What to eat? (Question about the Munson Plan)

[ohdigeydoc]

Hello everyone! I have two corns, and they're rather young. And I'm trying to figure out what exactly is the best thing to be feeding them at their current state.

They weigh 23g and 24.6g. I feed them two pinkies, every 4-5 days. (Each pinky weighs about 2.5-3g.)

I've read everywhere that the correct size should be about 1.5 the diameter of the girth of the snake. I'd say these pinkies are about .9 - 1.0 of the girth. According the Munson's plan, they should, (in a few grams maybe), be eating fuzzies 5-7g.

Note: the boy (23g) did regurgitate 12 days ago. I've been following Kathy Love's regurg-plan, and so far so good. I'm not sure why he did though. Everything seemed fine.

My girlfriend is trying to convince me I should continue to feed them the double pinkies until they are used up (or get new fuzzies at the reptile show in a month). (She has never kept snakes.) I tell her I should advance to fuzzies when appropriate, and save the pinkies for new snakes down the line.

So my questions are: a) should I keep feeding them pinkies? (Keep in mind the weight and the girth issues.) b) Is it harmful to the snake to eat the pinkies even though they might be 'too small?' c) Will the extra pinkies 'go bad' in my freezer? (If so, how long do I have? (They're in a zip-lock, followed by a grocery bag, followed by a paper bag.))

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[ghosthousecorns]

I would use them up (2 at a time like you said) first and then switch to peach fuzzies, unless you have like 100 of them (in which case you will just have to get more snakes ). Especially if one regurged, might not be the best time to be bumping up in size. I'm a bit more conservative in feeding than what the Munson plan says. though. I usually do 2 pinkies for a while before I go to peach fuzzies.

 

[bitsy]

I'd use them up as well. Once over the regurge scare, you could build up to three at a time - maybe with a slighty longer period between feeds.

 

[wade]

First, always say "Yes Dear" weather you follow her advise or not.

Use up your pinkies first. It won't hurt even if you need to feed three at a time. 2.5 gram pinkies are really small and you'll find that 6 gram fuzzies look huge. Don't be in a hurry to switch.

I love Dean (I really mean that Dean O) but the Munson plan is pretty aggressive for fast growth. Don't worry if you lag a little behind the plan guide lines. I think the most common cause of regurge in baby snakes is over feeding.

The pinkies will keep in the freezer. Air is the biggest problem. Lose the grocery bag and the paper bag and put the mice in two zip locks. They will keep for 6 months easy/

 

[Roy Munson]

I love Dean (I really mean that Dean O) but the Munson plan is pretty aggressive for fast growth.

Aw shucks, Wade.

I agree with you. I've learned a lot since I came up with "The Plan", and I stand by the conservative ends of its guidelines, but I don't feed as frequently as the aggressive ends of the guidelines suggest. In fact, I generally feed a bit more conservatively than even the conservative end of the given frequencies.

Sometimes I think I should revise "The Plan", but the bleepin' thing is all over the place. I've googled it and found it posted on many forums and sites, many of which I've never even heard of. Still, I probably will update it at some point soon...