Yes, that's what I do...hatchlings are fed every 5-7 days (pinkies digest quicker too- no hair & very little bone), & gradually I lengthen the time between feedings as
the size of their prey gets larger (as it takes longer to digest as well), so that adults are eating about every 10 days in summer (hungrier in warm weather) and every
2 weeks in other seasons. Normally I feed only one prey item per meal but if prey is on the small side, you can double up occasionally...just don't over-do it...snakes
are healthier (as are we) when not over-fed...& remember that our pets are generally far less active than wild snakes catching their own prey. My largest adult corn
snakes are big enough (over 5') to eat 2 adult mice, but I don't do that ordinarily. For one thing, by the time a corn snake is that large, it's also getting old & their
metabolism slows down. My oldest corn snake right now is about 20 years old, & the last time he ate a large mouse, he barfed it back up...he actually wants (& better
digests) only smaller mice now. BTW, a feeding schedule is mostly for us, to better keep track of...there's no such thing for wild snakes, of course, so I don't stress to
stick to a rigid schedule of feeding my snakes either.
The more you tell me about the store where you got your snake from, the less impressed I am.
Of course, several things can influence how fast a snake can digest
their food: if they're kept too warm, they'll digest faster & eat more often...their metabolism is controlled by their environment; if they have digestive parasites (which
they can get from eating live or fresh killed rodents from questionable sources) they'll be "sharing" their meals (with "worms") & appear to digest more rapidly than
normal, but needless to say this is unhealthy & they won't gain weight the way they would if not "sharing". (snakes can safely be wormed using certain medicines that
are also used to de-worm horses) So if their adult snake is fat, I'd say they're just over-feeding (& like some ppl, some snakes will eat more than they should), but if
it's thin, I'd bet it needs de-wormed.
Originally Posted by Bogertophis
Yes, that's what I do...hatchlings are fed every 5-7 days (pinkies digest quicker too- no hair & very little bone), & gradually I lengthen the time between feedings as
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