and hide during this phase, they're not eating in nature while blue unless a suicidal prey animal is determined to find the snake's hiding place. I've fed in blue by accident, but I don't do it intentionally. Just a thought.
 
It can be exceedingly hard to judge a snakes age from its size. My snow is an 07. She weighed 12 grams at about 1 1/2 years of age because she went on a hunger strike and was picky eating.

Petco regularly gets in almost-straight-from-the-egg babies. Vanay was a mere 6 grams when I got her from Petco.
 
Thanks everyone for your help! Scarlet shed yesterday and she looks awesome. I ended up feeding her the day after, which was 7 days after her last meal, so she was right on schedule anyway. I need to not worry so much. :dancer:
 
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