Feeding

[Daleo]

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

[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.)

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.

[Craiga 01453]

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.)

^^^agreed^^^

[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?

[Craiga 01453]

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.

[EL-Ziggy]

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.

[Bogertophis]

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?

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!

[Bogertophis]

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!