What to feed?

[madmatt]

Hey,

I recently purchased my first corn snake hatchling. It is quite a bit larger than i expected him to be - about 12-14 inches. Currently he is on two pinkies a week, but i am not shore when it is time to change this. He has a very small head, and so i am thinking what he is currently on is OK for his size...like i say this is my first corn snake so any advice/help is greatly appreciated :)

[Preita]

How long have you had him on 2 pinkies per week? I had my hatchlings on 2 pinkies for 3 consecutive successful feedings & then I moved them up to 1 fuzzy. There is more nutritional content in the fuzzy than the pinks which is always a good thing :D

[madmatt]

Well the place i got him said they don't sell them until they have had 3 succesfull feedings, so i know he has had at least 3 there, and he has had one with me so far. But his head looks to small to handle anything larger...

[Lennycorn]

From your other thread you had him for five days now and the snake is about twelve to fourteen inches long. Well when it come to asking about "what is of mouse do I feed my corn", girth of the snake is more important the age and lenght.
You should feed your snake one food item no larger than 1 1/2 times the girth of your snake. So without picture we can tell. I would say feed one pinky for a while because I don't think you...feed the snake yet and I'm not sure where your getting this information from. So after you feed the snake see if there is a noticeable lump on the snake. And don't handle for forty eight hours after.
Keep us posted.

[Lennycorn]

Oops didn't see that post, sound like just feed one pinky until he grows a bit.

[Preita]

You know I thought he meant two pinkies per feeding.
Sorry bout that

[madmatt]

From your other thread you had him for five days now and the snake is about twelve to fourteen inches long. Well when it come to asking about "what is of mouse do I feed my corn", girth of the snake is more important the age and lenght.
You should feed your snake one food item no larger than 1 1/2 times the girth of your snake. So without picture we can tell. I would say feed one pinky for a while because I don't think you...feed the snake yet and I'm not sure where your getting this information from. So after you feed the snake see if there is a noticeable lump on the snake. And don't handle for forty eight hours after.
Keep us posted.

You don't know where i am getting what information from? I am not suggesting that the age/length of the snake is what you use to determine what a snake's food size should be....infact i always thought it was size of head, however i am asking because you guys are more experienced with corns :)

[madmatt]

Ignore that, saw your other post lol

[Gintha]

Their little heads stretch a LONG way. Don't measure the food with the size of the head, but rather with the thinkest girth of the snakes body. Feed a prey item up to 1.5 times this widest girth. Its kind of scary to think that they will be able to swallow something this size, but they can. Here is the best pic I have of Treasure eating. This mouse was probably 4 or 5 times the size of his head, but left almost no "lump" in his belly at all.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/Gintha/Treasure/Piccies3012.jpg

[madmatt]

OK so i have decided it's time to upgrade to two pinkies at a time, can anyone tell me how often these should be given? Once a week? Twice a week like normal?

Then, once he has got through the pinkies i have....do you think i should go onto fuzzies?

Thanks :-)

BTW, Cool pic gintha ;-)

[Lennycorn]

Once you have the 1 1/2 of girth rule in mine, you move up to two pinky for a few feeding (say three feeding). To get the snake adjusted to a larger food amount, then switch to fuzzy. And stay with fuzzy until the snake out grows the "girth rule" then again two fuzzy to a hopper etc etc.

Good luck :cheers:

[madmatt]

So i feed two pinkies 3 times a week?

That seems like a lot to me lol.....

I know it's 2 pinkies but how often?

[Lennycorn]

If you feed you snake every five days or six or seven days stick with that.
Anytime you give your snake food is called a "feeding" .
What day is your feeding day? Every Monday or every six day whatever it is, it's a feeding day.

Give your snake two pinky on your schedule feeding day for a few weeks than move up to one hopper/small mouse.

Good luck :cheers:

[madmatt]

Oh i understand now, thanks :-)

[JTGoff69]

Give your snake two pinky on your schedule feeding day for a few weeks than move up to one hopper/small mouse.

Good luck :cheers:

Don't you mean move up to a fuzzy? Moving up from two pinkies to a hopper/small mouse is quite a jump.

[madmatt]

I assumed that was a mistake and lennycorn meant fuzzy, so no need to pannick lol.

Thanks for the advice everyone :-)

[Lennycorn]

Yep, yep yep.
Sorry I have my snake on the "move".
But now that I thinking ..... I did read that a member here stated that they just move up a size with out doubling up.
So there that grey area again. So maybe they feed a large pinky and a small fuzzy. I would think it depends on what selection of size you can get.

Sorry to add to the confusion.

[madmatt]

No prob, i think i will just go onto two at a time then up onto fuzzies :-)