Gram feeding charts - Boa and Corn Snake?

[hazzaram]

Hey guys,

Looking for a reliable feeding chart to follow that is in grams, as I weigh my snakes and keep track. Currently this is what I have going on:

Female Common Boa - 160g. Currently eating small adult mice. Should I switch her to rats yet?

Female Corn - 115g. Currently eating fuzzies/small mice depending on size. Is this appropriate?

Thanks!

[cletus]

It really depends on the size of the snake. I like to feed mice until the largest mouse is too small. I'd rather feed adult mice than underdeveloped rats just to feed rats. I'm srry I can't be of more help. I don't really weigh snakes or rodents.

[AbsoluteApril]

I don't go by weights for any of my snakes and BPs are the first species I've seen in my 20 years with feeding charts and gram feeder size guides.

I keep bps, boas, corns as well as some other species.
I base food on the size of the feeder and size of the snake. I do not feed anything larger around than the thickest part of the body for majority of species.

if your boa is feeding on small adult mice, you can either keep going to large mice or switch over to a similar size rat, either is fine.
A small adult mouse would be about the same size as a rat fuzzy or possibly small rat pup.

For many snakes, feeding frequency will have a larger impact than feeder size. With most snakes, slower spaced out feedings of appropriate sized prey is best IMO
Your mileage may vary and there's no set 'one way is the right way'.

[dakski]

Try to give the most mature prey item that's appropriately sized.


For Boas, less is more. I would stay on small adult mice until they don’t leave a noticeable lump and then move to adult mice. From adult mice I would move to rat pups. I generally don’t feed my boas more than 10% of their body weight in any meal and space out meals as they age. 10% is the max, so as they grow, and I stay on the same size prey for a bit, the % of body weight goes down.

Once on weaned rats or definitely small rats, I am feeding every 2 weeks.

Once on medium rats, I am feeding every 3 weeks.

Large rats, if necessary, every 3-4 weeks.

I do not like jumbo or XL mice or rats as they are fatty and Boas do not do well with that. Either speed up feeding intervals if need to, but probably isn’t necessary, or feeding multiple smaller prey items, which also probably isn’t necessary. Probably fed boas are lean and muscular.

For the corn, I feed younger snakes 10-13% of body weight, or an item that leaves a small lump for up to a day. Again, less is more, although corns stretch more than boas and will grow at 115G – 250G or so versus putting on too much fat.

At 115G, I would be feeding hoppers weekly.

Feel free to ask more questions. We are here to help.

[67temp]

For corns I normally suggest roughly following the Munson feeding plan.


copied from cornsnakes.com
Sample Feeding Plan (Munson Plan)

-When the snake is on single pinks (2-3g), I feed every 5-6 days. (Snake = 4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 6-7 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (20-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+)

[CloudtheBoa]

Feeding based off of weight is not a great method, at least for boas imo. It's just too much food. I feed my boas based off of girth. Whatever feeder is roughly equal to or only slightly bigger than girth for babies, and equal to or smaller than girth for adults. This *usually* works out to 6-8% for babies and 2-6% for adults, but it really depends on what weight the snake and feeders are. Weights vary between both snakes and feeders, especially if you get into feeding different species. Some are denser than others.


That said, in general, I do not see a switch to weaned rats until my boas are 3' and a good 300+ grams. I skip jumbo mice due to fat content, so at that point, weaned rats are still a large-ish meal and leave more than a slightly noticeable lump. So I balance it out by bouncing back and forth between large mice and the weaned rats until the rats leave a barely noticeable lump. Usually takes 2-3 weaned rat feedings, so maybe 2 months or so.


Idk much about corns, but from what I've heard (of course this is hearsay) the weight method was developed to get breeder-sized snakes ASAP, and as such may not be the healthiest method for a pet, and I especially hesitate to try applying the same method to just any species as so many seem to be doing lately.

[hazzaram]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I just don't know what to order in advance. I can't go in and look at anything and size it up to her girth, it's literally curbside pick up because of this virus. Gonna follow the advice here, thanks!

[CloudtheBoa]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I just don't know what to order in advance. I can't go in and look at anything and size it up to her girth, it's literally curbside pick up because of this virus. Gonna follow the advice here, thanks!

Then I'd just stick with their current feeder sizes. The boa probably won't need to move up any time soon, and you could always double up for the corn.