prey size question

[KeithTN]

I think I need to go up on my corn snake's prey size. When I received Starburst, the previous owners were feeding "her" 2 adult mice every 2 weeks. After I got her, I increased her to 2 mice per week. Now she is a little over 3 feet long and over an inch in diameter. I'm currently feeding 3 mice per week. She eats F/T, of course. At what point do I need to switch to rats?
The mice don't seem to be leaving a lump at all. She has never hesitated to eat either. I guess most corns are little pigs.

[MeMe]

My corns are still young but I was talking to a pet store clerk (not petco) and she told me that they never really have to go on rats. however...this girl isn't always the brightest. So I researched and read that adult full grown corn in fact eats medium to large mice.

[fergie]

You say you are feeding your corn three mice a week and it is only three feet long. That sounds a bit excessive to me, your corn must be never done digesting its prey which isn't good. The snake needs breaks between meals to build up its enzymes and stomach acids. I'm feeding both my Kings one adult mouse a week and both them are around three and half feet. My friend who has three mature corns and has his corns on the same feeding regime

[Jay_Bunny]

3 a week does sound a bit much. Even if they are not causing lumps, 3 just seems excessive. My corn is on fuzzies and only gets one per week.

[Flagg]

My adult male corn is about 4 ft long, 670g. He eats one jumbo mouse (35-40g) or small rat (40-60g_ every 7-10 days. When I fed him this much once a week he was starting to get a little fat so I scaled back a little.

I've seen FT "large adult mice" that weighed only 17g so 3 of them if that small isn't all that much.

[dalvers63]

My adult male corn would eat either a large mouse or a weaned rat once a week. The best way to tell is to pick up a small digital scale and weigh the rodents to see just what you're feeding in grams.

My corn is 4.5ft or so and 31-40 grams of food at a sitting was just perfect for him.

deb

[SPJ]

Corns are pigs. They can handle a decent size meal.

[dr del]

And from the look of that even an indecent meal.




dr del

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

And from the look of that even an indecent meal.




dr del

I personally wouldn't say that is overkill at all. Corns have faster metabalisms than a lot of snakes and that lump would be gone in a couple days. Wouldn't be uncommon for a snake to take a meal that big in the wild either

[KeithTN]

I have a good measure of my corn now. It is a little over 4 feet long and about 600 grams. The f/t mice she gets are on the small side too. I get the f/t from Petco that come in a three pack. I'll try to get a weight on the mice. I know they are alot smaller than the live ones my BP gets.