Frequency of Feeding

[Vasiliki]

Hello!

I have a beautiful corn snake that I picked up from a local breeder (well established). She is a gorgeous Butter corn. Lovely size on her. Definitely happy I went with this nice big girl. After speaking with the breeder, the breeder told me she was getting 1 jumbo F/T mouse every 5 days until she filled out from last season's laying. Then to reduce her back to 1 jumbo F/T mouse every 7 days.

My girl is in a Cornel's World PVCX enclosure, so she has an open view of the world around her, while in a nice dark enclosure. She will sometimes act very curious towards me. Not tracking, but generally looking and observing. I love that about these snakes.

However recently, she has been showing signs of tracking slightly more when it gets closer to her feeding days (but still a few days away). She tends to be out more during this time as well.

I spoke with another local breeder (and friend) and asked if I should return to the jumbo f/t every 5 days again with her, or bump her up to two jumbo mice and then spread out the time between feedings. The response I got was fairly negative and I was told that that would be overfeeding/not good for her/they always act like they're hungry.

But then I read other information from other forums where everyone seems to have a different idea of what to do with a snake that's acting like they're tracking. Some say increase frequency, some say increase meal size and spread the days apart, and some are saying not to worry about it because some snakes will just 'act hungry'.

My girl is an '06 snake. Been bred a couple of seasons prior to me. I have retired her after the breeder informed me that last year she did not bounce back nearly as well as before. So I'm not worried about eggs from her. Just trying to give her a nice 'retired' pet life.

I can get an updated weight on her tonight, as my new scale came in

Guess I'm just wondering what the general consensus is here. Right now she's on a 7 day rotation with 1 jumbo mouse (as advised from her original breeder).

[Blue Apple Herps]

1 jumbo mouse every 7 days is plenty. Corns can easily become overweight. This is what most of my adults get. They don't need more than this.

[Vasiliki]

1 jumbo mouse every 7 days is plenty. Corns can easily become overweight. This is what most of my adults get. They don't need more than this.

Fantastic. Straightforawrd answer. Simple logic. Love it. Then my girl will just stay on her regular routine. I've seen some chubby corns, for sure. That's why I like to take her out and hang with her. You know, avoid a bit of junk in the trunk with some activity.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Yeah, that's good. If she starts to feel thin, you can increase size or frequency, but I've never had a female corn who needed more than a jumbo mouse once a week.