Feeding

I have a corn snake that was given to me in pretty bad shape. He was around 12inchs long, very skinny, and had some stuck shed. That was 3 months ago. He( not sure of sex just a guess) is now 24 inches long. I have not weighed him. He gets a large pinky every 7 days. I was wanting to know if I'm feeding him enough? The large pinks leave a small bulge in his body. He is currently in a 20 gallon tank because he loves to move around and explore. Thanks

Here is a semi decent pic of him after he shed. I call him Stewie. Lol


http://i.imgur.com/I2l8tML.jpg

A pinky of any size isn't enough food for a 24" corn snake. I would be giving him f/t fuzzy mice now, & you can probably feed him 2 per meal for a while,
then bump up to f/t "hopper mice". You want his prey to be about the size of his mid-body, and to leave a small-modest "bump" once eaten.

Just remember to also gradually lengthen the time between meals as his meals get larger & harder to digest. (Adults eat about every 10-14 days, but that's
a long way off yet for this youngster.)

Corn snakes enjoy branches & a humid-hide with damp sphagnum moss inside especially, plus it really helps them shed easily.

I use (controlled) UTH under one end of my corn snake tanks, and give 2 dark hide-boxes, one on the cooler end of cage & one on the warmer. I'm glad
you were able to take him in...corn snakes are great pets, usually both pretty AND docile. :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

A pinky of any size isn't enough food for a 24" corn snake. I would be giving him f/t fuzzy mice now, & you can probably feed him 2 per meal for a while,
then bump up to f/t "hopper mice". You want his prey to be about the size of his mid-body, and to leave a small-modest "bump" once eaten.

Just remember to also gradually lengthen the time between meals as his meals get larger & harder to digest. (Adults eat about every 10-14 days, but that's
a long way off yet for this youngster.)

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^^^agreed^^^

Thanks for the help guys! I got to weight him today, he weighs 17g. The 24inch is a guesstimate:) here are a few more pics of him for size reference. The pink's he gets weight 3g each. He got 2 of them today while I was cleaning his tank. I found a chart that said a 16-23g corn needs 2 3g pinkies every 5 days. Is that correct?

http://i.imgur.com/D02mRBt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PIXN253.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jxXnzM1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/g6erAvX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8abrSKh.jpg

Ok, after seeing some more pics and getting a weight, I think you can stick to pinkies a bit longer.
But bumping up soon would be a good idea. Pinkies are primarily water and offer little to no benefit as far as nutrients. But your guy is still pretty tiny, so pinks are fine for now.

If he's eating pinkys 2 at a time, and eating them backwards at that, he can definitely eat fuzzys if not hoppers. Do you always feed him in a separate bin? There's really no need to do that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daleo

Thanks for the help guys! I got to weight him today, he weighs 17g. The 24inch is a guesstimate:) here are a few more pics of him for size reference. The pink's he gets weight 3g each. He got 2 of them today while I was cleaning his tank. I found a chart that said a 16-23g corn needs 2 3g pinkies every 5 days. Is that correct?









https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/8abrSKh.jpg

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OK, that's not a pinky, it's a 'fuzzy' or 'crew' (not all of us agree on size-names so weights help) and that appears to be appropriate size for him now, & like I
said, go to 2 per meal (not yet!) before bumping up to f/t hopper mice. He appears to be coming along well, I'm so glad he's in your hands now! :gj:

And your chart appears to be guiding you well, so stay with it. Just remember that corn snakes are supposed to be on the slender side, not heavy-
bodied like ball pythons, so if it looks to you like he's over-eating at 5 days (or if he's still digesting...remember it all depends on temperatures & as
seasons change, he may digest a bit slower, even with appropriate cage heat) use your best judgement to lengthen time between meals...also, skip
food if he's in shed. Since he's still recovering from poor condition, a meal while he's in shed-cycle might make his "shed" stick in a million pieces,
because both shedding & digesting require more hydration & nutrients from the body to accomplish. Some snakes can multi-task better than others.

BTW, he's pretty too! :sweeet: