Where do I go now?

[Maloof]

Hey guys, my first corn is a bit older than a year old now and I've had him for almost as long. Everything so far has been great, but now I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do in terms of feeding. He's up to an adult mouse at about 22-25g each week and he eats with gusto each time.

My problem is this: I have no idea what to do now... I know that eventually he will be eating a single meal every 10-14 days, but how do I get him there? Do I keep feeding 22-25g mice every week until he stops growing? Do I try to find some bigger mice and keep advancing him up? How do I take him from where he is now to the eventual feeding every 10-14 when growing isn't an issue anymore? When the 10-14 day feeding is achieved, what size mouse will be appropriate?

I haven't weighed him in months so I'm not sure what he weighs, and since he was fed today I can't weight again for a few days, but based on his food size he has to be at least 170g. Also, since I know that males and females are fed a little differently as adults please note that its just general when I say "he" while referring to my snake since he was never sexed and the gender is still unknown. Thanks in advance for any advice and sorry for the silly question, I'm still learning!

 

[The_Thunderer]

Oh, he'll continue growing on one adult mouse a week. I really don't think that'll be a problem. I've got one that weighs 560 grams and he grew that big (although I bought him as a much smaller adult) on 1 adult mouse every 7-10 days. Got another girl that is 344 grams that I grew from a hatchling... she ate 1 appropriate sized mouse every 7-10 days too. I even have a 5+ foot VBB that ate 1 adult mouse every 7-10 since she was 2.5 feet long. She eats medium rats now (she CAN eat a LARGE rat, but I don't want to pressure her to grow! LOL.)

Oh, they'll grow. No worries about that.

And... no silly questions! Just ones that aren't asked!

 

[Maloof]

Cool thanks for the info, just a couple quick questions in closing. So basically I'll just keep going with adult mice and he will keep growing, then when he gets older and larger he will stop using the mouse to grow and just use it to fuel daily activities? Does this mean that once I reach a regular mouse size of 25+g that the snake will stay with that size of mouse forever? Thanks again for the info.

 

[glenhead]

Snakes will grow until they die. The more they eat, the faster they grow (until they overeat and start getting chubby, that is).

Bob, our enormous amel male, is 4'-9" (145cm) and just over two pounds (960g). (He's not overweight, so nobody start in. Ok?) He gets a jumbo mouse every week and a half to two weeks. We have a highly scientific method of deciding when to feed him - after he poops, we feed him sometime. It's usually within a week or so, unless he goes into shed mode. I haven't ever weighed one of the jumbos, probably ought to do that. He'll happily eat a small or medium rat, but the smell of the poop after a rat is waaay bad. If no jumbos are available, he gets two big adults. He sheds every six weeks or two months. He's grown 18 or 19 inches in the two years we've had him. He's freakin' humongous, and healthy as a horse, so yeah, just keep doing what you're doing, and trust your snake to do his part!

 

[Buzzard]

Maloof, sounds like everything is going great. Once a week should still be fine. I have a 3 yr old corn that still get one mouse every week. It really depends on the snake. If he has a high Metabolism or not.
Right now is a good time to beef (not overfeed) a yearling up. It is almost time for it to cool down.