possibly moving uo a prey size

[katieam]

ok so i just got a scale to weigh Sam and he is much heavier than i thought he was! he weighs 57 grams. i am just starting to follow the Munson plan and according to the plan, he should be feeding on hoppers. i have been feeding him fuzzies because it looks like a better size because he is still so slim. would it be better to feed him two fuzzies at 12g combined, or to feed him one larger hopper? my only worry is regurge if he eats too much. because i just started the munson plan, so he isnt as big as a snake who has been on the plan its whole life.

sorry for the long post, im just confused as what to do.

thanks
katie

[Argentra]

Corns can take prey that is 1-1.5 times their body diameter, and often should. But what they should take isn't always what they will.

I've learned over time to combine plans like that with personal knowledge. For instance, my Anery corn girl is getting big, over 100g now, but I still feed her large hopper mice every 5 days because every time I've tried something a bit bigger she regurges it.
One of my BPs are similar in that she refuses to even go near anything larger than a large adult mouse and will only ever take one prey item. Because of this stubborness, she is rather small for her age...but I would rather have her small than on a hunger strike again.

Try offering prey that is up to 1.5 times again the snake diameter for corns and up to the same diameter for BPs, and keep in mind the weight ratios, but also listen to the snakes themselves and give them what they'll take.

[mainbutter]

corns can take surprisingly thick prey.

If you think your snake might want more food, go ahead and give it a try.

[anendeloflorien]

If she'll take it I would try moving up a prey size. I'm keeping all my corns and my youngest king on the Munson plan and so far I've found that it works extremely well! I still have a couple of picky eaters but for the most part they will still eat just not off of the hemos, I just leave the mouse on a lid or something outside of their hide overnight and 9 times out of 10 they'll eat it. A couple of them are almost ready to move up to fuzzies . Let us know how it goes!

[katieam]

thanks everybody! ive decided to jsut do still one fuzzy every five days for a while jsut to get him used ot the every five days, than i will move him up (depending on how much he grows) to two fuzzies or a hopper. because right now he is way too small for a hopper. he is really long but still really slim. the hopper looks ridiculous next to him lol like it could eat him, it was so fat. so i think im gong to do two fuzzies next lol.

thanks for all the help. we both appreciate it!
katie

[Blue Apple Herps]

The "Munson Plan" is a good guide, but I think people can become too obsessed with the weight of their snake and the weight of the prey.

The easiest thing is to feed it a prey size that leaves a little lump (something that is ~1.5x's the widest part of your snake's body at the widest point). Keep feeding it that size until you can no longer see a lump. Then move up to the next prey size and do the same - feed until the lump is gone and move up.

Continue this until you get to large/jumbo mice. Once you get the lg/jumbo mice and you don't see a lump (if they get that big) I stop there anyways, as at that size a large mouse is still plenty.

This way is easy and doesn't require you to worry so much about weights.

[Argentra]

I do the same thing. It's too much for me to try and keep track of the weights of my mice as well as my snakes, so I use size and snake acceptance as my references when choosing prey size. Much easier. I also stop at jumbo mice/large rat pups no matter the snake size since I don't want overweight corns.

Of course, my ghost male sulks because of this...but oh well.

[katieam]

well i fed him yesterday, starting the every five days plan and he looked a little confused. like "its not monday, why is there a mouse in here?" but once he got over the shock he wolfed it right down. he's such a good boy

thanks again for all the help.

[RichardA]

The only corns I feed pinks to are hatchlings, as soon as they will, I start upping prey size. There is a guy I used to work with that had a yearling take a full grown mouse. That is a little excessive I know, however they can take prey much larger then we think they can. By 6 months mine are all on at least hoppers if not fuzz rats.

[katieam]

he has always been really tiny. the place that i got him from only fed him a maintenance diet, so he was just a little noodle when i took him home, so he looks gigantic now, even though for his age, he is not. im hoping to move him up to hoppers at the end of the month or sooner depending on him.

wish me luck